Adult-FanFiction.org : Naruto

Colourless Vanity	By : Cepheus Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 1743 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 2
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, nor any of the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 1-Approach
- 2-Offer
- 3-Understand
- 4-Departure
- 5-Meeting
- 6-Truth
- 7-Control
- 8-Burning
- 9-Observing
- 10-Forming
- 11-Forcing
- 12-Portraying
- 13-Organizing
- 14-Honing
- 15-Entering
- 16-Bruising
- 17-Admitting
- 13
- 14
- 15
If this chapter is a bit slow, sorry, but I have to move on and I couldn’t make it any different. The next is action, I promise :D

If you don’t remember much of what happened before this chapter, please take your time to re–read the whole thing, as it has been completely rewritten, certain things have been redone, or added, or anyway changed. If you want to, of course XD

Cepheus: I apologize for the long wait, but I have been unable to write or read much because, well, I lost my will to. Fortunately I am back! ^^

NEXT UPDATE: the next chapter is already half–written :P

I want to thank all the anonymous reviewers I can’t reply to, be assured I read and love all your reviews too!

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

Rating: M

Summary: (ItaNaru, GenmaRaidou, IruKakaIru) Naruto is tired of his life. But he would never run. He’s given an option instead, and decides to take it, becoming a member of the newest ANBU team…

Warnings: yaoi, boy x boy relationship, angst, torture, and such. Mental as well. Flames will be used to warm up food.

Disclaimer: do not own Naruto. Thankfully. I don’t like what’s happening lately.

“Talking”

‘Thinking’

–Flashbacks, memories, dreams–

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

Colourless Vanity

Chapter 14: Honing

Morning hit Naruto like a wall of bricks, chirping birds, sun on his eyes and weariness from the previous day’s training included, making him groan and try to hide his face under the pillow.

Blinking tiredly, swearing he would find a way to cover the window so to stop the sun from coming in (despite having said this every single morning he’d slept in there), the blond teen stretched and sat up on the mattress with a grunt.

A new day. Which meant new things to learn. Good.

Thanks to Anko’s teachings, as the woman liked to pop up unexpectedly at any given time, and train him in many different ways (mostly leaving him dead to the world every time), he quite forgot that he was supposed to be on edge for the test he would have to subject himself to at the end of the month, and had devoted all his time to train both body and mind.

Especially with his new, shiny weapons, which actually occupied most of his day.

Said weapons were resting on the floor next to the bed, wrapped in a piece of cloth to keep safe from dirt and dust, and blue eyes ran to them as soon as he finally won his battle against drowsiness.

“Morning~” he yawned out, taking his time to wake up properly.

After all, this was his very first free day.

Apparently, Anko had a mission with her team and had thus explained him she would be away for the day; Itachi had then decided he could use the day to relax and let his abused muscles heal.

A free day –he would definitely enjoy that.

In the back of his head, something was nagging at him, but his short–term memory sucked so he could not understand what was bugging him –but he wasn’t going to spend any more time wondering about it, either.

Finally standing up, Naruto grabbed some clean clothes and left his room, pyjama hat still nested on his head, as he forgot to remove it; it was like a daily ritual, and any ANBU passing by in the corridors as he headed to the showers room would snicker but also smile at the sight –it was something spontaneous and purely Naruto and it warmed up the mornings at the headquarters.

He didn’t have anything in particular to do for the day, and Hyoo had offered him the opportunity to see Jiraiya, but the man had left the village to seek information on Akatsuki, so at first Naruto didn’t think it could be arranged.

Then, Itachi had said he would go retrieve some information from the white haired Sannin in the outskirts of a nearby village. Naruto had asked to tag along, and after some hesitance, Itachi had agreed.

The shower room was empty, not a rare occurrence, but the moment Naruto stepped inside, wriggling out from his pyjama shirt, he heard someone rush in and had no time to move out of the way –the person slammed right into him, pushing him out of the way and making him fall face flat on the floor.

“Oh, come on, not again! Kei! You can’t be freaking late every single fucking morning!” Naruto stood up, nursing his nose, his enraged yelling muffled by his hands.

Kei, sixteen–years–old Chuunin working for Konoha’s medical division (department for poisons, antidotes and medicines), was for the lack of better words, a klutz.

Well, at least not during missions or when handling poisons, but everywhere else, he was.

He was also constantly late. For anything and everything.

Naruto had quickly grown to consider him a friend, and the two of them often had coinciding eating schedules, which meant they ate and had time to talk about anything; Kei was also the youngest ANBU in the headquarters prior to Naruto’s arrival, so Naruto actually had no trouble asking him about stuff he didn’t get without feeling an idiot.

He was easy going and nice, even though terribly tardy, and Naruto had quickly found out he was also hard to wake up –usually one of his teammates would literally kick him out of bed, to make sure he actually got to the shower rooms without falling asleep on his feet.

Unfortunately, this also meant he was always running to respect his schedule and Naruto, every single morning, gained a new bruise thanks to Kei’s hurry to get into the showers and then to the dining room.

“Sorry, Naruto! Good morning! How was training yesterday?” Kei hurried up, throwing all his clothes in a messy pile in a basket at the shower’s side and then jumping inside.

Naruto rolled his eyes, and just because of Kei’s messiness, he took his time to fold his own clothes neatly, something he rarely did when the older teen was not around.

