Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
Warning: All warnings are addressed at the bottom of chapter 2.
Beta: Cyndaquil123
(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง
"Everyone is cheating, constantly competing,
So many are dying,
Nothing stops the fighting,
People will desire what they can't acquire
Happiness, they dream of what's ahead - just out of reach."
-Sam Luff, Solitude
(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง
(KISAME)
Kisame sipped on his on drink, completely relaxed. His legs were submerged in a pool as he sat on the edge, watching his adorable students train with his sharks.
He had tied their hands together, gave them some weights, and told them to keep a float for an hour while fending off his sharks. The idea was for them to use their chakra to do so—either by manipulating it to do a bastardized water walk, or some other creative way.
If they started to drown, his sharks would push them back up, but they'd get a little nibble, too.
About halfway into the hour, the sharks would also start trying to pull them down.
His cute little students did not enjoy that.
He outright laughed when Seiko panicked and accidentally froze Reo and Itsuki.
What fun, Kisame thought.
(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง
(HOTORO)
In the capital of Water sat a handsome man.
He was wrapped head to toe in expensive clothing and adornments. His pale skin was well-tended to, and he had big almond shaped green eyes. His long white hair was pulled into a neat bun, and the attractive man sat with perfect poise and grace in his office.
Like the man, the office was gorgeous. It had rows upon rows of archaic scrolls and textbooks, and there were priceless artifacts perfectly placed in between the shelves. The carpet was a deep royal blue, and every piece of furniture had an immaculate drawing carved into it.
Truly, the office and the man were pieces of art for the eye.
Unfortunately the man kept frowning, as he was feeling more than a little stressed out.
Lord Hotoro Usashi was the daimyo of Water.
And he was in a very, very bad spot.
With the destruction of Kirigakure, his entire country had suffered tremendously. They lost their biggest military power, and his homeland had become filled with chaos and anarchy. There were no shinobi to enforce order, or protect his borders, and Hotoro knew it was only a matter of time before the other countries swooped in for the kill.
He needed Kirigakure, and he needed it now.
Oh, how he wished he had paid better attention to the civil war. He wished he had sent in troops to support the Mizukage instead of sitting idly by. He hadn't realized how crucial his village was until it was stomped to the ground by the rebellion and he lost thousands of people.
Thousands of soldiers.
His samurai were working overtime just to keep the capital and nearby villages safe from the roaming raiders. Hundreds upon hundreds of refugees flooded into his precious city, more than tripling the homeless population and causing Hotoro's more prejudice nobles to throw temper tantrums in his courtroom.
Oh, yes, Hotoro was in a tight spot indeed.
He wished, fervently, there was a way to turn back time and undo his negligence. He would never take Kirigakure for granted again.
But it was too late, and now Hotoro had to deal with the devil to save his country.
I need a village. I need a powerful village that will save my country.
There was a knock at his door, and beautiful dark-skinned aide opened it. She stepped in, gave a tight smile to Hotoro and said, "Your guest has arrived, Hotoro-sama."
"Thank you, Mani-san," Hotoro said, forcing himself into a regal posture. Mani inclined her head and left the room temporarily before returning with Hotoro's guest.
Hotoro prayed to whatever deity that was listening that this deal wouldn't be his undoing. Hotoro greeted his guest with a polite smile and said, "Thank you for joining me... Orochimaru-sama."
Orochimaru smiled back, and it sent chills down Hotoro's spine. "Thank you for your kind offer, Usashi-dono."
(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง
(NARUTO)
Naruto had a pit in his gut that wouldn't go away since yesterday. It felt like someone reached into his stomach and turned it like a doorknob, twisting it all up. He hated the feeling, and wanted it to go away.
It didn't help that the feeling only got worse every time he saw Naasica.
Yesterday changed everything.
He knew—he knew that she was considered a demon by most. He knew she had a fearsome reputation, and she scared a lot of people. Naruto had even seen her scary sides a few times here and there, but it was never, ever directed at him or the family.
Oh sure her training could be brutal, and it hurt like a you wouldn't believe, but she was also the one who patched them up.
She was the one that taught him how to read, write, and helped him with his homework. She was the one that rocked him back to sleep at night after nightmares.
She was the one who chased away the monsters under the bed.
So while Naruto knew she was supposed to be some kind of ferocious demon that devoured enemies of Konoha, he didn't quite get it.
Until yesterday.
It wasn't the animal gore that got it. He'd butchered plenty of animals on the hunting trips Obito and Kakashi took him out on.
There were humans in that pit.
Living, breathing people that had lives. Had loved ones.
And down in that pit they had been mutilated.
To add insult to injury, Naasica threw in his teammate into that vile pit and watched on—with a fucking smile—as she traumatized Sakura.
She smiled!
She smiled!
She looked genuinely frigging happy to see Sakura go through that. She even looked downright proud of her work today, when Sakura showed up today at team practice. Naruto may not have been fond of Sakura before hand, but no one deserved to go through that kind of gross perturbed pit of disgusting inhuman decency.
That's what really bothered Naruto so much.
It felt like Naasica didn't see them as people. It felt like she didn't see any of them as people.
Does she only see me as a tool? Naruto wondered, and it made his heart ache.
The fact that he couldn't outright deny that statement was plain wrong.
It was inhuman.
It was demonic.
Could anyone be able to completely butcher a human being for the sake of scaring a little girl into obedience? To burn their corpses, rip out their guts, and disfigure their faces? These people—these people who had families. Who loved, and had a morning routine, and probably liked some of the same food as Naruto—
Used to terrify a civilian girl—
No. Not a civilian anymore, Naruto corrected herself. Sakura went through that awfulness, and came back. She'd more than earned Naruto's respect, and deserved to be called a kunoichi.
Regardless... what Naasica had done deeply bothered Naruto.
When training was done that day Naruto had immediately returned home and laid down in bed. His chest hurt when he kept thinking about Naasica, and the nausea inside of him wouldn't go away.
