Chapter 28: Thinking and Knowing
~~~
Naruto stood right next to Satsuki. She had been training for literal hours. And it was just about time for them to get back to the household.
He looked at his side and looked at Satsuki.
"You ready?" Asked Naruto, walking forward and gesturing right towards the direction of the house that they were allowed to stay at for the remainder of the mission.
Satsuki scoffed but nodded her head.
"Yeah, I'm ready. Why else am I standing right up?" Naruto stared at her for a few second before shrugging his shoulders once and turned away from her.
"I don't know, maybe to just simply stand up?"
"Yeah? You're the dumbass." Satsuki followed right behind Naruto, looking right at his back. God, this reminded her of the time where Naruto first decided to help her out on her kunai and shuriken throwing.
She was grateful for Naruto then and is still grateful for Naruto's help even now. The two past through the empty woods that they were training in for the past few hours.
Well, Naruto was not training at all — it was just all Satsuki.
After a minute of two of complete silence and walking, they had finally came out of the entire forest that was engulfing them before. They saw the bright light that the house emitted.
Their feet touched the wooden dock.
The two walked through the dock that had water surrounding right around it. They saw the door that was supposed to be the entrance of the house open for them.
The two entered without much question.
"Oh, it seems the two of you have finally made it," said Tazuna, walking down the stairs that led up to the upstairs floor. Lots of food was covering the table.
"Special occasion?" Asked Naruto, smelling the food ll the way from the door. Tsunami shook her head, chuckling at the question that was being asked by Naruto.
"No, we have never had this many people over here before. So I thought of making extra food just incase." Naruto and Satsuki nodded and made their way towards the table with their dirty and ragged clothes.
Shit, they needed to clean up.
But they couldn't. Their stomachs didn't let them do it. They wanted the food that was being served at the table immediately. They settled right down just as Kakashi and Sakura came walking down the stairs.
"Ah, so you two are finally here. Good." Kakashi and Sakura sat down at the table.
The kid, Inari sat down at the table also. There was a moment of difficult silence between them all. Kakashi broke this with a eye-smile and a quick question.
"So, Satsuki. How much are you improving with the Tree Climbing exercise?" Asked Kakashi, getting a scoff from Satsuki. She sutffed her mouth with food.
She swallowed the food that was in her mouth.
"Good. Naruto gave me a few tips that are helping me along the way." Kakashi looked at Naruto and eye-smiled at him. Looks like Naruto was able to tame Satsuki to the point where they are friends. Cool.
"I only gave her one tip. Nothing else. She is exaggerating what she is saying." Naruto stuffed his mouth with food. There was a small bump that formed on his cheek due to him stuffing his face.
"Relax, Naruto. Why are you in such a rush?" Asked Sakura, getting a side-glance from Naruto. He swallowed the food down quickly so he would be able to answer the question.
"I'm hungry."
"Oh, I guess that's reasonable."
"It is. Always will be." Naruto continued to stuff his mouth with food. The food was quite good and tasty. But it will never be able to compare to Ichiraku Ramen.
Now that I think about it, I still have't used that Ichiraku Ramen coupon just yet. Will have to use it once we get back to the village. Naruto thought, swallowing another chunk of food.
Sakura suddenly noticed something.
"What's that?" She pointed towards something from afar. They raised an eyebrow, looking at the direction that she was point at. It was a picture that was inside a frame.
Tazuna, Tsunami, and Inari were in it as expected, but there was something much more strange about it. There was somebody missing on the portrait photo that they were looking at.
Part of the picture had a large piece missing. It was missing a person that was just standing right behind Tsunami and ruffling Inari's head. He was also smiling, Inari they mean.
Speaking of Inari, he got off of his seat and walked away from the situating at hand. Tsunami sighed, following right towards Inari; whom just left the room.
They looked at Tazuna in complete silence. This must be a very touchy subject for them all.
"Him? He was named. . . Kaiza," They all listened closely to what Tazuna had to say. "And he was the hero of this small town of ours." Oh, this must be a really touchy subject for them.
"He died just a bit after Gato established that he was taking control of everything of the Land of Waves." He looked right after the door that Inari had just exited with.
"Inari lost his father, so he never really knew him. So the day he had met Kaiza, a lot of things changed for him. He was like a father that Inari never had. So you must know how he could have felt when he finally met someone like him." They nodded, understanding what Tazuna was saying.
"He died with a public execution by Gato. It was a way to give us an 'example' on what would happen if we dare defy him and his reign over the Land of Waves." Naruto just had enough of this and walked away from the scene.
"Where are you going?"
"To train." Naruto walked away, his figure retreating away as he went right outside of the door and into the world full of nature. He stepped foot on the dock.
