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It's incredible, really. I get distracted waaay too often.
Volgin: Stop nagging. It's annoying.
SeikoTuNeR: Sakura has always been mature for her age... except when she's dealing with Sasuke and I suspect that the immaturity she displayed was exacerbated by her falling out with Ino. It hasn't happened here, so I thought it would fit.
Everyone else: Thank you for the encouragement and reviews. Did I mention how much I love reviews? I probably shouldn't... but I can't help it. Those numbers make my day damn it!
By the way, if you notice any mistakes, don't be afraid to point them out. You'd be doing me a favor.
A shinobi with that kind of ability, ten years old or not, should have received his license and been thrown onto the battlefield with wild abandon. Theory served a purpose, but it came as a distant third to actual practical qualities and fortitude! Regardless of anyone’s feelings about him, the fact remained that Uzumaki Naruto could fight and fight well. Any information he needed to know could be taught during mission briefings. In truth, the theory he taught at the academy was insignificant. Its only practical use was to train the student’s minds so that they could retain more accurate information for longer periods of time. In his class, Haruno Sakura could eventually become a brilliant spy or medic.
When the young vessel’s escort informed him that their charge was a combat specialist, they had led him astray. The nine-tails’ vessel was certainly not a combat specialist.
The Inuzuka, the Akimichi, the Hyuuga and the Uchiha were chock-full of combat specialists, but that didn’t mean a damned thing. Uchiha Sasuke and Hyuuga Neji both fit into the term, but Uzumaki Naruto was something else entirely. Simply put, if the little urchin who couldn’t be anything other than the Fourth Hokage’s close relative were to defect from the village, he would undoubtedly be classified as an S-Rank missing-nin.
Of course, since Naruto hadn’t actually graduated from the Academy, they couldn’t exactly do that but that didn’t really matter.
He would bet his entire life savings that Morino Ibiki had compiled an extremely detailed file on the boy, chronicling his abilities and development and he wouldn’t be too surprised if some other village had also inserted him in their bingo book, regardless of the fact that he wasn’t an active ninja.
Shinobi with that kind of strength inevitably became legends and had their existence attached to lofty monikers. The vessel was too strong. He had no place in the Academy. There was nothing they could teach him, and there was no common ground between him and the other students for them to develop any kind of meaningful relationships. He was wasting his time.
Iruka slowly rubbed his coarse scar as he moved past animated classrooms and busy hallways. Students of various age and gender excitedly rushed through the hallways, taking advantage of the chuunin faculty’s absence to do as they pleased. They rambunctiously sought out friends and relatives in order to gossip about the recent events. Though he ached to direct the children into their respective places and restore order, he couldn’t do so in good conscience. Not when their elders reacted in much the same manner.
He couldn’t help but grimace at the memory. Their behaviour had been undignified, galling even. His fellow staff members deserted their hiding places and reached the victorious Uchiha before the dust scattered by Uzumaki’s collapse had even settled. They then proceeded to congratulate the village’s ANBU commander on his ‘magnificent triumph’ while degrading the child’s skill.
‘The brat’s not that tough after all,’ one had commented with a harsh glare towards the unconscious shinobi.
‘You sure showed him!’ another had declared.
Iruka held no lost love for the jinchuuriki, but he could respect effort and determination. Naruto’s technique had undoubtedly been acquired after countless hours of gruelling practice. He didn’t know who taught him, but the boy had obviously put much effort into it. The boy must have trained single-mindedly since he left the Academy.
Not only did his fellow chuunin disrespect that effort, they also callously disregarded the obvious respect the two shared. Never mind the fact that the kid was stronger than any of them by several orders of magnitude and therefore deserved some measure of respect.
Yet they could only look on confusedly as Itachi totally ignored their presence to join his team-mates in caring for object of their scorn. His colleagues’ pettiness had been contemptible and since everyone in the know had been occupied and unlikely to answer his questions, he had decided to slip away to the teacher’s lounge and cool his head.