He couldn't bring himself to eat breakfast or lunch, and he doubted he would be able to eat dinner either.
There was a knock at the door, the sound stirring Naruto from his thoughts. The door opened up and Obito stepped in with a tray of dinner. "Hey, kiddo. An evil princess told me you haven't been eating today."
Evil is right, Naruto reflexively thought, then felt bad about it. Like he was betraying her by thinking these things.
But good people don't do what she did, right?
"Not hungry," Naruto grunted.
"Mm," was all Obito said, taking a seat on the bed. "What's going on, kiddo?"
"Nothing."
"Look," Obito cut in. "There's clearly something going on, so you better spill before I bring out the tickle fiend."
Naruto reflexively shielded his armpits. "That's extremely mean."
Obito put on a big toothy grin. "Yeah, I know. So what's up? Hime said you seemed kinda mad at her."
Naruto chewed on his bottom lip before he slowly sat up. "... Yeah."
Obito stretched out an arm and pulled Naruto into his lap. Naruto wanted to protest that he was too old, but a childish part of him felt comforted by the embrace. He hadn't sat in anyone's lap in a couple years, wanting desperately to prove to the adults in the house that he was ready to be a shinobi. Naruto curled into Obito, the tall man patting Naruto's back comfortingly.
"Why'd she do that?" Naruto finally asked. "She killed those people in there, didn't she? And then she... tore 'em up. For what? To scare Sakura-chan?"
Obito kept rubbing Naruto's back for a few minutes, waiting to see if Naruto had anything else to add before he spoke. "Naruto... what do you think you're going to do on your first mission out of the village?"
"Protect people."
"And if the person you're supposed to protect gets attacked? What are you going to do to the enemy? Are you going to let them go when you're done?"
Naruto bit on the inside of his cheek. He knew the right answer. He knew he was supposed to say kill them. That's what they were taught in the academy.
But being told to do something, and actually doing it—actually seeing it in person was—
"You can't let them go though," Obito said, as if he sensed Naruto's doubt. "If you let people go, they'll come back for their revenge. They always do, Naruto."
"So you kill 'em... and mutilate them?"
"You kill them," Obito confirmed gently. "Because if you don't, then they'll kill you, or someone you love."
"But—"
"You aren't going to be killing innocents," Obito consoled Naruto. "All you have to do is make sure the bad people don't get a chance to hurt anyone else."
Naruto closed his eyes. He knew that. He knew that, but something still didn't sit right with him. The pit inside of his stomach didn't ease up from Obito's words.
"Naruto, what would you do if someone tried to hurt Naasica?"
"I'd protect her," Naruto told Obito. That was an easy answer. Even if he was mad at Naasica, and even if she only thought of him as a tool—he loved her. Naruto loved her more than anyone else in the world because she raised him. She was his mom.
Would he kill for her?
Naruto thought, if it really came down to it, he would. To protect his mom, he'd do whatever it took. Even if that action made him feel sick in the heart.
"What would you do if someone tried to hurt Sakura?"
"I'd protect her, too," Naruto said, but that one didn't come as easily.
Would he be okay to kill for her, too? He didn't really know her. To be honest, he didn't really think much of her at all before yesterday. She was nosey, loud, and obnoxious. She didn't bring anything good to the team, and to be frank, Naruto thought she was more of a deadweight than asset. She was so far behind everyone else, after all.
Now, though? He thought she was pretty cool. Not only did she come back to the team, but she still treated Naasica with plain admiration. During their training today, Naruto noticed that she wasn't as scrawny as before. She almost had as much muscle as Hinata.
He actually caught himself thinking, more than once, that she might actually be a good teammate.
But would he kill for her?
"When I was about your age, hime, 'Kashi, and I had this mission in the capital," Obito began, his voice barely above a murmur. "We were supposed to rescue some runaway heiress. We found her pretty quick, and as it turns out she had been kidnapped by a slave cartel. She was kept with over a dozen other people, all of them chained up and drugged out of their minds. We, the three of us, didn't know anything about the cartel. We didn't know where all the guards were, or who we were up against. We were completely on our own, in a city that we couldn't even trust. Naruto... what would you do in that situation?"
"Save everyone," Naruto said, since that seemed like the obvious answer.
Obito chuckled, but Naruto thought it was without humor. "Then you would have made the same mistake I did."
"Mistake?"
"I pleaded with them, 'Kashi, and hime, for us to save them all. They warned me against it, but I chose to put these strangers before my teammates, and mission. So 'Kashi took the heiress, since she was our priority, and headed back. Hime and I gathered everyone up, and she used her clones to carry them to the sewers. But we were caught by the guards, and they were powerful. I could hardly do a damn thing against one of them, and ended up getting saved by hime. But in the process, she got her throat slashed out and almost died.
"I couldn't do a single thing to save anyone. I had to rely on hime to get the victims out, and I couldn't even protect her against the guards. I chose to try and save everyone, and in the process I nearly lost my most precious person," Obito finished softly, letting out a long sigh. "Naruto, if you can't handle the hard choices, if you can't kill to save your own teammate, then you need to quit right now. You need to change careers, and become a civilian. Naruto, if The Pit has broken you, you need to stop.
"Because it will get worse. You will have to kill to protect the people you love, and you will have to sacrifice a lot of things for the sake of the village. This is not something to take lightly, and it's not something you should accept easily. You have a choice, Naruto, and once you make it, you can't take it back. We gave you a glimpse of what's out there, because we want you to be as prepared as possible. Naruto, think long and hard about what you've seen so far. Because if you choose to keep to this career, you'll be seeing a lot more of it.
"And please do know... we—all of us—will support you wherever you choose to go. We will love you no matter your choice."
Obito kissed the top of Naruto's head, and placed him back on the bed before he stood up. He smiled warmly at him. "Eat up, though, okay? If you don't, hime will tie you to the bed and force feed you."
