True Ninja

By Atreyu452

(Note: Most Japanese words do not have a plural like English words. The plural of ninja is ninja, and therefore I will refrain from using plurals with all Japanese words. It’s very painful to see a Japanese word pluralized with an‘s’ if you understand Japanese. This story is based a little after the Zabuza story arch)

All is behind, the world ahead.

There are many paths to tread.

Through shadow, to the edge of night.

Until the stars are all alight.

Mist and shadow, cloud and shade.

All shall peak, all shall… fade.

“The Steward of Gondor” (as sung by Billy Boyd)

The Lord of the Rings, The Return of the King

Deliver the scroll, they said. Do so at all costs. Don’t hold back. He didn’t even know what was on it.

He didn’t care. It wasn’t his job to care.

The wind rushed by his face, ripping and tearing at the loose, silver hair that covered his head, protesting the speed at which he raced through the bleak forest. He was using all caution he dared, but he had no time to do things by the book. The scroll had to be delivered now, or else the mission would be a failure.

Sometimes he wondered about this book people kept talking about. If it was so important, why hadn’t they just used a scroll instead of a book? A scroll was much more significant (and portable) than a book. Although he wasn’t one who should talk—he always had a book from his favorite series on him.

(He worried about his mental health at times. Wondering about a figure of speech at a time as dangerous as this was not a positive indicator of sanity.)

And suddenly he saw it. Barely visible through the thick branches was an ancient temple, standing out against the red and gold of the dying forest. After all, every year comes the fall, and with it, death; nature in its truest form. The never-changing contrasting colors of the temple—light brown walls decorated with the occasional golden design topped with the bright red roofs—blended in well with the trees around it. The area generated the perfect picture of serenity, silent and peaceful.

(He had learned early on to be suspicious of silence, especially in the middle of a forest. It took a lot to shut nature up—something louder and much more dangerous than a three-year-old on a sugar high.)

There were no birds singing, no insects buzzing, nothing. In his profession, trust was discouraged, but one could always trust the self-preservation instincts of all creatures. Right now, the silence told him everything he needed to know. There was a small group hidden in the forest surrounding the temple, maybe three or four of them. They were spread out, taking advantage of the natural cover, but not good enough to fool the forest’s inhabitants.

(Perhaps they had not learned the lesson about silence. He had learned it all too well when he was young, having watched in horror as a good friend fell with a kunai buried in his eye.)

That clued him in on another thing—they were inexperienced, probably chounin or below. He froze, taking in his surroundings, and quickly spotted the reason for the silence. Two ninja were hidden by the temple’s entrance. Genin, judging by how easily he managed to find them.

Two genin against a jounin like himself?

There had to be more. Two genin were not enough to silence insects. But how did they know about the scroll? And why were such low level ninja sent to keep it from being delivered?

Maybe they weren’t here to stop him from delivering the scroll. Maybe they were here for another reason. He scowled, his expression hidden underneath his mask. This was the last time he took a job without getting all the details. The last time had resulted in a showdown with the Mist ninja Zabuza and Haku. The job description of this mission had said nothing about other ninja.

He took a moment to scrutinize his opponents. They looked young, like new genin. That meant there were probably three of them, with a jounin instructor close by. But he could sense no instructor, no chakra strong enough to be a jounin. Of course, there were ways of hiding that, but it just added to the other confusing circumstances of this mission. Why send new genin on an A level mission? Even with an instructor supervising, it was too dangerous for mere genin.

He spotted the third one when the ninja shifted his weight, giving away his careful concealment for a split second. Sand ninja, he realized, seeing the mark on the genin’s forehead protector. That could explain a lot—Sand ninja weren’t known for doing things the normal way.

It was obviously a setup. So obvious that it was painful. That, he had learned through another experience in his past, was what made it so dangerous. With inexperienced opponents, the outcome was unpredictable. What had he been thinking, taking this mission?

He should not be doing this. He had other responsibilities. Students to teach (or torment, as he referred to it mentally). Yet when the Hokage asked for volunteers, he was the first to raise his hand. Every single time.

Why?

His thoughts were interrupted by the unmistakable sound of kunai cutting through the thick air, the sound they made whistling in his ears. He had stayed in one place for too long, and had somehow been spotted. He spun around and caught them, startled to discover that there were only two. Amateurs. They should have thrown something he wouldn’t be able to catch, and would have to dodge. Something that would have driven him out into a waiting trap.

Unless his catching the kunai was part of the trap.

He shot forward, nimbly flowing through the braches and tree trunks like he had become part of the wind itself. His senses were on high, seeking any traps that may lie in his path.

But there was nothing.

He landed in the clearing in front of the temple’s gate. The two concealed genin moved; giving away the positions he already knew about. A third appeared at the top of the gate, twirling a shuriken between his fingers.