As the guileless chuunin reached his destination, he glanced around the dynamic pathway before opening the door. At least the students took care to avoid physical contact with him, even if they didn’t extend the same courtesy to their peers.
“Ah, Iruka-kun! I was waiting for you!”
The man in question jerked his head to the source of the greeting and bowed even as his eyes widened.
“Hokage-sama!”
Truthfully, the pain was a mere inconvenience. He was more than used to it, after all. What really bothered him was the fact that Anko was sneaking a grope every other second. He’d tried to tell her that he wasn’t a free buffet and that he didn’t need a massage, but she’d just smiled and carried on regardless of his disapproval.
The flustered blond, desperate for a way to ignore the wandering hands, moved his gaze around the training grounds until he caught sight of the impassive Uchiha crouching a few feet away. His features unconsciously twisted into a scowl. Since his flame had been separated between the multiple seals and the majority had been removed, the remaining conversion seals didn’t have enough power to impede his speech so he had no problem opening his mouth and letting his opinion be known.
“Oi, Weaselmask! Are you ever going to stop being a thick headed idiot and go see the school medic? Or am I going to have to get up and drag you there myself?” he yelled.
The dozen or so chuunin surrounding them erupted with loud exclamations of scorn and contempt that he ignored completely. In any case, they were abruptly and violently silenced as Anko finally stopped molesting him and stalked towards them. The chuunin scattered as she gave chase and the rest of them ignored the entire sequence.
Kurenai looked up and questioned his words as she worked on pulling the last seal of his leg. “Naruto, I don’t think Itachi should leave just to take care of a few bruises. We are on a mission… no matter how informal and relaxed we may seem,” she explained gently.
Naruto snorted in derision, both at her evaluation of Itachi’s injuries and the supposed ‘mission’. “If he’d only gotten bruised I wouldn’t even have thought about it. Nah, if I mentioned it, it’s because he’s done something spectacularly stupid, as opposed to his normal everyday stupidity.”
Kakashi flipped another page of his book and decided that he could afford to join in the conversation. “Naruto… you really need to learn to act with at least some tact.” The indispensable advice of the Copy-ninja. Naruto wondered if he should take notes.
The shape-shifted man snorted again, except louder and sharper somehow. “I wouldn’t talk if I were you, masked pervert. In fact, if I was you, I’d feel a lot worse than I do now, but that’s kind of off topic,” Kakashi actually looked vaguely offended, but he was on a roll and couldn’t press his advantage. “There’s no way you didn’t notice. You allowed the idiocy to take place unchallenged which makes you just as dim as him. Besides,” he added with a grin. “It’s not like he can respond without revealing himself, so there’s really no point in me holding my tongue.”
He moved his head back in time to let a shuriken pass by harmlessly and smirked in Itachi’s direction. “No point at all,” he enunciated precisely. Black eyes flickered to red as Itachi prepared to rise to his challenge.
Unfortunately, a certain genjutsu specialist wouldn’t allow them to do as they pleased. His beautiful self-appointed and unofficial foster mother reached for his thigh and pinched, hard. For some reason, he could never seem to shrug off pain when it was administered outside of combat and by people he genuinely liked. In fact, he was pretty sure it actually hurt more than it should.
Kurenai had discovered this along the way and took ruthless advantage of it.
“Naruto,” he couldn’t help but wince at her curt tone. “Stop antagonizing Itachi.”
Now, normally this was where he would’ve folded, because winning an argument was never worth alienating a friend. However, this time, he could easily win the argument by bringing her over to his side. “Nice lady, don’t you think it odd that Weaselmask hasn’t said a word throughout all this?” he suggested slyly.
She wasn’t impressed. “You can stop dancing around the subject.”
Yikes, she certainly wasn’t willing to cooperate today. Suddenly, this whole Academy thing was becoming way more trouble than he was willing to deal with. It was long past time for him to vacate the premises. Luckily, Anko was otherwise occupied, Ibiki was somewhere else and Itachi had handed him the perfect distraction.
“Alright, alright… Itachi needs to go see a medic-nin as soon as possible,” he claimed soberly. “He could get infected if he insists on being so stupid.”