“Fine,” he turned quite happy at the reminder of the previous day. “I’ve finally managed to hold my Kusa–kun without slamming the chain on my face!” he puffed his chest out and smiled, proud of his feat.

Shivering when cold air hit his lower parts, Naruto hurried into another shower stall and opened the water jet, followed by Kei’s chuckle.

Kusa–kun was the name of his first kusarigama, the one he used the most to practice, whilst the other had been nicknamed, very originally, Riga–kun, making him flush every time he had to mention them, but also quite proud at the same time.

Anko had helped him a lot through his first time holding them, correcting his stance and explaining in detail what he had to do.

The blond was sure she was just eager to watch him make a fool out of himself and clumsily wave the chains around, though.

Damn woman.

Holding a weapon of any type implied shifting his balance centre and control to include the weight and the length of the desired weapon, and kusarigama were hard to control; during the first two days he had managed to get many bruises over his legs, arms and face, and the following day he had a hard time opening his mouth, even with his quick healing.

No matter though, Naruto loved his weapons, and he had for them a patience almost uncanny for someone like him, who easily rushed through things.

He had not given up, even after the friendly banter his fellow ANBU members reserved him (they didn’t do it with mean intentions, as they had once been in his position too), and he had finally started getting good results.

“That’s good, you’re working hard,” Kei commented, throwing Naruto one of the shampoo containers. He then started rinsing his own hair, already half–way out of the shower. “Well, see you at lunch then, Naruto, I’ve gotta run before–”

“Kei! Hurry up! We have a mission and if you don’t come out right now you won’t get breakfast!” a voice called out from outside the shower room, making Kei groan and Naruto snicker.

“See?” the brown haired ANBU pointed at the door, then slapped his hands together in a quick seal that heated up the air around his body, drying it up. “See ya later!”

With that he ran out, trying to get dressed as he did so, leaving behind a snickering Naruto.

…–…–…–…

Itachi filed away the information sheets he had been working on for the last week, scanning them one last time, then he nodded in satisfaction.

Placing down the pen on the table, he allowed his shoulders to relax.

He had pulled an all–night to complete the report, since Hyoo had asked him to be as detailed as he could, sometimes even aiding his memory with the recorded images of the Sharingan, and this was the result –over thirty pages about Akatsuki, their hideouts, the contacts and spies, the missions he had taken and other important facts.

Six years of his life were now black on white in front of him.

He’d only have to add the most recent information Jiraiya had managed to acquire, and then the report would be ready to be given to Hyoo.

The possibility that Akatsuki had found out about him was high –three weeks had passed since his departure from their hideout, after all, and Itachi was not stupid. He knew that his prolonged absence had probably been noticed by now, and they would be quick to desert their current hideouts and kill off any spy or contact Itachi had personally met during the last

few years.

ANBU spies had already been dispatched to see if some of them were still alive, to try and reduce the damage, and Itachi could only wait.

It wasn’t too late yet.

The real problem wasn’t going to be Leader’s reaction or retaliation to Itachi’s betrayal. He’d have to look forwards to the rage of someone else, and… Itachi knew just how dangerous that other person could be.

Yet, one way or the other, he would work to prevent any harm from being done to Konoha.

Allowing his Sharingan to fade back to black, Itachi cracked his shoulders, his mind wandering to his former mate in Akatsuki; how was Kisame doing? He hoped the man had not been discovered… Kisame was not a traitor, but he had aided Itachi in his running away, covering up for him…

Of all people, Itachi would have never expected the older man to be the one to see through Itachi’s carefully built wall of lies, and not just that, but also to confront him about it, and show some sort of ruff, caring side.

Kisame had always looked like a cold, smug shinobi, and yet…

And yet, the man had a heart, deep down in his fish–body.

He had helped Itachi during his first stay at the organization, and had a (hidden) soft spot for kids –no matter how much he growled and muttered against them.

The man was a swordsman for the sole reason that he was bloodthirsty and needed to fight… otherwise, Itachi knew he would have probably retired long ago.

Itachi was worried, there was no way he could deny it. But Kisame could handle himself. He had decided to help Itachi without the Uchiha having to ask him to, and had refused to let Itachi face things on his own.

He just hoped the older man would be able to run if things got from bad to worse; he was skilled in acting, but that person was more skilled than him, and would probably find out he was protecting a spy from Konoha if things came down to that.

Shaking himself out of this bout of depressing thoughts, Itachi realised that it was past his usual wake–up time, and that if he didn’t move, he would have no time to shower and grab his own breakfast before going.

Gathering his documents together and placing them in his desk, he left the room.

…–…–…–…

“Good morning Naruto–kun!” some ANBU waved at him as he entered the dining room, and he waved back, smiling.

He had taken his sweet time showering and relaxing, but now his stomach demanded food, which was why Naruto was there, making his way towards the food section. Retrieving his meal (the same meal since day one, Tomoyo made sure of it) he sat at the closest table and started eating, his mind spacing away.

Every now and then he scanned the room to check for Itachi’s arrival, but the man was nowhere to be seen –after a moment he settled down and decided to ignore it, munching on his food.

He was mentally sizing up his stance with Kusa–kun and Riga–kun when the tall Uchiha finally appeared in the dining room, and Naruto managed to wait until he had retrieved his breakfast instead of jumping up and demanding to go.

After all, three weeks without leaving the ANBU headquarters had granted to his nerves and he wanted nothing more than have a quick trip somewhere outside.