Naruto looked down at the food, his mind going over everything that was said. "... 'Kay. Are you... gonna talk to Nee-chan, now?"
"Nope. Gonna have the exact same talk with Sasuke," Obito said cheerfully. "Bugger was glaring at me all day, too!"
(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง
(NAASICA)
All of our students showed significant improvement, most notably with Sakura, Ino, and Chōji.
Sakura seemed to have an intuitive grasp on how to use the bow, and her speed and accuracy actually impressed me. She was getting the hang of conjuring different types of arrows, and I had no doubt in my mind she'd make one hell of a sniper.
Her long ranged threat was downright dangerous, and I loved it.
Ino was picked to be a long-ranged fighter by Obito, as well. Unlike Sakura, though, she was born with a decent chakra reserve and could use ninjutsu. Even better, it turned out that she had a dual affinity: raion and fūton.
Boy was Obito gleeful when he figured that out. He immediately put her to work to mastering her change in chakra nature, and she was doing pretty well in learning the low-level jutsus.
Ino and Sakura had once again picked up their rivalry, but over a different topic now. While Sakura had Ino beat in accuracy and range, Ino's attacks had a more devastating feel to them, and were aoe (area of effect). The two kept arguing over which type of attack was better. Something loud and explosive like Ino's that could take out multiple targets, or something quiet and fast like Sakura's that could eliminate one or two targets at a time without drawing attention.
Both had their merits, and both had their disadvantages.
Regardless, it was entertaining to see the two kunoichis bickering back and forth over interesting things.
It was also nice to see them both become so well adjusted after the pit. Neither of them flinched when gore was brought into the equation, and Sakura had even developed a flippant attitude about it.
Honestly, could not have been happier about that outcome.
Chōji had lost nearly all of his fat, and it was replaced with tight muscles. He was more lean than big, but as he grew older I knew he'd bulk up. He was turning into an absolute menace in taijutsu, though, and Kakashi was currently teaching him how to use a staff to help close some distance. Since Chōji had a chakra affinity for doton Kakashi was planning on setting him up as a juggernaut, or tank. He could use some doton ninjutsu to prevent people from escaping his close range, or use underground-walking (a high level doton technique that Kakashi loved) to rapidly close the distance for a surprise attack.
Unfortunately, Chōji wasn't as well adjusted from The Pit as the girls. He still had a natural aversion to excess gore, and was reluctant to use lethal force.
Since he was still okay to beat someone down to a state of unconsciousness, Kakashi was hoping that he'd gain his murderous desire after a few trips out in the field. Maybe if he saw a monster he might snap and kill it.
Or it might break his mind and we have send him back to his family with a shrug and oops.
Only time would tell.
Hinata was growing in a predictable pattern. Although I noticed her eyeing Sakura more than usual with a gleam in her eyes.
Seemed like Hinata was thoroughly impressed by Sakura overcoming The Pit and hormones came a'knocking.
Thankfully Naruto was too young for puberty to hit, so I didn't have to worry about that unpleasant mess for a couple more years.
Speaking of my sunshine, he had figured out how to makeshift fly using fūton, and he was a smug boy about it. It was far from the graceful techniques used by Iwagakure, but being able to fly through the air would undoubtedly serve him well, and may even save his life. He was trying to master all his techniques to be used without the use of handseals, in addition to perfecting his weapon training.
Sasuke was equally impressive, now able to create triple layered genjutsus with and without his Sharingan. His weapon training was steadily improving under Obito's watchful eye, and he had mastered two long-ranged jutsus to snipe foes from a distance. While Sasuke may not have a lot of flashy skills, what he had he perfected and I knew he would be a force to be reckoned with.
Shino, like Sasuke, didn't really have visually stunning abilities. He was learning genjutsu alongside his teammate, and his taijutsu was something to be proud of. He'd never get a chance to learn powerful ninjutsu techniques, but Obito had Shino pick up a crossbow and botany. He was hoping to have Shino learn to coat the crossbow arrows in poison to help mitigate the danger of long-ranged opponents.
Or, you know, people who used fire a lot.
Poison and genjutsu was a classic mix, after all. The only reason Sasuke wasn't picking it up was because he could learn ninjutsu and our broody boy much preferred that.
Kiba was a noticeable improvement since Kakashi forced him to stop training with Akamaru. While the Inuzuka Clan could use devastating techniques, it was just downright stupid to be so heavily dependent on another living organism to do anything. Kakashi had him mastering taijutsu on his own, and using dual blades. He didn't have the reserves to learn about big jutsus, but Kakashi thought that was fine. Kiba would instead be more of a track-and-trapper, and Kakashi had him learn all about booby traps in his free time. He'd plan on teaching Kiba some genjutsus that would make it easier to hide his traps, and herd his opponents through them, and Kiba would still have to be a good enough fighter in case his traps failed.
Lastly was Shikamaru, who Kakashi had a personal investment in. Honestly, I didn't entirely know how Kakashi was training him after we got his physicality up to snuff. In the team assessments, Shikamaru only used his clan techniques or taijutsu, so it was hard to see what Kakashi was teaching him.
(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง
After three months of brutal grinding, our teams had finally reached a satisfactory point.
Today, we would be taking each team out on their first C-Rank.
Naruto, Sakura, and Hinata stood tall and proud behind me as we waited for Minato to give us a mission. The Hokage didn't normally assign missions personally, but when he found out that we would be giving our teams their first C-Rank—their first mission outside of Konoha—he made the exception.
He had already went over the assessments we had submitted about our team—we were required to hand in monthly reports about our progress—and was pleased about the results.
"A C-Rank, huh? Well, if the mighty hime herself thinks you're ready, then I'm inclined to agree," Minato said with his usual charming smile. Although his eyes lost their twinkle after Kushina's death, so it didn't have as much of an impact as it did before. "Your mission is a simple escort. Please ensure your client returns safety to his home."
