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The Fall of the Dogs of War	By : dolphina23 Category: Naruto > Yaoi - Male/Male Views: 927 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
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.

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Chapter   1
A Whisper of Truth

      Naruto found Kakashi sitting
in a tree near the Academy. The place woke up in Naruto a mixture of feelings,
some nostalgia and also the desolation from his
childhood. He shook his head. There were more important
things to think about right now, so he focused on Kakashi. The older man
looked up at his approach despite the fact it was from the rear.
     �Naruto,� was all he said.
Naruto took a breath before appearing in
front of him. He wasn�t entirely sure this was going
to work, but Kakashi was the only person who had the power and, hopefully, the
will to help him with this, so he couldn�t let himself be dissuaded. This was
important, maybe the most important thing he was going to have to do, at least
so far. There would be greater decisions, and even greater sacrifices, if they
were to win, but Naruto had to think about what was in front of him now.
�I need a favor,� he blurted out. He hadn�t meant to start from here, but there it was. Kakashi
looked up at him. Naruto stood above the Jounin on the same limb, but averted
his eyes, finding the swing at the other end of the clearing almost
automatically. How many times had he positioned himself there to watch the
other kids and their parents? �I need to talk to you about some things,� he
continued when it was obvious Kakashi wasn�t going to
respond, �some pretty important things.�
This seemed to be interesting enough to Kakashi to react,
even if only to shift so he could get a better look at Naruto.
�I need you to get me into the restricted sections of
the Ninja library,� Naruto said in a rush, stringing the words together to get
them out.
Naruto could practically feel Kakashi�s curiosity peak
along with something else, a tensing of the man�s shoulders.
�Why would you want that?� the man asked.
Naruto sighed. �I know I�m not really allowed, except by
Hokage order, but I can�t see her just yet. I . . .� he stopped, unsure of how
to continue. He had to give a reason to Kakashi, or he would never get his
help. �I did things during training,� From the look Kakashi was giving him,
Naruto knew he was practically pleading, asking him to understand. It didn�t matter, not as long as he could explain.
�Things that would probably anger the council, but it�s really the only
way.�
Kakashi didn�t look angry when he
asked, �And? How did it go?�

�It went well,� Naruto said. For some reason, Kakashi
wanted to believe him, even with the next words out of Naruto�s mouth. �At
least, I think it did. Please, I�ll explain everything later, to you and to
her, but I need this first.�
The look in Naruto�s eyes and his
attitude, so unsure, had Kakashi worried. He�d never
seen the boy like this. What could possibly have him so jumpy, especially if
the training had gone well?
And, he could
tell it had. The boy carried himself with a new confidence. Tall and
unyielding, his muscles had more definition and he moved more fluidly than
before. Kakashi knew Naruto would never have the same grace as Sasuke or
himself, but he had more potential than the Uchiha at becoming a great leader.
Kakashi was proud of the boy, but at the same time he
felt a pull of loss at his heart.
This young man may have been assigned as
his student, however, Kakashi knew very well how much he had failed Naruto in
that regard. He also knew that Naruto didn�t see it
that way. After all, had Kakashi taken over his training as he had with Sasuke,
then he would never have met Jiraiya. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that
Naruto considered the old ninja, though deceased, a great man as well as
family. Like he might a grandfather, had he been able
to articulate that feeling beforehand.
But, maybe he can make up for it
now. After all Jiraiya was dead, the closest thing Naruto had had to a family
once again gone.
�Alright.�
Naruto looked up, surprised. He had not expected Kakashi to give in so readily.
Kakashi gave him a smile. �But, you�re going to be giving me an explanation
when you finish, I don�t care whether or not you tell the Hokage.�
Naruto blinked at this, and Kakashi shook his head.
�You are not just a ninja to me. You are my student, even
if you are done with training; you will always be my student, a part of my
team.� Kakashi said �team� but it sounded as if he meant family, and he heard
it himself, right there, in his own voice. What was wrong with him today?
Kakashi had spent the better part of it with Obito and his Sensei only to find
himself thinking of Naruto, how his training was going, whether or not they would
manage to keep Akatsuki�s claws from ruining him. He knew he was fond of Naruto
� much more than he should have been as his teacher, but to say it like that?
Then again, it was the truth. Kakashi also had no one, so he pushed on,
suddenly wanting Naruto to trust him with whatever he was keeping locked away
inside himself. �Our team, Team 7, is very different from all the others, don�t
you think? We share a very strong bond because of everything we�ve been
through.�
Naruto looked stunned, and then gave one of those fox-like
grins that lent innocence to his face, as if he had not seen and done things to
make the local populace cringe. Kakashi knew Naruto had understood his message.
I�m here for you. We can
do this together.
Naruto said, with that incredible smile still on his face,
�I told you before, you don�t have to worry. I�m not going to stop until I have
that old hag�s job, Sasuke has what he needs, and this village has all it
needs,� he replied.
Kakashi sighed, almost relieved. While he could tell there
was still something off about his manner, Naruto had calmed down enough to
insult the Hokage. Kakashi stood up and Naruto moved back from the limb to the
ground in a single motion that had Kakashi blinking. When had he learned to
transport himself with such speed? It was almost like looking at another blonde
ninja, the only other one with a thousand faces for a thousand moments and the
determination to not only use them but refuse to let
anyone tell him what he could or couldn�t accomplish. How like that man Naruto
had become and in spite of all he had gone through just to get to the point he was at now.