As the black haired shinobi approached Naruto at the table, the younger of the two noticed there were light shades under Itachi’s eyes, and he worried instantly about them; once the man had set down his trail, Naruto frowned.

“Itachi?” he called out, hesitating. “Did you sleep at all?”

Well, to hell with subtlety. This was Naruto, after all.

Itachi blinked, almost levelling him with a gaze, then smirked and bit down on his fish. “Actually, I was busy working on my report on my former organization,” he replied. “My position in Akatsuki provided valuable information, and whilst I offered Hyoo the most urgent one the day I arrived in Konoha, I had yet to compile a full one”.

Naruto nodded, in understanding. “Why do it all tonight? I mean, Anko’s been torturing me for a whole week and I thought you’d have some free time then”.

Not that he was complaining, of course, but Anko did torture him much more in the last week than she had done before.

Itachi’s lips twitched into a bigger smirk.

“I had my own work to do. I’m not only training you, Naruto… nor are Iruka and Raidou. We’ve been doing some small reconnaissance trips on the borders, and Iruka and Raidou had

their own cover works”.

Naruto flushed a bit, knowing he had been a bit self–centred, and shrugged in an attempt to hide his embarrassment.

“Well, are you ready to go?” Itachi asked, finishing his own meal.

Naruto’s eyes brightened at that and jumped up to his feet, excited; the blond teen followed his team captain out of the room, under the amused eyes of the other shinobi of the room.

“Itachi’s quite apt at taking care of the kid,” one of the men in line commented, smiling. “I think it’s helping him as well”.

“It has been a while since this place was so cheery, but there again, we only had Kei until now, and he didn’t really brighten things up –I think he broke more plates than an army,” another ANBU, his face covered by a mask, added.

The rest of the ANBU chuckled at that, except one of them who frowned, eyes flickering to where Naruto had been. “Don’t you know…? About Kei, I mean…”

The mood of the room turned to a sober, more serious one as the man explained what he had heard.

Meanwhile, Naruto and Itachi were already making their way through the forest.

“How long will we stay at the village?” the blond shinobi asked, remembering Hyoo’s words as he tried to slow down and speed up his running. Concentrating on his footing, he barely heard Itachi’s reply.

“It will be quick. I will retrieve the files in the located place and then we’ll move back. You will be able to roam free through the village, so I will use this opportunity to give you a light training about masking your chakra”.

Naruto blinked, surprised but definitely not displeased.

“It will take a hour or so for me to retrieve the documents. I want you to use this time to lower your chakra and keep it as hidden as you can,” Itachi instructed. “It will be challenging and a bit tiring, but you have to learn to do that as quickly as possible”.

Naruto nodded, eager to try. “So…” he said after a moment, “what is the information Ero–sennin left you? Oh, right –about that,” he frowned, remembering something he had wanted to ask since the start, “Akatsuki wants people like me, right? They are targeting demons’ containers”.

At Itachi’s affirmative nod, Naruto stopped mid–jump, making the other stop as well.

Whilst the training had taken up most of Naruto’s attention, he still had some questions he wanted an answer for, and since he was alone with his team captain, he thought it would be the perfect time for some honesty.

It was easy to forget that Itachi had been one of his enemies once, because his training routine had become familiar, as if the past had been nothing but a bad dream; Itachi talked easily, had facial expressions, smirked, sometimes even smiled… it felt normal.

It was hard to compare this new Itachi with the emotionless, sadistic missing–nin from before.

Yet, Itachi had been the emotionless, sadistic missing–nin belonging to the Akatsuki; the organization hunted Naruto down. Hunted people like him.

He deserved to know… he was always treated like a child, and no one respected him enough to talk about it in front of him, especially Jiraiya… it was like a taboo. Or like they considered him not ready to know yet.

But if the ANBU had offered him a chance, it meant he could be trusted.

Itachi knew what was coming, and prepared himself to answer. He would have preferred another place, another time, but it was Naruto’s right to ask and demand an explanation.

“What do you want to know, Naruto?”

“What is exactly Akatsuki?” Naruto stared at him, unblinkingly.

There was a pause, then, “Akatsuki is an organization of missing–nins created to hunt down people who have demons inside them. It is not just you, Naruto, as there are nine demons in total, ranging from the one tail, Shukaku no Ichibi, to the one you hold inside… Kyuubi no Youko. It was custom for ninja villages to try and seal them in newborn babies in order to prevent further devastation coming upon them by the hands of the Bijuu –the demons”.

Naruto nodded, eager to know more.

“A person containing a demon is called a Jinchuuriki… it means human sacrifice,” Itachi added, noticing Naruto struggle to understand the old word.

‘Human sacrifice…’ Naruto frowned. It was the perfect name for what he was. Then he thought about the rest of Itachi’s speech –there were nine demons. This meant…

“Are they all sealed away?” he asked.

Itachi shook his head. “At the present moment, no. There has been a time when all the demons were caged into humans, but now, only six out of nine are sealed. By the time I left the organization, two of the Bijuu roaming free were already captured and turned into energy”.

Naruto bit his lower lip. It meant there were, somewhere in the ninja lands, other five Jinchuuriki like him… no, four, because he already knew one of them –Gaara.

And one demon still roamed free somewhere, too.