At Minato's nod, one of the guards opened up the door behind us that lead to the client room. A middle-aged drunk stumbled into the room, nervously clutching a bottle of alcohol. His eyes roamed about until they settled on us and he snorted. "A bunch of kids are supposed to protect me?"
"These children are skilled Genin of this village," Minato said, still smiling. "Accompanying them is one of our greatest Jōnin."
I put on my client face, instantly turning up the charm. "Hello. I am Senju Naasica, and these are my students: Senju Naruto, Hyūga Hinata, and Haruno Sakura."
Each of my students nodded polite to the client, and Tazuna's eyes narrowed thoughtfully. "Hmph. I see. I'm Tazuna, please protect me."
"Of course," I demurred. "I have a perfect mission record . I have no intentions of letting that become flawed. Are you ready to leave now, Tazuna-san?"
"Yeah."
"Then I'll escort you to the front gate. Genin, make sure you're packed and then meet us at the gate."
Like good little child soldiers, they saluted, and obeyed.
(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง
The moment we stepped outside the gates, both Hinata and Naruto looked at everything with impossibly wide eyes. Understandable, given that neither of them had ever ventured outside of Konoha in their entire life.
Naruto was our jinchūriki, on top of being Minato's son. Our enemies would have leapt at the chance of a toddler Naruto being caught outside of our precious village. While Minato trusted us to do everything we could to keep Naruto safe, he was still deeply disturbed by his failure to save Kushina. He was reluctant to put his son through any kind of risk, and it was honestly a bit of struggle for him to allow Naruto to even join the academy.
As the Hokage, he couldn't outright deny using Naruto as a shinobi. A jinchūriki was nothing to sniff at, and his son—at the very least—should know how to defend himself. As the years went by, Minato slowly came to the acceptance that Kushina would have wanted Naruto to choose his own path, regardless of the dangers.
So he allowed his son to become a child soldier, because that was what Naruto wanted to do.
Even if his paternal instincts told him otherwise.
Hinata, like Naruto, was sought after by our enemies. When she was only four years old she had almost been kidnapped. Her father stopped the Kumo shinobi, but had come to the conclusion that Hinata would not be safe outside of Konoha until she had become a proper kunoichi.
It certainly didn't help that Kumo had the gall to demand for Hiashi's head afterward for the death of their ambassador.
Good thing Minato sent my team to clean up that mess.
Ah... I can still remember the look on Ay's face...
But I was getting sidetracked.
Sakura noticed both of their reactions, and her brow furrowed in confusion. "You two okay?"
"Yeah, we're great!" Naruto exclaimed, still walking forward with big round eyes. "We've never been outside of Konoha before, though."
"Wow, really?" Sakura asked, genuinely surprised by that.
"Our fathers can be a tad protective," Hinata said with a slight giggle. She looked over at Sakura with gleam in her eyes, and a sweet smile on her face. "Have you been outside the village, Sakura-chan?"
"A few times," Sakura admitted, her right hand reflexively going up to touch the bow strapped to her. "My uncle owns a bathhouse in Hozo."
"A bathouse... you don't mean the Spring's Inn?" Tazuna asked, his gruff voice tinged with curiosity.
Sakura nodded, smiling sheepishly. "Yeah. Have you visited it?"
"A long time ago. It was a beautiful place," Tazuna answered, a big grin stretching over his face. "Hard to believe the niece of such a prestigious inn is a kunoichi, though!"
"Sakura-chan's a badass," Naruto boasted proudly.
At the same time, Hinata quickly said, "Sakura-chan is a remarkable kunoichi."
Sakura's face tinged with pink, her lips twitching as she fought against beaming with joy. "I-I don't know about that. I have a lot of work ahead of me."
"We all do," Hinata agreed, gently reaching over to touch Sakura's arm. "But you shouldn't underestimate yourself. You're—you're truly a wonderful kunoichi."
Hinata's face slowly turned red, and her stammers fell off as she awkwardly looked away.
"Hinata-chan?" Sakura gently inquired, concern on her face.
Hinata only turned redder, waving her hands in a dismissive manner. "Nothing. S-Sorry. W-We should get back to the mission."
Naruto nodded firmly, oblivious to his childhood friend's distress. "Yeah! Don't worry Tazuna-san, we'll take extra good care of you."
The client rubbed the back of his head. "Ah. Well, thank you."
I clapped my hands and said, "Alright, team. This is our first C-rank, let's keep it by the book. Hina-chan, you're on point. Use your Byakugan intermittently to survey our surroundings. Sakura-chan, stay at five hundred, and Naru-chan I want you at seven hundred."
"Where will you be, Sensei?" Sakura inquired.
"Nowhere you'll be able to see," I said, leaping up into the tree branches and out of view. I suppressed my chakra signature, and moved ahead a fair bit of distance to pre-survey the land. As long as I stayed in Hinata's Byakugan range, they wouldn't worry themselves too much.
I wanted to give them the chance to work on their own. Since it was an easy mission, and we would remain in our lands for a couple more days, now was a good opportunity.
I doubted this mission would turn into anything special.
(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง
The trek to Wave was entirely uneventful. My team performed well, each of them taking turns as lead, and ordering rest-stops for our client as needed.
It was until we actually reached the docks to take a boat to wave that Tazuna nervously drew our attention.
"We... we have to sneak back onto the island," Tazuna admitted quietly, his voice trembling as he fiddled with his sake bottle. "Gato can't know that I've returned. He'll kill me."
"Gato?" I repeated, the name coming up as vaguely familiar. "He's... ah, the owner of Gato Corporation?"
"Yes. He's taken hold of our entire town and drained us dry. We're—we're starving ma'am," Tazuna's voice broke. "I've been working on a bridge for a while now, and as soon as it's complete we won't need to go through Gato anymore. I had to leave village to order new supplies, since Gato scared off, or killed the other merchants. He'll kill me, too, if he can."
Gato's only a civilian, and there have been reports of high ranked missing nin in the area, I thought. This... might actually work in our favor.