Kurenai’s distinctive eyes narrowed in concern. “What are you talking about?” she demanded.
Hmm… she looked harried. He should probably avoid her for the next few days until she calmed down. “Remember when I plowed that huge fireball into him with grace and power? He looked fine when it dissipated, right?” He waited until she nodded to deny her affirmation. “Well, he wasn’t. Genius here decided that if he could protect his body with chakra, then my fire was entirely harmless. What an idiot… ow!”
“Get. On. With it.”
“Okay! Just because he can survive contact with flame doesn’t mean he doesn’t need to breathe anymore. To make things worse, the impact must have driven his breath out of him. So he didn’t have the time or the desire to think about what he was doing. Can you guess what happened?” Judging by the way she was eyeing the silent Uchiha, she most certainly did. “He opened his mouth and took a breath of fresh, tasty, blistering air. He doubtlessly thought to keep the flames out, but that didn’t make the air itself any cooler. It probably seared its merry way all the way down to his lungs, pillaging and ransacking all it found in its way, tongue, throat, and vocal cords included!” He enumerated with elaborate flourish.
Unfortunately, his histrionics went right above the heads of his spectators, but that didn’t bother him too much. After all, the two Jounin were concerned with weathering Kurenai’s rant and wonderment at their stupidity with their pride intact. He had warned the masked pervert that willful inaction was just as bad as the actual act.
Naturally, sneaking away at that point was pathetically easy. All he had to do was avoid actually sneaking away. Any attempts of subterfuge would be detected instinctively by every skilled ninja in range, but ordinary actions would pass right over their heads. So he simply got up and nonchalantly walked away, while making sure to avoid entering Anko’s field of vision. He wasn’t about to jeopardize his freedom on the assumption that the special Jounin was too busy to notice him. In her case, it was rarely ever so.
After a few moments of tense but uninterrupted travel, Naruto decided to label his escape as successful. He closed his eyes and focused on his innate form until his physical shape morphed to an exact match.
He kept his eyes closed even after his transformation was completed. Now that he had more time to think, he quickly came to the conclusion that he didn’t have anything to do. Justice was out of town and training by himself wouldn’t achieve much of anything. It was odd. He’d done so much training in the last three years that he hadn’t made any time to do anything else. Now that he couldn’t actually train anymore, he felt somewhat insecure and… lost.
He had escaped because the situation made him uncomfortable, but being alone and directionless was far more awkward. He had even begun contemplating going back when he realized that this was exactly what the old man had planned and of course, he wasn’t about to give the kage the satisfaction. So he just opened his eyes and walked without a destination in mind.
He walked forward, one step at a time. That was all he could remember of his journey, aside from the sights and sounds of a village in motion. Throughout his exploration, he was continuously struck the excitable countenances of the many civilians and the considerable length of time since he last walked among them. He loved people-watching, but he could only do it when they weren’t aware of his presence. Luckily, he’d gotten a lot better at blending into crowds. They wouldn’t notice him if he didn’t want them to, even with his handicap.
Considering the fact that it was a national holiday, he could understand their anticipation, at least rationally. However, in his experience, good and bad things happened spontaneously. He had never gotten to anticipate many things and consequently hated to wait for anything. But then again, maybe that would change. The old man had convinced him to hang around instead of hightailing it into the forests. Now that he thought about it, he probably shouldn’t have evaded his escort. After all, it was a dangerous day to be Uzumaki Naruto.
It was the first day of the New Year on the new calendar. It was October 10th on the old one and the second date on the bastard fox’s official and false obituary.
It was also the day his mother, father and a vast number of his father’s people lost their lives. It was the day his humanity became ambiguous and the day he first thrown on his path.
It was his birthday. He had finally entered the realm of double digits. Every one of his fingers had been claimed by a year. What worried him was the fact that he didn’t feel any different from the day before. He wondered if that was normal.
Suddenly, after a few hours of surreptitiously sightseeing around the village of his birth and eying his father’s immobile face melancholically, he stopped. It looked like he’d reached his destination.