�Meet me in front of the Research Facility in an
hour. You know where it is?�
All he got was a nod from the younger ninja and a serious look
that relayed the importance of his current mission. Kakashi found himself
wondering if the Toad Sage, Fukasaku, knew of this outing. He hurried his steps
across the rooftops to the Hokage tower.
Kakashi intended to tell nothing of Naruto�s sudden return
to Godaime, preferring to see where the information
Naruto hoped to gain from the research would lead. Having arrived at the Tower,
he surreptitiously made his way up to their leader�s office taking care to melt
into the background of the office. He wanted to get this over with quickly and didn�t want to be reminded that he still had to turn in the
mission reports for two Chuunin groups he�d led on a rescue in Grass country.
Knocking on the Hokage�s office
door, he waited to be invited in.
�What is it now, Kakashi?� came the irritated voice of Tsunade. He stepped into
the room quietly, cleared his throat and raised his hand.
�Yo.�
He sauntered over to stand in front of her desk, as the Hokage grumbled about
outside entreaties for aide without the proper payment and reckless ninja
taking it upon themselves to
offer their services up in advance. Aside from it pertaining to the history of
certain seals, jutsu or techniques in regard to
teaching or for use during battle, access to the entire Research Facility was
prohibited. Kakashi felt his lips twitch in a fond imitation of a smile.
�Greetings, Hokage. I came to ask for permission to use the
Research facility for a few hours this afternoon.� Hoping she wouldn�t ask about specifics, Kakashi continued quickly,
�I�ll need full access, of course, and may need to spend more than one day
there.�
He added the last bit just in case. He could really kick
himself for not asking Naruto at least the subject he intended to look up.
Naruto was not really fond or familiar with libraries, but if Kakashi knew
about the subject Naruto was interested in, he would be able to determine how
much time they needed. As it was, he was unprepared in that area and so decided
to err on the side of caution.
The Hokage glanced up at him and narrowed her eyes
slightly. Kakashi almost felt like gulping; those eyes had that calculating
look he knew could read far more than any other person, even with ninja training. He sometimes wondered if the woman had some sort
of hidden talent akin to the Sharingan or Byakugan, but it was probably just
intuition, the gift of knowing people that made her a good Hokage.
When the look lingered, Kakashi found himself holding his
breath, wondering if she was going to press the issue. When she finally answered,
he was relieved.
�Fine, you have it.�
She reached across the desk for the
necessary paperwork, signed it off and handed it to him. As Kakashi reached for
it, however, she caught his arm and pulled him closer, so he could see the
murderous expression in her eyes from up close.
�And, you can tell that brat, the next
time he tries to enter the village without seeing me, he�ll have a lot worse
things to fear than megalomaniacs bent on subjugation and death.�

She released him with a feral smile, although her eyes held a satisfied gleam
to them, and Kakashi knew she meant no real harm, not to Naruto. She was simply
worried about him and for him. Kakashi also caught the charged excitement
emanating from her. She, too, was curious at how the training had progressed.
�Why, I don�t know what you mean, Godaime.� Kakashi said playfully, to lighten the
atmosphere. Hopefully, she wouldn�t push the issue.
Kakashi needed time alone with Naruto to weasel out what was troubling the boy.
�I simply have a little catching up to do on my Sealing techniques, is all.�
Kakashi smiled at the annoyed look that
crossed the old woman�s unlined face. She had started it, after all. In a
whoosh of air and leaves, Kakashi disappeared to head over to the Facility
before Naruto showed up. With any luck, he could catch the boy early enough to
gauge his current state of mind. He was in no mood to try to pull it out of
him, but this was one time when he wished patience had not
become a valued asset.