I smiled at Tazuna. "Not a problem. We'll definitely protect you."
Tazuna sighed with relief. "Oh... oh thank you."
We waited for the boat Tazuna had arranged to arrive and then we hitched a ride to the island. Upon landing, I decided to split up the team.
"Hmm. Naruto, Hinata, go hunt," I instructed. "Catch as much fish as far out as you can, without getting caught. Do a little reconnaissance on the outskirts, as well. I want to make sure there are no nasty surprises surrounding the island. Sakura, I want you to go into town and assess it."
"Wha—how come Sakura-chan gets to do the cool spy stuff?" Naruto complained, his bottom lip jutting out in a pout. "I'm the best at stealth."
"Which is why you don't need the practice," I retorted. "You're shit at fishing, and there will be times where you'll need to fish to feed yourself. I want Hinata to be focused on gathering information on the outskirts, not you."
Naruto groaned. "Fine!"
"I'll remain here to guard Tazuna and his family. None of you all better get in trouble, or I'll whip your asses when we get back," I threatened. I doubted that would be any kind of issue, though.
There was no real threat on this island.
Or, at least, nothing I couldn't handle.
My trio of students saluted, and headed off while I returned Tazuna to his home.
I hope they get to see monsters.
(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง
(SAKURA)
Sakura would be the first to admit that her family was well-off. Perhaps not rich, like her teammates, but certainly not poor. She never had to grow up wondering if she would get dinner, or not. She never had to worry about clothes, shoes, or other simple things. When she asked for things, as long as she was well-behaved, she usually got them.
She didn't live in a poor neighborhood, either. She had visited Konoha's poorest district—the Red Light district—but she didn't find it distasteful. Konoha kept its streets clean, and had shelters and orphanages to make sure everyone was off the street. The children in the orphanages were well cared for—physically, at least—since Konoha was well-off enough to provide the necessary budgets. The village had universal healthcare, and free clinics in the Red Light district. The schools were heavily enforced, so all children had education regardless of their status.
Konoha, in general, was a nice village. Its "poverty" was considerably better than some of the middle class districts in other villages.
So, what Sakura was trying to say is that she had never experienced poverty.
Sakura had never truly even seen poverty.
She had never seen what horrors monsters could inflict upon the innocents, and up until that point she thought the worst thing that could happen to a person was death.
A dirt road served as the main street, with run-down foul-smelling buildings lining up on either side of it. Some of the huts—for she really couldn't call them homes—had boarded up windows, and the rest had gaping holes in the walls. She couldn't dismiss the dark stains splatted the homes, and her intellect immediately identified the dark marks as dried blood.
Faces, gaunt, dirty, and too thin to belong to the living, peered at her from the windows. Sunken eyes watched her, hungry, and wary. The few bodies she saw out in the open were so thin a good wind would blow them away, their stomachs bloated and grotesque from their starvation.
As Sakura stared at them, she had never felt so utterly horrified on someone's behalf before. She had thought death would be cruel to anyone—but how was this not?
She had read how painful starvation was. She had read how some would lose their minds to hunger that they would turn on their own friends and family.
Sakura had thought that a silly tale.
Now she didn't.
She had visited hell, had felt demons chase her—touch her—but that had not prepared her to see so many innocent people trapped in a monster's domain. She had thought corpses were awful, but now she was witnessing the living dead.
How can they walk with such skinny legs? Sakura thought in horror, as she saw tiny children wobble over to her. Their limbs might as well have been twigs. Her heart twisted in pain, her stomach dropping, and when one of them tripped toward her she couldn't stop herself from catching him.
He was so small. He trembled in her arms, sunken eyes looking up at her in disbelief.
She could snap his arms and legs if she put even a smidgeon of effort into it.
That simply... that simply couldn't be.
How was this allowed?
Who did this?!
She didn't realize she had pulled her pack off her back, and dumped out all of her rations. She didn't care. She would hunt for food. She didn't care if Naasica-sensei punished her. She didn't care if she got rebuked, and had to pay for new ones. All she cared about was doing something to help these poor people.
But she didn't come prepared with enough food for every person, nor was she a trained medic like Shisui-sensei.
She wished Shisui-sensei was here, because he would definitely know what to do.
"Take them," Sakura pleaded with the children who had gathered to her. She shoved the rations in their tiny, tiny fingers. "Please. Eat. Take all of these."
They grabbed at the bars, raspy voices croaking out, "Thank you, Nee-san."
They thanked her, took the food, and scurried away as if they were afraid she would change her mind.
She wouldn't.
She couldn't.
Sakura clutched tightly at her chest. A dark, burning anger ignited inside of her.
Sakura had never been one to encourage harm on others.
(Even if she sometimes had some bad, awful, cruel thoughts.)
But she thought that whoever was the cause of this deserved a little payback.
Because whoever was behind this was nothing short of an evil, vile, pathetic little worm.
And the world would be better off if Sakura squashed it under her boot.
(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง
(NAASICA)
Sakura was the first to return, and oh I loved that dark gleam in her eyes.
She saw something terrible, and the first embers of rage at what she saw were starting to show.
What will break you, my little student? What will be the final straw that makes you hate this world?
What will it take for you to join me?
I smiled at her, pleased with that look on her face. I patted my spot on the porch, and Sakura looked up sharply at the noise. She saw me, grimaced, and took a seat beside me. "Hello, Sensei."
"Hello, Sakura-chan," I returned, a warm feeling inside my gut from the thought of one of my students already joining me. "See something interesting?"
Her entire face twisted up into a dark fury, and a spike of murderous intent leaked out from her. Sakura clenched her hands tightly into fists, and she curled her lip back in disgust. "Poverty. Children starving. Blood, bile, and God knows what else covering the streets. These people are being tortured, Sensei. We have to do something. We have to help them."
Starving kids was definitely hard to see. Those that were truly impoverished, I visited as Owari and offered them sanctuary in Amegakure. All gleefully accepted, and all have joined the cause.