They’d managed to isolate him from the flow of the crowd while keeping their actions from his awareness. It was only a matter of time until the civilians noticed him, but they wouldn’t do anything. Not in the presence of these fellows.
There were five of them. Imposing figures with achromatic hair and eyes, harsh features and overbearing personalities, wearing loose clothes made with quality navy cloth. If they were to turn around, he would doubtlessly see a red and white fan denoting their membership to an exclusive organization.
It was the Uchiha military police.
“Uzumaki Naruto,” one of the Uchiha said as he took a step closer. The blond in question instantly designated him as the group’s leader.
In the next instant, several villagers jerked in their direction and he had a hard time repressing his sigh. The policeman took his short silence as a sign to continue. “You are to accompany us to headquarters concerning the events that occurred earlier today at Konoha’s ninjutsu Academy. Do not try and resist, or we will use force.”
They didn’t look happy. He crossed his arms and decided to bide his time. If he was lucky, the others would find him before it was too late and he was forced to act. One thing was for sure, there was no way he was following them anywhere. The old man had warned him about this. If he ever had troubles with the law, he should wait until the ANBU arrived. The military police didn’t enter the process at any point.
He raised his blue eyes and watched the stoic policeman for a moment before deciding to fish for information. “What am I being charged with?” he asked.
“Aggravated assault,” was the response.
Naruto barely held back his snort. “Against who?”
“That information is classified. For the victim’s protection,” he claimed.
The bullshit was so acute that Naruto instantly lost any desire to cooperate. It was an incredibly obvious attempt at a cover-up and yet, by the outraged expressions of the visible civilians, they were swallowing it raw.
He hid a grimace. The quintet was obviously counting on the populace’s support to force his compliance. He would have to tread carefully. “Victim? Protection? Yeah right. Not only did we both agree to the spar, but Itachi also kicked my ass. No, you’re just trying to save face because your little golden boy got pressured in public by someone who’s not even a genin yet!” he shouted, making sure that everyone could hear him clearly.
Justice spent most of their training time trying to cause him grievous bodily harm. Insults were a large part of the package and Naruto had learned a thing or two.
One of the policemen obviously took exception to that. He threateningly stepped closed and yelled, “Watch your mouth, brat!”
The blond smiled. “Oh? Hit a nerve did I?” he mockingly asked the youngest looking Uchiha. The group rookie was always immensely useful to everything and everyone but the group itself. “I mean, don’t get me wrong, I understand your apprehension. It must be disconcerting when someone you recognize as simply better than you has trouble with anything, let alone what he’s supposed to be the best at.” He empathized with that young man. Really. “But you know, I would have thought it obvious that the whole ‘Uchiha is best’ bandwagon you’re all attached to was heading for a cliff and jagged rocks. I mean, there’s no doubt that some of your clan members are skilled, but you’re all acting like an Uchiha is stronger than any shinobi except a stronger Uchiha. Look,” Naruto behaved as if he was looking for eavesdroppers and ignored the hundred or so villagers staring at him in shocked (or was that appalled?) silence. “You didn’t hear this from me,” Obvious lies aren’t really lies, right? “But I have it on pretty good authority that some people think that makes you a little pretentious… or was that conceited? Arrogant? Weak? All of the above?”
The thought that his last comment may have been a little too mocking crossed his mind as he dodged the toeless boot and folded the enraged rookie around his fist. It wasn’t exactly hard. Not only did the rookie leave himself wide open, he also failed to activate his sharingan. Without that crutch, the policeman was unable to react to Naruto’s superior speed and received the blow without preparing himself. That, coupled with the fact that Uchihas generally lacked toughness as a direct result of their sharingan enhanced dodging skills and Naruto’s own lack of control over his strength, meant that the strike actually managed to knock the man unconscious.
Naruto looked at his KO’d opponent incredulously. “Oh come on,” he complained as he nudged the insensate policeman with his foot. “I barely even touched you! You practically ran into my fist!”