Naruto was waiting when Kakashi arrived.
He used some of the time Kakashi gave him to go home and check up on things, do
some grocery shopping. But, mostly he�d simply been
waiting. He had gotten to the library and waited as patiently as he could,
afraid Kakashi hadn�t taken him seriously enough to
actually be there on time.
Naruto was almost surprised when he felt
Kakashi approaching rapidly, but relieved as well. The bad feeling that was
following him ever since he met Itachi in the woods was not leaving him, not
even after the successful training; it seemed almost as if the blood inside him
was buzzing, telling him to hurry, that time was running out.
�She knows it�s for you.� Kakashi spoke first.
�You told her?� Naruto asked, feeling his
heart sinking. He really believed it when Kakashi had told him he would help.
Now, the old hag was going to demand he go to her and explain himself, and he
really, really wanted to do this first. He felt as though he had to.
Kakashi gave him a tiny shake of his head.
�No. She is the Hokage, you know. She has a way of knowing things.�
�But, she� going to . . .� Naruto started, too upset to
keep his voice low. Kakashi interrupted.
�She gave me the permission. Are we going inside?�
She gave permission even though she knew
it was for him? Naruto felt pleased that she had that
much faith in him, but then he remembered that he had done things she would not
approve of. It sobered him.
�Yeah,� he answered, and followed Kakashi as he approached
the guard, flashed the signed release, and went inside.
The sheer amount of scrolls and books made
Naruto blink several times at the shelves. How was he supposed to find out more
about what he was looking for in all that? What was it that he was looking for,
anyway? He came to the library because the fox said he should, but he never
took time to think about it.
Kyuubi said that the one who sealed him left him more than
just a key. The one who sealed him was the fourth Hokage, but if he left
something to Naruto, why would that be in the library? Maybe the fox was lying?
Kakashi was waiting patiently next to him, but Naruto could
feel the worry and the curiosity in the look that he was giving him, as heavy
as a sack of sand on his back. He cleared his throat. Thinking he should start
somewhere, he began to peruse the nearest shelf.
�I need to know more about Kyuubi.� He
almost whispered, and the words and his voice felt weird and weak.
Kakashi didn�t even move a muscle
under his mask, as if he had expected Naruto to say exactly that. He, then, led
the way down one of the aisles without a word.
�This section,� Kakashi showed him with his hand two or
three shelves filled with books and scrolls, �is about the tailed demons. There
is a lot of material, but most of the books say the same things.�
Naruto picked one book at random, and
flicked through it. The long, high wall of texts did not look promising, but
Naruto knew he had to do it.
�You knew exactly where it was.� He said,
looking questionably up at Kakashi, noticing in the back of his mind that they
were almost the same height now.
Kakashi took a book from a shelf before he answered.
�The Third allowed me a little research after you passed
the bell test.�
Naruto didn�t
know exactly why he felt insulted by those words, but he did. Kakashi was
probably trying to keep them all safe learning about Kyuubi, and Naruto should
be grateful about that. But, wasn�t he the one who
should have known more about his own . . . . condition? They never thought he was old enough or
reliable enough to know about those kinds of things, and whenever he found a
way around them, they acted as if he had done something wrong.
Kakashi probably noticed that he was upset, so he placed
the book he had picked up on top of the one already in
his hands.
�This one is good, I remember it. Why don�t
you take a couple and bring them over to the tables? We can look at them
there.�

Yes, that sounded much better than to stand and read. Naruto picked the nearest
table and took the books there, and Kakashi brought a few more and some
scrolls, as well.

Naruto started reading. Kakashi was right, all the books were saying the same
thing - the tailed beasts were massive concentrations of chakra transformed
into beast-like entities, demons � the greater number of tails, the greater the
power, and the more vicious they were. People had been trying to find a way to
control them for centuries, and the only efficient way was to seal the chakra
of the demons inside a human. There were several different types of sealing.
Every hidden village seemed to invent their own, obviously not in willing to
share such an enormous
power.