Without waiting for another question, Itachi continued his explanation, knowing what would be Naruto’s next interest topic. “Akatsuki is planning on using the extracted demons’ powers, fused into one, to bring all shinobi nations to their feet. To gather enough power to extract the demons from their human containers, the Leader will have to wait for at least three years. I think Jiraiya told you that already”.

His reply was a curt nod. Yes, Ero–sennin had mentioned that when he had offered him apprenticeship.

“This is the amount of time we have left to find out where the remaining Jinchuuriki are, explain them the risk they are being subjected to, and eventually offer them assistance,” Itachi finished. “We don’t know where they are, but neither does Akatsuki. Both parties are desperately seeking information, and this is why I need Jiraiya–sama’s files”.

Naruto glanced to the side, processing this information.

He was partially satisfied, because that was the first time he was allowed to know who he was fighting against –and it was enough to mull over for a while, too.

“When we’ll be able to uncover the whereabouts of the other Jinchuuriki, you will be one of the first to be informed, Naruto”.

This made him look up again. “Why?”

“Because you are one, too. You know how they feel, and it will be easier for you to deal with them and make them accept the truth and not think we are trying to trick them”.

Naruto felt a determined smile appear on his face, as Itachi’s words had filled him with pride –he was needed for something only he could do…

“Until then, though, let us handle it,” Itachi concluded.

Naruto’s smile tensed at that, but he had to respect that. Besides, he had been allowed to know more than ever before, and it meant a lot to him. He would wait. “Understood. Well, let’s go then!”

The dark haired Uchiha shook his head in amusement but nodded, and they started moving again. Itachi kept glancing at Naruto’s face, wondering why Jiraiya had tried to protect him without allowing him to know anything about the threats he was going to face.

Naruto was a proud ninja, and it wouldn’t do to hide anything from him, as he was far more intelligent than what people gave him credit for.

…–…–…–…

Reaching the village’s outskirts, Itachi checked his surroundings with a quick chakra ripple, determining no enemy was around, and turned towards Naruto, who had been observing him closely.

“There seems to be some kind of festivity at the village. Have a look around and remember –you are supposed to lower your chakra signature”.

The blond stretched, ready to start his new training, and concentrated on his flux of chakra, lowering it down; it was easier said than done, of course, and it required concentration, but slowly he managed to suppress enough of it to feel satisfied.

Then, he turned towards the village and bounced in that direction, not even looking back as Itachi disappeared in the forest.

Indeed, there seemed to be some sort of minor festivity going on, as there were a few stands of food (such as takoyaki, okonomiyaki and sweets) down the street, a lone stand of festival masks some feet away and the villagers were dressed in colourful yukata.

A fragment of Naruto’s attention remained on his chakra, keeping it controlled, while the majority of his mind turned towards the stands, wondering if he could allow himself a few treats, since he had his purse, Gama–chan, with him.

He had around a hour to have fun, and he wanted to fully exploit it, so after buying a takoyaki box, he trotted down the street, glancing at the stands with a smile on his face.

As he turned around the corner, though, he suddenly felt chakra flare up from somewhere behind him, and before he could understand what was happening, a hand had already grabbed his shoulder, pulling him into an empty alley.

His instincts kicking in, Naruto spun around, his right arm shifting, tensing and then relaxing under the tight grip, freeing himself and crouching down, weight on his right foot as his left shot out, in an attempt to put his aggressor off balance.

There was a muffled grunt, but his enemy moved out of the way before he could be hit. Naruto rolled away gracefully, inwardly glad Raidou was an awesome Taijutsu teacher, and stood up, shoulders tense and ready to attack.

“Hey, hey, brat –you did get better since last time!”

The blond blinked, and finally looking up at his opponent, his eyes widened in shock.

“Fish face?!”

And it was, indeed, Itachi’s companion, the one with the blue skin and the freaky smirk, clad in the black, cloud–adorned cloak, and with the familiar huge sword on his back.

Naruto felt panic slowly mount inside him.

With Itachi gone, he was left defenceless, and despite his training and Itachi’s reassuring words on how the Akatsuki would not extract the demons at least for a few years, he was definitely feeling antsy.

Just his luck –on his first day out of the ANBU hideout, with Itachi trusting him to keep out of trouble, he just had to meet up with Itachi’s ex teammate…

He was surely not strong enough to fight against the fish man… not with the chakra–sucking sword of his…

Naruto’s eyes flickered around, trying to find a way out.

“Oi, brat,” Kisame stated, shifting, but Naruto didn’t pay him any attention.

The alley was narrow, and he was standing with his back towards the dead–end, so to escape he either had to run past the older man or jump upwards on the walls…

“Brat, I’m talking to you,” Kisame growled again.

Naruto jumped.

…–…–…–…

The documents, much to Itachi’s irritation, were far easier to find than he had expected, but the feat still proved to be uselessly tiring, as the older man had actually hid them inside an onsen’s locker.

An open onsen’s locker.

And of course, in the female side of the onsen, right in the changing room.

Thankfully, whilst he refused to lower himself to some cheap henge, he managed to get them without a hitch by using his Genjutsu to lure out one of the women working at the establishment, erasing her memories of the documents as soon as he received them.

Itachi’s first meeting with Jiraiya, back when he and Kisame had attempted to make a move on Naruto, had been that of a smart man hiding his true power underneath a blanket of lecherousness, but he was starting to think that Jiraiya’s perverted side was actually more than just appearance.