“Uzumaki Naruto,” The boy noticed that the other four had made their way closer and were posturing threateningly. Unlike their fallen comrade, all eight irises were painted in baleful crimson. “Assaulting a police officer is a felony!” Ringmaster sounded noticeably aggravated. He also didn’t seem to notice that he hadn’t actually said anything more than a statement.
The blond shrugged and waved dismissively. “What’s your point? Rookie attacked me. I defended myself. Successfully I might add,” added he with a grin.
“You dare!” yelled the Uchiha to his right.
Naruto ignored the other three and focused on the Ringmaster. He shoved his hands in his pockets and glared up into the slowly spinning eyes. He immediately felt a genjutsu attempting to ensnare him and wasted no time in unweaving it. Just because he didn’t like using illusions didn’t mean he couldn’t defend himself against them. “Let me explain in a way you’re sure to understand. If I were really in trouble, the Hokage would’ve sent his ANBU to retrieve me, like he always does. You guys don’t enter the process at any point. You’re out of your jurisdiction. You hold no power over me. This guy attacked me and I reacted as I was taught to react. No more, no less. If he was weak enough to let himself get beat up then that’s your problem, not mine.”
Ringmaster was eyeing him in a conspicuously careful manner. He must have noticed his genjutsu’s failure. “You are a civilian and the military police holds dominion over any issues concerning them,” he claimed.
“Ha!” It was funny. Really. “Me? A civilian? I haven’t ever been a civilian. Besides, what makes a shinobi? Is it a forehead protector, a piece of paper or ability? Are you so ready to claim that one of your own was defeated by a civilian?” Didn’t that defeat the entire purpose of covering up his fight with Itachi?
When he saw that his leader was hesitating, the Uchiha to his right decided to intervene. “Enough talk. Accompany us or face the consequences.” Ah, the ultimatum. The end of every successful negotiation.
Naruto shook his head in exasperation. “Tell you what. If I manage to beat all four of you or survive until reinforcements get here, you’ll recognize my status as a shinobi, even if I’m not currently allied to Konoha.” Four on one weren’t bad odds. Really. He’d be fine as long as they weren’t on Kakashi’s level. In any case, there was no way they could incapacitate him. Plus, they couldn’t use destructive jutsu because of the surrounding civilians. The old man would clear things up and he’d be fine. As long as he kept his strength in check.
Really.
The birthday boy was crouched behind a fully loaded fruit cart, sporting a number of rapidly fading bruises and desperation that only surfaced when he was feeling outmatched. It was a feeling he was very much familiar with, so it wasn’t impeding his thinking process too much.
In a way, he hadn’t been wrong. When evaluating individual abilities alone, he was far above them in most areas. In fact, that difference in skill was the only reason he was still in fighting condition, even with his healing abilities. Automatically regenerating flesh and bone was incredibly useful, but it didn’t allow him to walk with broken bones. If he lost any mobility here they’d be able to inflict damage faster than he could heal it.
The real challenge involved in defeating his four opponents laid in their teamwork. One wouldn’t expect it when confronted with their personalities, but the truth was that the members of the Uchiha clan, and to a lesser extent the Hyuuga clan, had the potential to become massive assets in any team requiring a large aptitude in field tactics.
The sharingan and the byakugan allowed their users to retrieve large amounts of information at an extreme rate and therefore increased the time available for analysis. That was the reason most doujutsu users seemed smarter than their peers when in time sensitive situations such as combat.
It was unfortunate, but because of their arrogance, most Uchiha could only reach their full potential when working with other Uchiha and thus continuously and mistakenly entertained the notion that their teammates were to blame for the loss in effectiveness rather than their own inability to explain themselves and yet still expect others to see their meaning. Their smug disdain for other shinobi was self-perpetuating.
Naruto could ruefully admit that tangling with an experienced team of sharingan wielding ninja hadn't been his greatest idea, but he wasn’t going to give up. It was kind of fun, if frustrating.