Only three greeted him, and his instincts told him only these three he would have to deal with. They were young, as he had thought, and barely in their teens, by the look of them. Inexperienced, he knew. The lack of well-planned traps proved that.

(He was making assumptions again, but one could not go through life without making assumptions. To make an assumption, he believed, was to pick a course of action. The wild fray of humanity proved that only by making assumptions, can one move forward in the world, no matter what the danger.)

There was something wrong with all of this. Sand ninja usually weren’t this stupid, even the new ones. Something in the back of his mind bothered him, reminding him of the mission and that he was running out of time.

It was time for the direct approach.

He launched himself forward and landed between the two Sand ninja on the ground. The genin were clustered together like fools. He quickly grabbed the two of them before they could react and lifted them off the ground, pausing momentarily before tossing them aside like broken toys.

They were nothing more than children.

The last genin leaped off of the gate and threw a kunai in his direction. He dodged it easily, pulling out a kunai of his own. His time was nearly up—playtime was over. He threw the dagger at the Sand ninja, successfully pinning the genin to the wooden gate. Fortunately for the genin, it had not been his intention to hurt the Sand ninja, and he hadn’t. The genin was pinned to the gate by his clothing. Realizing he couldn’t move, the genin froze and stared at him in horror.

One of his companions, the other male, was there in a flash, a kunai in hand and his body positioned protectively in front of his teammate.

He didn’t know whether to be impressed or irritated. If the genin had any sense, he would have stayed down. Still, the genin seemed to be the sharpest of the group, and the quickest to recover. Taking him out first would be the safest. His target was standing in front of his frozen companion. His cool, confidant aura was shattered by the nervous sweat running down his face.

He looked like Sasuke.

He hesitated for a moment. He could easily take them both down within seconds, but he couldn’t bring himself to go for the kill. His gaze drifted to the last genin, the only female. She was pulling herself off the ground slowly, a dazed expression on her face. He hadn’t hit her very hard, yet the girl—possessing long hair that resembled Sakura’s—had a long cut on the side of her face.

Children. They were children, newly genin. He made his move, putting his kunai away and slamming his fist against the side of the Sasuke look-a-like’s head instead. It wasn’t very kind, but at least it wasn’t lethal. The Sand ninja dropped without a sound.

The genin behind his fallen partner snapped out of his daze. With a cry, he yanked the kunai pinning him to the gate out and launched himself forward. A determined light shone in his eyes, resembling that of—

Naruto.

“Nan da?” he gasped, pulling away from the Sand ninja. He was hallucinating; these Sand ninja weren’t his students, they didn’t even look similar… yet, in a way, they did.

Streaks of light began to stain the sky, reminding him of his mission. He had less than a minute to get the scroll into the temple. The only thing in his way was the last Sand ninja. The straightest way to the temple was the path the young genin was blocking.

He had no time. It was his mission or the boy’s life. Kakashi Hakate pulled out a kunai and shot forward.

A second later the blood began to soak the ground.

“Where is he?” Sakura fumed. “We’ve been standing here for hours!”

 Sasuke leaned against the bridge’s rail, silent.  It was true that Kakashi-sensei was late—as usual—but since their missions usually consisted of pulling weeds or walking dogs; he could wait a little longer. Yard work did not appeal to someone of his skill.

Naruto was leaning against the bridge rail, studying the koi in the water intently. He looked like he was pondering something of great importance, but actually he was thinking of his next meal. The fish reminded him of shrimp, which reminded him of shrimp ramen, which reminded him that he had eaten over an hour ago and was hungry again (his thought process went this way quite often).

“Yo!”

Naruto jerked up from the spot to see Kakashi standing at the end of the bridge.

“You’re late!” he and Sakura yelled simultaneously.

Kakashi rubbed the back of his head. “I had to save a cat from being trapped in a tree for this little girl.”

“You liar!” Naruto and Sakura yelled again.

Same old routine. Sasuke detached himself from the bridge rail and started walking. Although… he paused and looked back. It was a little odd that Kakashi was standing on the bridge, and not the tall torii gate. He usually gave them their list of missions for the day from that perch.

Naruto and Sakura were still grousing at Kakashi for his usual lateness. Sasuke shrugged off his thoughts and continued walking.

“Well, since I’m here, why don’t we tackle our new and exciting missions for the day,” Kakashi announced, pulling out a scroll. He handed it to Sakura and gestured toward Sasuke’s retreating back. “Why don’t you and Sasuke take a look at these while I talk with Naruto?”

Sakura looked surprised and Naruto stared at his sensei with nervous apprehension, but the young female ninja slowly turned and ran to catch up with Sasuke. Naruto stayed, fidgeting. He knew that a one-on-one with Kakashi probably wasn’t good—and that Sasuke was spending time with Sakura without him was definitely not good.