Had he not been who he was –an Uchiha, a shinobi with morals and everything– he would have cursed loudly and proceeded to plan his revenge, but alas, he simply collected himself and made a mental note to tell Tsunade exactly where he had found the reports.

That would probably suffice.

Suddenly, he felt Naruto’s chakra come his way, satisfyingly low, and frowned –he was hiding his signature almost completely, so the teen wouldn’t be able to find him, unless…

“Itachi!”

And there it was, the answer to his unasked question –at Naruto’s side there was Kisame, standing tall and proud in his Akatsuki outfit. He had probably been the one to pinpoint the blond to where Itachi was.

He stiffened, not understanding why Kisame was there, but since he had apparently not harmed Naruto, he forced himself to wait.

Said teen was smiling, albeit hesitantly, and at Itachi’s gaze he scratched the back of his head, coughing sheepishly.

“It’s actually quite funny,” he started. “He found me in the village –wanted to see you once I told him you were there, too…” he cleared his throat, obviously not revealing everything.

After all, Naruto didn’t really want to tell Itachi how Kisame had to chase him down thrice through the village to make him listen, nor that he had been forced to encase Naruto in a bubble of water in order to speak to him.

It was not something Naruto wanted Itachi to know.

“Fish–face here didn’t seem to want to cut my arms and legs off this time, either, so I decided to be helpful too,” he concluded.

‘Fish–face’ grunted and slammed his fist on Naruto’s head, then moved towards Itachi with a smirk on his face.

“Well, it’s good to see you around, Itachi–san,” he started, his tone low and confidential. “It has been quite a feat to keep your defection hidden from Leader, but I managed out well, don’t you agree?”

“Kisame,” Itachi replied, his shoulders relaxing lightly. He could not hide his relief at finding the man apparently fine. “What brings you here?”

“I’ve been dispatched by Leader,” Kisame replied, looking around. “Our spies in Konoha reported nothing about you, of course, but Leader does not want to rule out the chance you returned to the village, no matter how unrealistic it sounds”.

Itachi nodded, refusing to snort at the man’s words. Kisame kept glancing around, but his hands were shifting at his sides, in the secret code Akatsuki members learned and used with each other when speaking could be dangerous.

Apparently, the organization had deserted their hideouts as soon as Itachi’s defection had been confirmed, even though they didn’t know if he had simply ran from them or had joined with one of the Hidden Villages. To prevent outflow of information, none of the group knew where the new bases would be located and they were waiting for Leader to dispatch a messenger.

Also, three associates of theirs were currently gone, and two members had been sent out to search and dispose of them –Sasori and Deidara, a puppet master originally from Suna and a clay–bomb shinobi from Iwagakure.

If Konoha’s ANBU wanted to get to them before Akatsuki, they had to work even faster.

“I must wonder if you have a masochistic side, Itachi–san,” Kisame continued, looking down at the blond teen who was currently observing him closely. “You are with the Kyuubi brat”.

Naruto’s muffled grumbling went ignored.

“How long are you going to stay here?”

“It’s just for the next few days, then I will return and give my report –of course, I saw no trace of you anywhere,” Kisame’s smirk was quite wide and boastful, despite his tricky position.

“Say,” Naruto finally intervened, glancing up at the man whom had, during their first meeting, threatened to cut both his arms and legs off in a definitely crude fashion. “Why are you on Itachi’s side?”

Kisame lowered his gaze on the teen and shrugged, not wanting to reply to the useless question, and Itachi also stared at Naruto but didn’t speak, whilst the younger of the three observed both older ninja with narrowed eyes.

After a moment, his expression relaxed, and he turned around –he had his answer. “Forget it,” he stated, but his tone was indeed lighter.

While he wasn’t the most intelligent person around, nor the one with the greatest intuition, he could still see that Kisame had worried over Itachi, just like his ANBU captain had been worried for Kisame’s safety.

‘I guess even missing–nin like Kisame can care… just like… just like Zabuza,’ he thought, looking down. Zabuza, who until the very end, had cared so deeply for Haku…

At this thought, Naruto’s heart constricted a bit. He was glad Itachi’s ex companion cared for him and vice versa, just like with Haku and Zabuza, and yet, something inside him reacted nervously at that thought.

Inwardly shaking his head, Naruto scratched his neck. He was starting to look at traitors in a different light. Some of them were… not bad, if you didn’t count their betrayal towards their respective villages.

With Naruto busy thinking things out, Kisame and Itachi bid a hasty farewell to each other –Itachi wanted to leave the village quickly, fearing the Leader had sent spies to follow Kisame without his consent, and the older, fish–looking shinobi wanted to keep moving for the exact same reason.

The blond and the older Uchiha watched Kisame disappear in the woods, then Itachi turned towards Naruto. “You’ve been keeping your chakra low even after returning. Well done, Naruto,” he stated.

Much to the teen’s surprise, it was true –he had actually forgot everything about the exercise Itachi had assigned him since Kisame had appeared, and now he found himself praised because he had unconsciously worked well!

Checking his chakra signature, he realised keeping it low wasn’t as straining as before. The thought brought another smile to his face.

“It’s time to go back,” Itachi ordered.

Naruto nodded, and a second later, the two were already headed back towards Konoha.

…–…–…–…

Since the trip to the nearby village had resolved so quickly –going and returning to the ANBU headquarters had taken less than four hours– Naruto found himself with free time in his hands. So, he decided that he could use this time to train himself more with Kusa–kun.