The Uchiha police squad’s level of coordination was nothing short of phenomenal. Since there was no rule stating that the sharingan’s precognition was limited to an enemy, his opponents shamelessly used it to keep an eye on one another. In practice, that meant a minimum of two Uchiha interfered with his every attempt at offense while the others kept on the attack. And as every adversary was armed with collapsible steel batons, they were able to attack without opening themselves to counterblows. Even with his speed, he couldn’t do anything other than graze them. If he wanted to have a chance at victory, he would have to disarm them.
The battle was taking place within a relatively wide circle of jeering merchants and villagers, who didn’t attempt to hide their cheer at his upcoming loss. He didn’t often fight with an audience, but he wasn’t about to let insults and shouts distract him.
The quartet of military police officers who currently served as his opposition was crouched in the middle of the street on the other side of his makeshift shield, though wood and soft, pliant fruit wouldn’t protect him from anything other than their eyesight.
It just so happened that these particular opponents’ greatest asset lied in their exceptional visual faculty.
Naruto took a deep breath, braced himself to dull crippling pain signals, took hold of the heavy fruit cart and pushed it with all his strength. The shrill cry of a merchant pierced through the roar of the crowd and was subsequently ignored. The mischievous blond made a mental note to avoid all merchants for the next few months as he weaved through multicolored orbs in search of targets.
Unfortunately, his ploy to negate the sharingan’s advantage by covering his movement with flying foodstuff was ultimately foiled by the fact that his opponents we not, as he had assumed, simply waiting for him to come out of hiding. Or rather, they were no less prepared to deal with his attacks now than they were when he was in plain view.
The whiskered child cried out as a lemon hit his face and burst apart. The spongy fruit itself did no damage, but the acidic liquid it contained seeped into his eyes and utterly ruined his entire day.
He really hadn’t expected them to use the damn fruit against him.
Of course, he had no doubt that the stinging liquid would soon be accompanied by a crescendo of percussions as he was beat like a drum and he wanted no part of any of that. Since he had no idea where he was going, there was only one place he could go that would offer him relative safety.
Naruto crouched and used his leg muscles to their fullest capacity to throw his sensitive body out of harm’s way. Before he even reached the apex of his flight, he summoned flame into his eyes to burn every trace of the offensive intrusion out of his system. Once that was complete, it only took a moment for him to regain full use of his eyes.
As his self-induced flight entered its downward stretch, he twisted his body to face towards his opponents but before he could accurately map out the police squad’s position, he caught sight of something incongruous a few feet below and became completely fixated on it, to the exclusion of everything else. He recognized that it was quite the stupid thing to do while in freefall above multiple enemies, but he couldn’t help it.
On the roof of a one-story building stood Kakashi, who looked far more injured than he did earlier. His clothing was sporting a multitude of tears and rips and his only visible eye was swelling noticeably. He would’ve wondered what happened to him if he hadn’t seen a bound and gagged Anko lying at his feet. Aside from the obvious restraints, the special Jounin didn’t have a hair out of place.
Surprisingly, the sight of his two caretakers wasn’t what occupied the majority of his attention. That honor was reserved to the huge cardboard sign Kakashi was holding above his head and the legible phrase that was written on it in large inky letters.
It read: ‘What does the shinobi village do when infested with many spies?’
Naruto landed in a crouch beside a concrete wall, sporting a look of such obvious confusion that his opponents hesitated in pursuing their attack. A few actually took a few steps back before searching the rooftops for the thing that had stolen his concentration.
Though there were only four of them, Naruto couldn’t have told anyone how many Uchiha stopped paying full attention to him as he was still concentrating on Kakashi’s sign. A hand unwittingly entered his blond hair and started scratching as his eyes narrowed into squints.
He was having a surprising amount of difficulty concentrating on the question. He could only assume that the adrenaline coursing through his veins was interfering with his ability to reason. It was kind of dangerous in his position but not entirely unusual so he paid it no mind.