Konoha was the last one to get their hands on a tailed beast. But, from what Naruto read, they were the only village to
have so few casualties.
Naruto read the chapter on Kyuubi. It started with:

The Kyuubi no Yoko (Nine-Tailed Demon Fox) is one of the Nine-Tailed Demon Beasts that roams the world.
The Kyuubi is the strongest tailed beast. It is said
that with a single swipe of one of its tails it could create tsunamis or
flatten mountains. The Nine Tails is considered a
natural disaster that appears where ever human malice collects and festers.

So, Konoha was the last, but it got the strongest one.
Naruto wondered if he was supposed to be happy or flattered, but the only thing
he felt was ill. He and Kyuubi were meant to be just
pawns, like all the other demons used to create Jinchuuriki.

Under the text was a footnote, in a small, nearly illegible scrawl. It looked
hand-written. Naruto tried to decipher it, but met with very little
success. That is, until he thought back to his time with Jiraiya. He went back
through the text, realizing the person had handwriting very much like the Toad Sage�s.

Kakashi was watching the boy carefully,
pretending to read. He had never seen Naruto this focused, not on anything
aside from physical training or learning jutsus.
He must be either in trouble or on to something big to act like this.
He crept as silently as possible behind
Naruto, who was frowning down on the book, and glanced over his shoulder. What
got so much of Naruto�s attention was, apparently, a footnote low on the page.
The hand writing looked familiar, but it took Kakashi
a second to recognize it.
That little, barely legible line was written by his sensei. Minato wrote it, and now his son
was sitting there, trying to read it, not even knowing what it was. Or, maybe . . .
Was that what Naruto was looking for, the
truth about his family? Kakashi knew Sarutobi
told Naruto some sort of lie when he was young, but maybe Naruto had somehow
found out about it and wanted to know the truth? But if so, was it possible Naruto could be so calm about it?
No, he said he wanted to know more about
Kyuubi, and that made perfect sense. If it was anyone else who had the nine tailed
beast sealed in them, they would have done this research years ago. Naruto was
not very fond of spending time indoors when he could be outside getting
stronger. And then, there was the fact that he had
been very busy for years now, always on the move, always trying to save
someone, make a difference.
Kakashi was the one who should have done a
detailed research before this. When he was in here the last time, his research
was mostly about the sealing and any possible way to stop Kyuubi from breaking
free. But, maybe it was not too late. The footnote
gave him an idea.
If Minato left proof of the research he
had conducted before the sealing here in the library, then he might have left
more � maybe at the Hokage�s personal library, or at
his home.
         Kakashi
stepped back just as quietly as he had approached; Naruto was too engrossed in
trying to read the note to pay him any attention, anyway. When he gained some
distance, he said loud enough to make sure Naruto would hear it.
         �I have to
go now, Naruto. You stay.� Naruto mumbled something in response, and that was
enough for Kakashi. He walked out quickly.

        The footnote was
too small so all Naruto could decipher of it said something about chakra and
Kyuubi. He was interested in what it said, but he couldn�t
afford to waste more time, so he left the book to look at the others.
        There was
nothing of any use, as far as Naruto could see. He stood up to stretch and go
over to explore the section Kakashi showed him again, steps echoing in the
empty hall. Scrolls were on the upper shelves, but they said nothing new,
either, so Naruto got down on his knees to take a better look at the lowest
portion. The books there were dustier and older; it seemed like a good place to
find something useful.
       Naruto took a couple
of books out. Behind them, he could see a scroll tucked in a corner and
another, smaller book. They were really dusty, so
Naruto blew on the book cover to clean it up a bit, and a big cloud of dust
arose around him. The leather, though old, looked hand-tooled rather than the
standard commercial covers he�d seen used on the
others. Naruto stood up, carefully trying not to breathe in all the dust,
with the little book still in hand.
       Back at the table, he
saw that what he had in his hands was actually a journal. The first page was
covered in text written in longhand, and it looked like the same person that
had made the footnote in the previous book he�d been
reading.
      Now really
curious, Naruto sat back at the table and started reading.
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The Fall of the Dogs of War