Grabbing his kusarigama and choosing one of the various training grounds around the main building, Naruto tried to remember what Anko had taught him.

He grasped his weapon in his right hand, holding the weight on the end of the chain with his left fingers, and went through the first set of Kata positions, recalling how Anko had shifted her shoulders backwards when holding the handle of the kusarigama.

Then, after checking if he missed something, he collected the chain and rolled it loosely around his right wrist, the weight uncomfortably clenched in his ring and pinkie fingers.

Though the position allowed him to hold the handle of the kusarigama tightly, it was also unpractical to him because he couldn’t get used to the weight, and his fingers were forced into a painful position.

That was something he didn’t quite get, but Anko wouldn’t tell him what he was missing, because she wanted him to do his research and not depend on her for every small detail.

After all, learning how to use a weapon was mostly a matter between Naruto and his kusarigama.

Shifting his feet apart, Naruto threw the kusarigama against one of the red and white targets some meters away.

The weapon flew, the chained weight making it waver in the air, and he clenched his fingers around the end of the chain, tilting his arm backwards; the result should have been the blade swinging a bit and knocking into the target, from where he could retrieve it by yanking on the chain…

Unfortunately, the kusarigama’s balance centre was far different than the weapons he had used before –kunai and shuriken.

The kusarigama embedded itself in a tree trunk quite a few centimetres away from the target. Not just away from the centre, but actually away from the whole target.

Naruto sighed in disappointment.

Kunai had a balance centre that allowed long range and quick speed, and the only thing required was a good aim –the same could be said for shuriken, because the flick of wrist was enough to send them wherever the owner wanted.

Kusarigama didn’t work that way.

Their balance centre was instable, obviously because of the chain. Any rattling on the chain could deviate the direction of the throw, and to use them he needed not just a good aim, but a clear analysis of his own strength, the direction he wanted it to go and the one he had to throw it to…

Those were really difficult to master.

“Naruto?”

Naruto turned around, waving at Kei. “Hey there… did you finish your mission already?”

“Actually, it was easier than I thought –we found the thief two miles north, captured him and returned the stolen properties in less than two hours,” Kei puffed out his chest, then observed with a cynical eye as Naruto tried to retrieve his blade from where it had fallen.

Naruto yanked hard and the kusarigama came out from the ground. In doing so, the blond let go of the weight, and it circled around his hand, hitting his wrist hard and making him let go of the whole weapon.

“Say, didn’t you claim you had managed to not do this anymore?” Kei snickered.

“It’s not working –the aim, I mean. The chain prevents me from hitting the target, and then it’s hard to control”, he whined in reply, shrugging and grabbing the weapon again.

Without allowing Kei a reply he threw the blade at the target again, missing it by the same distance as before. Without wanting to repeat the shameful show of before, he held the chain tightly and yanked without strength.

“Hmmm… what you lack is control, not aim per se,” Kei looked around for a moment, then picked up two stones from the ground; fumbling with something in his pocket, and under the curious gaze of the younger blond, he tied the stones on the opposite sides of a ninja thread wire around the length of a foot, or something, and handed it to Naruto.

“What should I do with this?”

“Hold it with your left hand in the middle… yes, like this,” Kei observed as Naruto held the thread in its midst, the two stones hanging from both sides. “Now, try swinging the two stones in opposite directions”.

“Huh?”

Naruto started flinging one of the two stones in a clockwise motion, not slow enough that it could fall on his head, but not too fast, then wondered how to do the opposite with the second stone.

How was he supposed to do that?

He tried flicking his wrist, but it didn’t really do anything, and in the end, as he tried helplessly to twist his arm and fist around, the thread got mussed up, and the stones clunked with each other, missing his head by a hair.

“I don’t really get it,” he admitted.

Kei rolled his eyes. “Here, give it to me… you need to use all your hand, from the muscles of your thumb and pinkie to the wrist”.

He grabbed the thread and held it up so Naruto could see it clearly.

He was holding it with the three central fingers only. With a quick start of his wrist, he set off by swinging the lower stone, giving it more power at each turn with his pink finger, until it had enough strength on its own.

Then, he shifted his hand parallel to the ground, the swinging stone on the outside, and with some push of his thumb, he made the second stone rock slightly, then swing with more strength, using his wrist and arm to aid it.

Quickly, the second stone was rolling in a counter clockwise movement. Every time the opposite force threatened to stop the rocks from spinning, he helped them gain speed with both thumb and pinkie, controlling them by moving his wrist up and down by a couple of inches.

Naruto watched in amazement.

“Wow,” he breathed, as Kei slowed down the stones and handed them back to him. “I am not sure I can do this… besides, how can this help?”

“When you swing them successfully, you’ll understand,” Kei replied enigmatically.

Naruto groaned, not liking the vague answer, but put all his attention in mimicking Kei’s movements. He cheated a bit by using his chakra, but the older teen scolded him and made him restart again. Finally, after about half a hour of vain attempts, he managed to rock both stones, albeit slowly.

As he concentrated on keeping them both moving, he found out that once they were swinging, it was actually easier to control them, because the balance centre moved in the same way over and over, and after memorising it, shifting and moving his wrist, hand and fingers became easy.

Kei hummed in appreciation, then, without warning, he threw a kunai at Naruto.