The cloudy feeling dissipated after a few moments and allowed him to actually think about the question. Obviously, the question was Kakashi’s way of giving him a hint in regards to the fight. It also meant that he wouldn’t allow anyone to interfere, which kind of explained Anko’s position. There’s no way she would’ve ever agreed to that course of action. Itachi was one thing. The military police was something else entirely.
In any case, he likely already knew the answer to the question. It was just a matter of applying it to his current situation. After deliberating for a few seconds, he could think of two likely answers to the spy question.
Option A was to remove the infestation. It was time consuming and costly, but it was by far the most definitive of solutions. Unfortunately, that answer couldn’t apply to his situation at all. He had problems landing a blow, so that only left option B.
Use the spies to your advantage. Spread disinformation and lay traps.
Immediately, the path to victory became amazingly clear. Plans and possibilities almost exploded in his mind as he pondered over the Uchiha’s fighting style and imagined dozens of paths towards victory. He had won. It was that simple. His mind held onto that conviction closely, as if it would fly away and be forever lost if he dared let it go. He could not possibly lose. That feeling filled him with such supreme confidence that it almost overwhelmed him. For the first time, he became aware of his own power.
He was strong… stronger than those who wished to harm him.
The feeling was so wondrous that he began to laugh and inadvertently sent chills down the spines of his opponents. Not because his laugh inspired morbid thoughts but because it was the exact opposite. It was a sound filled with joy, innocence and beauty… and maybe just a little mischief.
When an opponent could laugh like that in the middle of combat, it spoke of unpleasant things to come. The Uchiha policemen supposed that he was either a fool or so much stronger that they couldn’t even credibly threaten him. Considering that all evidence of their earlier efforts toward incapacitating him were no longer present, they were understandably leaning towards the latter option.
Nonetheless, it didn’t take long for one of them to speak up. “What’s so funny?”
Naruto’s elated laughter died down into pleased chuckles as he straightened from his crouch. Only when his mirth calmed into a gentle smile did he begin to answer their question.
“You can’t win,” he answered softly.
The Ringmaster raised an eyebrow while his teammates scowled simultaneously. “What was that?” he questioned curiously.
The blond wasn’t paying attention as he was still somewhat focused on his recent discovery. “You guys are good at hiding it. Even made me believe you were winning. I guess what shinobi deception really is,” he declared as he shook his head ruefully.
“What are you talking about?” the Ringmaster reiterated in a louder voice.
Vivid blue eyes rotated inside their cages until they aligned with the leader. “I’m faster than you,” the boy claimed, as if it explained everything. Seeing that his audience wasn’t enlightened by his explanation, he decided to elaborate.
“The only reason I haven’t won yet is because you guys keep avoiding my attacks. Since I’m a better fighter, I knew that the sharingan’s ability to predict movement was the only thing that stood between me and victory… but I never stopped and actually thought about it,” he revealed. “I’m way faster than you, but you four can still avoid my attacks. I knew it was because of the sharingan but I treated the situation as if it actually helped you move faster. It doesn’t. Those eyes of yours don’t make your muscles any stronger or your skills any sharper. They just give you a head start,” he explained.
“What is your point?”
Naruto blinked in surprise. “Don’t you get it? A head start is only useful if you act on it. You guys can only deal with my speed if you move at the smallest hint of movement. If I start to feint, you’ll fall apart. The sharingan is no substitute for ability.”
His words had been spoken with no disrespect or intent to insult but that didn’t mean the policemen weren’t offended. The demon vessel had already resigned to back up his affirmations with physical evidence when the Uchiha’s upcoming charge was discontinued by their immediate superior. The Uchiha who most likely served as the second-in-command rushed to his commandant’s side where they began a heated conversation at low volume.
Considering the fact that he could hear them just fine, they probably considered the observing civilians to be greater threats than he was.
Ringmaster wasted no time in scolding his teammate. “Do not act foolishly,” he ordered. “This is no longer a battle we can win.”
The policeman, taken aback by his superior’s tone, winced slightly before switching tracks and targeting an Uchiha’s greatest weakness. “Are we just going to let him get away with that? Are you so quick to throw our pride away?”