But it was rare to see an entire village impoverished outside of war.
The greed of a single man was truly impressive.
"Okay," I said with a smile, extremely happy with these events unfolding. "Let's wait for Naruto, and Hinata to return before we do anything."
Sakura's eyes widened, and her jaw dropped. She clearly didn't expect me to agree. "Wh-What? R-Really? We'll help them?"
"Of course. I want to make this world a better place, after all."
(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง
We waited for Naruto and Hinata to return before we all headed inside. I had already become acquainted with Tazuna's daughter, Tsunami. Inari, Tazuna's grandson, had hidden himself in his bedroom upon my arrival. The poor thing seemed to instinctually shy away from me, the color draining from his face as soon as he saw me. Tsunami had apologized profusely on behalf of her son, ashamed he had turn tail and fled.
I accepted her apologies with a sweet smile, bemused the child believed me to be some kind of villain.
Children have such remarkable instincts.
After introductions were made, I headed out to sit on the front porch and await for my students to return.
It was such a lovely day outside, after all, and I wasn't in the mood to make small talk with unimportant clients.
"So," I said with a dark smile. "Sakura-chan thinks we should do something to help these poor people. What do you two think?"
"Sure," Naruto said with a shrug. "What's wrong with the people?"
"It's awful," Sakura blurted out, her eyes burning. "The whole town is filled with starving people—the children look like one good gust will break them in half!"
Naruto's face twisted up in disgust. "What the hell? There's tons of fish here, how's that happening?"
"I-I noticed there were some groups roaming around the outskirts," Hinata hesitantly put in. She bit on her bottom lip, thinking over her next choice of words carefully. "I do not wish to be so quick to judge, but... they appeared to be thugs."
"Thugs is a nice way of putting it," Tazuna snorted. "They belong to Gato... and that bastard has been bleeding us dry. He takes all of our money, our clothes, our food, our homes... When we put up any resistance, he kills us. He killed my son, Inari's father, and countless others. We can't afford protection, and since Gato controls the boats, we can't bring in revenue. That's why I'm building the bridge—that's why I have to finish it."
Sakura shook her head in disbelief. "Why is he doing all of this? What good does it do him to starve an entire village?"
"Monsters don't have reasons to be monsters," I silkily said to Sakura, the edges of my lips curling into a sneer. "They are abominations that suck the life and innocence out of this world. They don't have any reason, Sakura-chan."
"Everyone has a reason," Naruto protested. "No one is just evil."
"I didn't realize a child who hasn't been outside of his village for more than a week was so wise." The toxic sarcasm in my voice made Naruto flinch, and the sunshine lowered his gaze.
"What can we do to help these people?" Hinata inquired, uncomfortable from my earlier venom. "Th-That's what we should be focusing on, right?"
"It's actually very simple," I said, brightening. "We go monster hunting!"
Sakura gasped. "We're going to kill Gato?!"
"Wh-What?" Tazuna yelped. "Y-You can't do that. Y-You're only children!"
"I don't see why not. I made my first kill when I was..." My brow furrowed as I thought. "Six? No, five?"
The horror on Tazuna's face made me want to laugh, but now wasn't the time for that.
Instead, I said, "As lead, I'm changing up this mission. In order to protect our client, I have deemed this Gato too dangerous to leave alive. My dear, sweet, soldiers, you're tasked with taking care of this threat. How lucky are you? Your first mission out, and you get to spill blood!"
Blood drained from Hinata and Naruto's faces, but there was a grim tightness in their posture. The spark in their eyes could only best be described as reluctant resolve. Yes, my precious students knew this day would come. They knew they were be ordered to take a life, and they had long since prepared for it.
But they did not accept this task with glee, nor satisfaction.
No.
These two saw it the same way Kakashi saw it: an unpleasant, unavoidable task.
So they steeled themselves, despite the way they very dearly didn't want to.
What good soldiers those two made.
And dear, sweet, innocent little Sakura?
Oh...
Oh.
What a delicious fury in her eyes. I doubted she even realized it herself. That sort of sick, twisted, gleam of satisfaction in her eyes; the way her lips curled ever so slightly up.
There was no grim reluctance in her face.
No.
There was only satisfaction.
Such a good girl, I thought with fondness.
Never would I have imagined that the pitiful civilian girl would have such a sadistic streak.
Where, oh where, did she hide all that pent up anger for all these years? How did she vent out her dark urges?
Did she beat some poor boy up in the playground over, and over again? Did she made her enemies black and blue when the teachers weren't looking?
What a joyous feeling I had!
Pride.
Yes.
I was so very proud of that gleam in her eyes.
Don't worry, my fellow hunter, I'll make you a proper kunoichi. I'll show you how to paint the world in the hues of your Red.
Was this what Madara felt when he taught me?
My dear Madara-sama... I hope you'll be proud of what I have done.
Tazuna objected more, but the old man was no match for my level of persuasion. He relented, clutched even more tightly to his sake bottle, and told us to be safe.
I had Naruto set out and begin to scout. He was to account for every single one of Gato's allies, and Gato's fortress.
Given that all the enemies on the island didn't have chakra levels above civilian, I had Naruto go alone.
He may not have been looking forward to putting Gato's head on a pike, but he was thoroughly happy to be the lead scout on the stealth mission.
Hinata and Sakura had to set about making traps around Tazuna's house and the bridge. They had to make sure our client, and his family, would be safe while they were out, after all.
I would not be with them during this mission. I would send a clone to monitor from a safe distance, but I truly wanted to give them the chance to independently operate.
It was good experience.
Their ultimate goal was to eliminate all of Gato's thugs without anyone noticing. They would have to hide the bodies until they finished their task.
If any of the thugs were alerted, or if Gato found out, they would not be able to attend any more missions for an entire month.
What a lucky mission to have landed on. Such good live-fire practice for them.