“Hey!” the blond protested, moving out of the way.

He still kept the stones’ rotation, though, and Kei hummed again. “Now block the next kunai with the stones,” he ordered.

Before Naruto could process his words, he threw a second kunai straight at Naruto’s chest; the teen shifted his balance again, trying to keep under control both the stones and the kunai, and moved his wrist.

The stone on the outside hit the kunai, sending it flying away, although wobbly, and Naruto hissed –the vibration of the blow had moved up to his wrist, and it hurt. He knew the stones and the wire were not chakra infused, but maybe the kunai had been?

Kei observed him for a second, then extracted several more weapons from his pouch. “Now I’ll keep throwing my kunai at you –do your best at stopping them all with the stones, ok?”

That said, he moved backwards to allow himself more space, and sent three kunai flying at Naruto, who twisted around, bringing the stones in contact with each of them; the pain in his wrist lessened when he hit the pointed blades instead of the handles, and soon enough he was having fun, trying to control where he could send the kunai to as well as how far.

“I bet you can’t get them back at me,” Kei teased after a while, moving to gather the kunai scattered everywhere.

Naruto smirked, accepting the challenge.

“Well done,” Kei stated after another half a hour, watching a satisfied and panting Naruto in front of him. “Now, pick your Kusa–kun back up and try again”.

Naruto, who had apparently forgot why they had started the stone–swinging game, blinked and clutched his kusarigama, trying once again to hold the chain between his last two fingers.

His wrist hurt a bit, but he ignored it.

“No, hold your chain together with the kusarigama, along the handle, and only use your ring and pinkie fingers to keep it secure,” Kei instructed. “Now, try it out!”

Naruto shifted his weight and threw the kusarigama again towards the target; the blade flew, and Naruto rattled the chain, but this time he let the chain slip in his hold, gripping it and swinging the weighted end around like with the stones from before.

The weight on the opposite end acted as counterbalance, and the blade hit the target on its white side –not a perfect score, but he managed to hit the target!

“I did it!” he bounced around happily. “Thanks Kei!”

The older teen smirked in satisfaction. “I suggest you to train by holding the chain in your left like with the stones, and do close–ranged attacks with the kusarigama in your right,” he tipped the younger shinobi. “This will allow your muscles to relax a bit after the tension you put them through –I have to go though, I’ve got something urgent to do!”

Naruto snickered as the brown haired ANBU retreated in a hurry, and restarted his training.

…–…–…–…

He was tired.

There was no other way to express what Sasuke felt after an entire day teaching a bunch of kids about shinobi life.

Slowly making his way back to the Uchiha compound, Sasuke wanted nothing more than drop dead on his bed and be done with it; he was a mighty Uchiha, yes, but the class Iruka–sensei had sentenced him to was… too much.

At the same time, though, something inside him was actually satisfied, and often during the last week the teen had found himself thinking about the few (small, though) accomplishments done during class. Even Konohamaru and his two thugs, who kept fighting him and opposing his decisions all the time, were actually applying themselves –even if only to shove it on his face… which was probably the real reason they were working hard in class nowadays.

Nonetheless, there was some kind of satisfaction.

For the first time in his life, he had taken some time to teach something to someone, instead of having someone teach him, and the feeling was… weird.

He wasn’t acting selfishly, he was offering advice and listening to kids who were actually looking up at him not because he was an Uchiha (with that class it was really the opposite), but because he was truly helping them somehow.

Sasuke had to admit that he would have never thought he’d ever gain something back from that punishment, and yet… despite all his fatigue and the way his muscles protested after every lesson… the feeling of accomplishment never did vanish.

Why?

What was so satisfying in controlling a class of young kids who threw paper planes and chewed paper balls at each other, screamed, cursed, cried and created ruckus every single day, and almost never managed to learn their lesson or do their homework?

Was this how Iruka had felt with his class? With kids barely listening to him, caring nothing for his words and his lessons, and yet…

Was this how any teacher felt when they received their teams to pass or fail?

Sasuke had not trained ever since the day Naruto had left; he had completely removed that fact from his mind, because the kids absorbed all of his time, making him wonder if he’d really been one of them just two years before…

A brat.

Was he still a brat even now?

As he was deep in thought, walking down the street and busy wondering where he stood now, he felt a small, unstable chakra flare up somewhere nearby, and then as he looked up, he realised that one of the kids from his class was approaching.

It was a girl with low buns and big eyes, and a small band–aid over her cheek from a failed kunai practice.

“Sasuke–sensei!” she cried out, smiling.

Sasuke froze.

They had never called him sensei in class.

“Mama! This is Sasuke–sensei!” the girl let her hand brush against Sasuke’s bigger one, and then motioned for a woman to come closer, which she did, bowing at him in respect.

Much to his surprise, Sasuke didn’t feel put off by this action –for once, he realised that the bow wasn’t because he was an Uchiha and people were supposed to bow at him. No, this was…

“Thanks for taking care of the class as substitute, Sasuke–san,” the woman said, smiling kindly at him. “Michiko always talks about you,” she added with a wink.

“Moooom!” the girl chided her, then smiled at her sensei, showing her missing front tooth. Sasuke had never seen someone smile this warmly at him before (excluding Naruto, but there again, nobody could stand up in comparison with the blond teen and win). “Sasuke–sensei, see you in class soon! I can’t wait for our next practice!”