The highest ranking Uchiha on scene didn’t budge an inch. “I choose my battles carefully,” he enounced, insinuating the opposite about his inferior. “We have no weapons with which to harm him and we can no longer expect to avoid his attacks. A retreat here would cost us less face than a total loss. Ambiguity is our ally.”
The second-in-command turned to glare briefly in his childish opponent’s direction. He received a casual wave in response and failed to contain the surge of anger that welled up in him. “Are you so impressionable that you would let simple parlor tricks destroy your spirit? Hiding the extent of his injuries will not…”
Ringmaster coolly interrupted. “Fool,” he said malignly. “Look closer. That is no illusion. If he seems undamaged it is because he is. You forget that his earlier fight with Itachi-san did not hamper his ability to fight us in any perceivable way.”
Seeing that his subordinate had run out of arguments and was properly berated, the lead Uchiha gathered his troops to him and prepared to leave. Of course, Naruto couldn’t just let them go after all that.
“Hey Ringmaster,” he called out. “What’s your name?”
While his teammates bristled at the insinuation that they were a circus troupe, the man in question simply turned and answered. “Shisui.”
Naruto blinked in surprise. “You’re the one they call Mirage?” he asked rhetorically. “Either you were holding back or Itachi’s way stronger than you.”
Shisui didn’t seem to be offended. It seemed that he possessed a great deal of self-assurance. “My strength lies in illusions… and it seems that you possess formidable mental defenses.”
Naruto nodded thoughtfully. “A bad match-up then.”
The Uchiha nodded in agreement. “So it would seem.”
“Before I go, should I expect more visits from angry clan members?”
Shisui shook his head. “Unlikely. They would not dare attempt to apprehend you while in the presence of Hatake-san and Mitarashi-san.”
So he had noticed.
Having run out of things to say and feeling that a polite goodbye would have been inappropriate considering their circumstances, Naruto simply raised a hand in farewell before moving towards his caretakers. When he landed on the roof, two things happened. Anko stopped trying to escape and Kakashi closed his book.
“So, how did it feel?” The masked pervert asked.
Naruto frowned in confusion. “What?”
“Your first win.”
He closed his eyes and recalled the feeling in his heart. Lightness, joy and contentment. Feeling as if he could fly away into the wind as he lost sight of the crushing weight of gravity. “It was incredible,” was all he could find to say.
Kakashi nodded. “Did you learn your lesson? What Itachi was so desperately trying to teach you?”
Naruto had an idea, but kept his tongue still. The masked Jounin was about to explain anyway.
“You used Vagrant as a model upon which to mold your skill. From him, you stole the art of war and that made you a warrior.”
Naruto sighed and closed his eyes. “A warrior… but not a shinobi.”
Kakashi’s voice pierced through the darkness and amazed him with its quality. Solid, serious… everything its owner was not. “That is correct. In your youth, you doubtlessly used all manners of tricks and clumsy strategies to try and beat Vagrant, only to fall short every time. Eventually, you gave up on that approach in order to concentrate on your physical abilities. But that has its own shortcomings.”
This was the crux of the matter. “I’m at a disadvantage against shinobi.”
“You need to think, Naruto. And I don’t mean that ingenuity of yours. I’m talking about tactics and strategies that have been refined and perfected since the beginning of time. You need to learn war.”
Naruto opened his eyelids and stared at his caretaker in uncertainty. “What do you mean? You said I was a warrior.”
The copy-cat ninja shook his head. “You’ve learned to participate in war, Naruto. You have yet to learn how to manipulate it. That is what being a ninja is all about.”
Suddenly, his head was cushioned by two soft pillows of flesh as arms snaked around his chest and pulled him into a cradle of warmth. “Kakashi, the rest can wait until later. It’s his birthday and we have more important things to do.”
Anko needn’t have bothered trying to convince him. As soon as he’d noticed her escape, he had pulled out his book and returned to normal.
“Come on. Let’s go back. You left before you could open your presents,” she informed him cheerfully.
Naruto’s eyes widened. “Presents?”