“Anou sa, anou sa… I’m not in trouble, am I?” Naruto asked carefully.

Kakashi laughed. “No. I just wanted to talk to you about something.” He grew serious, studying Naruto closely. The boy stared back, his eyes wide and innocent. Innocence. That was rare for a ninja, especially one like Naruto, whose body harbored the malicious spirit of the nine-tailed fox demon, but it was there. Kakashi wondered briefly how long it would last. Soon Naruto would hold the blood-soaked body of his best friend… he would see countless slaughtered for the love of money and power… soon he would kill. Innocence rarely survived such ordeals.

“Naruto, you said something about the life of a ninja when we were in the land of the Mist,” Kakashi said slowly, still eyeing the boy intently.

Naruto blinked, taken aback. He had expected to be scolded for something he had done (what it was he couldn’t think of, but it was always something). Then he remembered he wasn’t dealing with Iruka-sensei. “What do you mean?” he asked.

“What would you say if I told you the life of a ninja meant more than to live, breath, and die for the mission?”

Naruto thought about it for a moment. “That’s not right…” he said slowly.

“Oh? The life of a ninja is nothing; it’s worthless,” Kakashi pressed, trying to prompt the boy’s memory.

Again Naruto shook his head. “No, that’s not right. There’s more to it than that.”

“But what?” Kakashi asked, crossing his arms. “Can you tell me?”

Naruto gave him a confused look.

“I’ll give you a scenario. Say the only thing between you and completing your mission was another ninja?”

“That’s easy!” Naruto declared. “Take him down!”

Kakashi smiled grimly. “Even if that ninja was half your age, scared to death, and stood no chance?”

Naruto paused. “I’m not sure what you’re asking…” he said slowly.

“Naruto, if killing him was the only way to complete your mission, would you do so?”

Again Naruto hesitated. Kakashi could almost see the gears working in the boy’s head as he pondered the question. Sakura or even Sasuke would give him the answer they thought he wanted, thinking it was some sort of trick, but Naruto wasn’t like that. He always said what he thought, no matter what it was or what affect it had.

Naruto glanced at the water flowing under the bridge. Kakashi’s question echoed in his head. The obvious answer was yes, because that was what he had been taught in the academy. Yet his mind drifted back to a certain event on a half-finished bridge, and a certain boy born in a snow-covered village.

“I would… try to find another way, I guess,” Naruto replied, shrugging. His posture and tone of voice was casual, but his instructor could see the dark traces of the memory Naruto had visited remaining in his eyes.

Kakakshi reached out and ruffled Naruto’s hair. “I suppose that would be your answer,” he said in a good natured tone. “Why don’t you catch up to Sasuke and Sakura now? We wouldn’t want them to have too much time alone, now would we?”

Naruto’s eyes grew big, and he wildly turned around. Upon spotting Sasuke and Sakura in the far distance, he took off like a shot, yelling “Sakura-chan!” at the top of his lungs.

Kakashi watched him go for a moment. He was standing by the riverside the next. His vanishing techniques were a bit much for non-mission situations, but he liked to keep his students off-guard.

Of course Naruto wouldn’t do it, he thought, eyeing the blood-covered kunai in his hand. The blood still hadn’t dried. That’s the way he is. With more experience and skill, he might be able to pull it off and survive.

Kakashi dipped the kunai into the cool water and held it there, watching a streak of red begin to stain the stream.

So, which is better? Who is the true ninja in this situation? Kakashi wondered. Me, the one who follows his training, or Naruto, who follows his heart?

The red-tinted water gave him no answer.

Mist and shadow, cloud and shade.

All shall peak, all shall… fade.

Owari

Author’s notes: Naruto belongs to somebody. I don’t know who, but it’s not me. Billy Boyd does not belong to me, unfortunately. He belongs to himself and the eternal torment of having fangirls ask him to sing that song, over and over. This weird little fic inspired by heavy sinus medicine.

Because of this fic’s…unusualness, compared with my average style, I have to explain it a bit more. Because I use an impersonal tone when during most of the first part of the story, the parts that look like (this) indicate Kakashi’s thought pattern, or what he’s personally going through. Another note, I didn’t put most of the Japanese I used in italics because of their frequent use (and any Naruto fan should know what they mean anyway). However, for your convenience, here’s a list anyway.

Japanese Words and Terms.

Genin—lowest rank or level of ninja

Chounin—a step higher than genin

Jounin—highest rank besides Hokage

Kunai—Japanese dagger, used frequently as a throwing dagger

Sensei—teacher, instructor

Chan—suffix, term of endearment used for girls or small children

“Nan da!”—“What the!”

“Anou sa”—Naruto’s favorite phrase. Anou is like saying “um,” but as for the rest of it… I’m not sure. Oo

Owari—The end.