With that, the girl let go of his hand and grabbed her mother’s one instead, smiling brightly, and the two walked away chatting happily without a care in the world.

Sasuke watched them go, feeling the warmth in his hand slowly disappear. He clenched his fist.

“What am I doing?” he wondered out loud, shaking his head. “Teaching brats instead of growing stronger to get my revenge…”

Yet, despite his words, he was smiling.

‘Maybe there is something I am learning by being here,’ he thought. ‘I should tell Naruto when he comes back… he’d probably throw a fit in laughter. The great Sasuke, happy with teaching brats how to throw their kunai…’

…–…–…–…

Flopping down on his bed, Naruto rolled over twice, not wanting to get too comfortable since he had yet to eat dinner, but still tired enough to consider not getting up.

Kei and Tomoyo would probably be waiting for him at the dining room, if the Hyuuga woman had returned from her mission, and he really wanted to go eat, but… the unexpected training with Kei had tired him (his hand and wrists hurt like hell), and he wanted to rest a bit before going out again.

A good dinner, some chatting, and then back to bed –this was his plan for the evening, and it sounded quite fine, too.

Glancing at his side, where his kusarigama rested, he grimaced at the dirt on Kusa–kun’s blade. He would need to clean it before going to bed, too, or it’d solidify during the night and the cutting edge would get rusty…

A sudden noise coming from outside his room attracted his attention, something like the slamming of a door, followed by a cracking sound. The lights of his room dimmed for a second, but it was the lightest tremble, barely noticeable.

His interest piqued, Naruto stood up and moved to the door, opening it enough to be able to peer out; the corridor was strangely dark, which was unusual, and he frowned.

Why were the lights off?

During his stay at the headquarters, the lights in the corridors were never shut off, not even at night –they were merely dimmed down, so not to disturb the eyes. But never completely off, like they were now.

There was another cracking noise, electricity flaring above his head, where the lights were, then a flicker of chakra coming his way; Naruto, almost as if following some sort of sixth sense, retreated in the room and lowered his chakra down, leaving the door ajar and hoping whoever was coming would think he was asleep.

Then, the sound morphed into footsteps –someone was running in his direction.

It was… weird.

His instincts flared up, making his skin tingle unpleasantly and his hair stand on its end, so he remained quiet, fingers clutching at the door’s handle, waiting for whatever was coming…

The figure turned around the corner, and even in the dark, Naruto managed to see whom it was, and relaxed –it was Kei, with something under his arm.

Forgetting everything about his previous bad feeling, Naruto slammed the door open, smiling at the teen, reassured by his presence. Maybe he could ask Kei what was happening…

“Kei!”

The older teen’s eyes turned to him in a flash, and Naruto froze at the sudden chill he felt, irrational fear surging through his body as Kei glared at him coldly.

A split second later he was recoiling backwards, his left shoulder exploding with pain.

‘What the–’

He fell on the floor with a thud, too shocked to even think about standing back up, and clutched at his shoulder, feeling sticky liquid seep through his fingers. Blood.

He was bleeding!

His brain took a second more to finally register what had happened –Kei had just slashed him with a kunai.

“Kei?! W–what’s happening?!” his voice faltered because as he looked up, Kei stood in front of him, silent and imposing, kunai clutched in his hand, pointed at him.

His eyes were dark, set and unmoving, filled with anger, the darkness enveloping his figure like a devious blanket, not allowing him to see anything else but the eyes and his lips set in a firm grimace.

“I’m sorry that you are still awake, Naruto,” Kei straightened, his posture apparently relaxed, but something told Naruto he was anything but that –tense, ready to strike again. “I really didn’t want you to get involved”.

Naruto’s fingers tightened on his shoulder and he hissed, but could feel that it was a mere scratch and would not hinder his movements –actually, it was already healing, albeit slowly. His mind was completely blank, shock paralyzing his mind processes, unable to link the person in front of him with the Kei he had come to know in the last weeks.

“Do… do you hate Kyuubi too? is this why you attacked me?” were the first words he managed out, trembling. Despite everything, it was still his first thought –his fear.

It was always the demon, after all…

His reply was a deep, malevolent chuckle. Kei shook his head slowly, his grimace turning into a smirk that was an even worse sight. “No, of course not… jeez, Naruto. It’s not always about you… the world does not revolve around your presence”.

His words were so similar to what Itachi had said in the morning that Naruto didn’t know what to think, at first –then, he had no chance to retaliate as Kei spoke up again with a sneer, in a condescending tone that sounded so wrong on him.

“I am a spy, Naruto. I’m being paid to betray Konoha”.

Naruto’s world crashed around him.

…–…–…–…–…–…–…

Cepheus: do please drop me a review… :3

Glossary: (have patience if you know most of those, some might still do not)

Bijuu – tailed demon.

Jinchuuriki – human sacrifice. A person that has been used as a vessel for a tailed demon.

Takoyaki – balls of dough with polyp inside (tako is polyp) which are grilled and covered with sauce. So damn yummy, I tell you.

Okonomiyaki – type of omelette with various ingredients, it is cooked in front of you on a grill surface.

Yukata – summer kind of kimono, lighter and usually less formal, with bright colours and motives.

Mochi – typical Japanese treat, it’s a yummy, smooth and neat sweet made by rice flour, which can be filled with cream (the best one) or simple. It’s… hard to describe, sorry XD
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