(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง
(NARUTO)
Naruto sketched out a rough outline of Gato's fortress. He always kept a small black notebook in his back pocket for exactly this purpose: to catalogue information found. He sent shadow clones all over the compound, each one dispelling when they finished assessing their area. Naruto sat on a rooftop a safe distance away, and wrote down all the information he had gathered.
So far Naruto hadn't encountered any issues. He wasn't a true chakra sensor, but he had enough of a talent to differentiate chakra levels. Like, he could tell if someone was never trained in chakra, and he could tell people like Obitonii-chan or Naasicanee-chan were powerhouses when it came to chakra.
He was also a powerhouse, but he lacked the skill to properly utilize his entire reserves.
Gato's fortress was more of a luxury mansion than any kind of base a paranoid, greedy tyrant would use. There were no traps set up, but it was instead solely defended by a bunch of low-level thugs. There were a few who had some training—their chakra reserves were close to Sakura-chan's—but Naruto didn't feel like they were a threat.
In fact, he thought they would make really great target practice for Sakura. She'd only got to practice on targets, and animals, so she'd probably jump at the chance at getting to practice knocking humans out with her bow.
He'd have Sakura knock out the targets on the outer perimeter. Hinata would sneak onto the perimeter once enough of them were done, and she'd start working on the men inside while Naruto helped clean up the unconscious bodies. After everyone was neutralized, they'd all meet up to deal with Gato.
From the looks of it, Gato was still snoring away in his fancy-pancy bedroom. He'd probably still be asleep by the time they reached him, since Naruto planned to have them start as soon as he got back.
This is pretty cool, Naruto thought. We get to save a whole village from an evil tyrant on our first mission. How badass are we?
(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง
(SAKURA)
Naruto returned barely two hours after he left, the moon high up in the sky. None of them had really slept since arriving, but that was fine. They all had grown accustomed to running on little sleep, and frankly this mission was (physically) a thousand times easier than their training.
Sakura never wanted to endure the beginning of that hellish training ever again. She may not have been able to argue with results, but she could definitely say without a shadow of doubt that that was the hardest time in her entire life.
She had never been so damn tired and in so much pain, both mentally and physically before. Her mother looked particularly distressed during the whole thing, and more than once Sakura's mother had ran out of the room Sakura was in, crying.
Home started to become as stressful s as training. Dealing with her mother's odd hysterics, and her father's abrupt distance was difficult. Perhaps if Sakura had still be attending school, she could have better handled it. She could have sat down with her mother and talked it all out.
Unfortunately, she didn't have even an iota of energy by the time she got home. She barely managed to shovel down her dinner, lay in a bath for an hour, and then fall asleep.
If Sakura was a lesser person, she would have quit within the first three days.
She didn't, though, and she was proud of herself for that.
But she wouldn't want to go through it ever again.
Naruto laid out his plan: Sakura would snipe the outside patrols, and Hinata would sneak inside to work on the others. Naruto would move the bodies around and hide them, and then the trio would rendezvous outside of Gato's bedroom.
It was a simple plan, and Sakura felt prideful that she was chosen for a vital role.
She was also nervous about making her first kills.
She knew this day would come. She knew it logically in the academy, and emotionally when she endured The Pit.
And now that it was finally time, her nerves started to show. She fiddled with the beautiful bow strapped to her, and resisted the urge to lower her gaze.
I'm going to be a strong kunoichi like Naasica-sensei, Sakura told herself. Naasica-sensei was a war hero, and one of the greatest kunoichis to have existed. On top of her exemplary mission record, she had a strong relationship with the current daimyo, Mo, and was the creator of Hell Forest.
It could be argued that Naasica-sensei played the biggest role in ending the Third Great War.
She did so by massacring the enemy forces to such a degree, they simply couldn't afford to keep fighting.
This obviously meant that Naasica-sensei had taken a lot of lives for the sake of her village, and Sakura knew that she would be expected to do the same.
She thought she was prepared for it. She believed that once she had taken her first life it would be a life-changing moment, and Sakura would adapt and become okay with the idea.
So why was she nervous?
They discussed the plans for a few more minutes, before they started to gather their stuff. Perhaps they should have been more extensive in planning, but all three of them were eager to finish.
Hinata was the first to head out, with Naruto following shortly behind. Sakura was only a minute late, but Naasica-sensei grabbed her hand and pulled her aside.
Naasica-sensei smiled at Sakura. Sakura thought it was a very pretty smile—Naasica-sensei was easily the most beautiful woman Sakura had seen—and Sakura felt herself relaxing from that smile.
At times her sensei could seem cruel, but then there were moments were warmth showed through and Sakura found herself admiring Naasica-sensei all over again.
"It's okay to be nervous," Naasica-sensei soothed, her tone gentle and sweet. Sensei tenderly brushed back a strand of Sakura's hair behind her ear. "But I want you to remember what you saw in that village today, Sakura-chan. Remember all those innocent civilians, and remember that these people guarding Gato see the same thing you do... And they choose to help the monster."
Sakura's stomach dropped, a surge of hot rage racing through her and heating up her entire body.
She hadn't really thought about that. She hadn't given much thought to the thugs protecting Gato, but now that she had—
How dare they?!
They weren't any better than Gato!
"These are the people who act on Gato's behalf... so these are the people who drag out those poor, kind, children out of their homes, while they do awful things to their parents," Naasica-sensei went on. Sakura didn't miss the pity in Naasica-sensei's tone, nor the underlining hint of disgust.
Naasica-sensei patted Sakura-chan's cheek, her smile stretching wider in a way that reminded Sakura of a cat who found a new toy. "I only want you to understand, Sakura-chan, that those people are no longer human. The moment they made their choice to hurt the innocent, they gave up their humanity. They're monsters now, Sakura-chan, and you don't need to feel anything for doing what is right. You'll protect those villagers, won't you, Sakura-chan?"
"Of course," Sakura blurted out, her anger momentarily forgotten. "I'll make sure no one hurts them again!"
Sensei seemed delighted about this, a beautiful light sparkling in her eyes. "What a good girl. Go on, then, my dear. And do try to have fun!"
Sakura bowed her head, before she headed out to catch up with Naruto and the others.
(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง
The trip to Gato's mansion went by quick.
The island was a dreary place, Sakura noticed. Even the trees seemed deprived of nutrients, and hope, and the heavy fog that persisted was downright depressing.
But soon they won't have to worry about Gato anymore, Sakura thought. The thought sent a jolt of warmth in her chest, and she fought to keep a smile off her face. With Gato gone, and a bridge... they'll be saved.
Sakura caught up with her teammates, and Naruto guided her up in the trees where she had a good view of the entire mansion. The trio of them silently watched the patrols before Sakura made the first move.
Sakura cocked her bow, her chakra flaring to life and creating the bowstring and arrow. It didn't glow brightly, like one might think, but was instead a barely visible transparent white light. The arrow was hard to see in daylight unless Sakura put more chakra into it—the more chakra she put into the arrow, the further it would go. They were beginning their assault two hours before dawn, so there was hardly any visible light outside of the mansion's lanterns.
The first guard Sakura was aiming for was one who stood alone on a balcony. He was leaning against a back wall, so if Sakura took him out, no one would notice right away.
You don't need to feel anything for doing what is right.
Sakura pulled the arrow completely back, and Naruto shifted his weight beside her. She could feel Hinata moving on other side, but Sakura didn't pay either of her teammates much attention.
They're monsters now, Sakura-chan.
An image of the children from the previous morning flickered in Sakura's mind as she released the arrow.
It soared through the air, and between one blink and the next it found its target.
It dug itself squarely in the forehead of the grunt, who fell down, dead.
There was a minute of silence, as all three members of team seven processed what happened.
Sakura blinked, then twice, and wondered why she wasn't bothered.
She should have been at least a little disturbed by what happened, right?
He was a human—
No, he was a monster.
Oh.
Sakura's lips turned up in a smile, relieved.
That's right. It was only a monster. Humans don't starve other humans. Humans don't make children orphans, or torture them.
That was why Sakura wasn't bothered. If she had actually killed a human, she would definitely be upset.
But why bother with a monster?
Sakura smiled at Naruto and Hinata and said, "I'm going to take care of them all. I don't want any of them to escape, and come back to hurt the villagers."
Naruto gaped at her. "But—But you—you killed him."
"Yeah," Sakura said, agreeing. "These people are helping Gato. Why should they be spared, when we're going to kill Gato? They're just as responsible. And what if we let them go, and they come back and hurt the survivors? They're monsters, Naruto-kun. We shouldn't let them get away."
Naruto's face screwed up. Incredulous, he asked, "Monsters?"
"That's what Naasica-sensei called them."
"S-Sakura-chan is right about one thing," Hinata quickly intervened. "Th-They might come back if we let them go. Okaa-sama says w-we shouldn't leave loose ends."
Naruto shook his head in disbelief. "Are you guys serious? We don't know anything about them, how can we judge them and kill them? We only have to kill Gato."
"Then kill Gato," Sakura retorted. "I'm making sure they won't hurt anyone else again."
Naruto rubbed at his forehead, sighing through his nose. "Fine. Do what you want."
Sakura nodded firmly, her smile dropping. "Are you... are you still going to hide the bodies?"
Naruto rose his eyebrows, frowning. "Uh, duh. We're teammates. I'm not so against the idea that I'd try to stop you, or leave you alone."
Both girls smiled brightly at Naruto.
"Let's get this done. I wanna hurry back and brag about how friggin cool and badass we are," Naruto declared.
(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง
(NAASICA)
I watched my trio of students with a fond smile on my face.
Naruto was doing a good job hiding how uncomfortable he was. If I hadn't been one of the people to raise him, I might have believed his mask.
Taking a life didn't sit well with my adopted son, and I doubted it ever would. There was too much of Kushina inside of him, and a deeply ingrained part of him wanted to believe the best in people.
But he grew up in a home where everyone was a killer, and it was considered the norm.
I'll have Kakashi talk to him, I thought to myself. Obito and I were comfortable with taking lives, and inflicting pain on those that displeased us. Kakashi didn't hesitate taking a life, but he was always the one to stop Obito or myself from "going too far."
He might be able to help Naruto become comfortable in his new profession. Or convince my dear sunshine to retire from the shinobi career and become a baker like Itachi. Either outcome was good.
Maybe he only needs more exposure, I thought, watching Sakura successfully snipe the grunts. Sakura is a bit of an oddity for a civilian girl. Hisana had Hinata working on cadavers since the heiress was a toddler, so Hinata has likely become desensitized. I, on the other hand, tried to keep Naruto as innocent as I could. I didn't expose him to anything more severe than animal hunting on camping trips. The Pit was the first time he had seen human corpses.
Should I give him all assassination missions from here on out until he's adjusted? Or would that be too much?
Regardless, that was an issue to be dealt with after we returned. It was good that his first "hunting" mission was against proper monsters. I was certain they would all feel good when those poor villagers thanked them profusely.
Perhaps if I found more missions with monsters, and Naruto kept hunting monsters, he would become acclimated.
That seemed like a good idea regardless. Sakura appeared to be taking pleasure in her monster hunting. Her smiles, and sparkling eyes were truly adorable.
Hinata, while not against killing, didn't relish in it like Sakura. She was a proper professional, and reminded me of young Kakashi.
Now that I think about it, Obito was a lot like Naruto. My Obito didn't enjoy killing, and he even tried to save others. But look at him now, a proper sadist!
Maybe if I let things be, let Naruto grow on his own, he'd turn into Obito.
That would be lovely.
Hinata, the second version of Kakashi.
Naruto, the second version of Obito.
And Sakura, the second version of myself.
Oh, yes... what a lovely thought.
(ง ⌣ ~ ⌣) ง
Answer: My love of stories.
Question: What universe would you want to be reborn into?
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