Heroes? Do they really exist? Maybe. I don't know. I guess they do. But at the same time, there really isn't much of a difference between people defining good people and bad people. This is especially true when trying to define if a shinobi is good or bad too. Naruto walked right on the wooden ground.
But it seems that Inari kid is just a quitter. The moment you stop believing in something, they disappear without much question. Naruto thought, soon entering the wood that were practically endless, vast, and limitless.
Once Naruto was far enough away, he got ready for training.
Dozens — no — hundreds of shadow clones of Naruto himself started to appear all around him in just a blink of an eye. He eyed them all with a single glance. He turned on his Sharingan right towards them.
"Come at me."
~~~
It was the next day it seems like there were no signs of Naruto.
"Hey, sensei. Shouldn't Naruto be here already? It's dangerous being out there alone." Asked Sakura, tiredly yawning right after the question. Kakashi sighed, nodding his head at Sakura.
"Yes, we should look for him after this. Eat quickly so we can find him." Sakura nodded. But after just the first bite, there was already a clang of apparent all throughout the room.
"I'll get him here." Satsuki got up from her seat and walked towards the door. Sakura raised an eyebrow, eyeing Satsuki as she slowly went out of the house.
"Shouldn't you finish yo-" Sakura couldn't finish as Kakashi just tapped her shoulder. She looked back towards him and saw that he was pointing at the table.
Satsuki was already finished with her food.
"Oh."
Satsuki sighed as she felt the fresh breeze of the wind brush against her face. God, Naruto was a handful. Seriously, he needed a leash so he could be put down.
She entered the forest and continued to walk around the unfamiliar forest that she stood right on. Satsuki slightly grunted in anger. She had no idea where to go.
Where the hell did you go?
~~~
A boy who looked like a girl walked through the endless and vast forest. He had a basket hanging right off of his hand as she walked around trying to find herbs.
Hm? What's this? He thought, seeing a person from afar. He slightly widened his eyes as he saw Naruto laying on the ground, completely asleep and all that jazz.
Zabuza said that he wanted to kill him and Kakashi by himself. Is he this much of a threat? He thought, narrowing his eyes as he gazed at Naruto. He slowly brought his hand up.
His hand hovered right above Naruto's neck.
But if I do it, I'll be disobeying Zabuza. He retreated his hand away and thought of a much easier and simpler way of doing this all. He took his hand poked Naruto's arm.
No reaction.
He sighed and did another poke to the arm, but only much harder this time. This caused Naruto to slowly stir up awake. He groggily woke up and sat up.
"Huh? Who are you? Why are you here?" Naruto asked. He got a soft smile in return.
"My name is Haku. I am here collecting herbs for my injured friend. What's your name?" Haku asked. Naruto thought about it for a moment or two.
"Ahihcu Naruto," said Naruto, responding to Haku's question that he had just asked him. Haku nodded, noticing that his first name was 'fishcake' and 'maelstrom'.
"I see." He looked up and saw Naruto's forehead proctor.
"It seems that you are affiliated with a village. Konoha, I think." Naruto nodded at that, confirming Haku's suspicion. There was a moment of silence that was soon broken by Haku's sudden question.
"Naruto, do you have someone precious?" He asked, getting a slight eyebrow raised right at him. Naruto thought about it for a moment, trying to find a person that he wanted to protect.
Satsuki. . . and everyone else. Naruto looked at Haku and nodded his head.
"Yes, why?" Asked Naruto, narrowing his eyes slightly. Haku just had a soft smile right on her face that had yet to be broken throughout the whole entire conversations.
"Because I believe that somebody can only become truly strong when they have something or someone that they want to protect."
Naruto slightly widened his eyes for a brief second.
~~~
Satsuki walked through the forest trying to look for the missing Naruto. When she had left the house earlier, Satsuki thought that this was going to be an easy find.
Guess she was wrong on all levels.
God, Naruto sure was at a difficult spot to fucking find. Satsuki soon saw two people from afar. She squinted her eyes and saw the two people exactly.
One was Naruto and the other was. . .
A girl? Satsuki thought, seeing the unknown person slowly walk away from Naruto. She narrowed her eyes at the the unknown girl that she was walking past.
She did not like her one bit. Why? Isn't it obvious?
Naruto saw Satsuki approach him with that look in her eyes. Oh, he was absolutely fucked. "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked, wondering why she was glaring at him.
"Who were you talking to?"
"The person was named: Haku. He's a guy if you were wondering." Satsuki slightly widened her eyes, narrowing her eyes right at the suspicious Naruto right in front of her.
"A guy, huh? How can you be so sure? He looks exactly like a girl."
"Isn't it obvious?"
"The hell do you mean? It's not obvious at all." Naruto shrugged his shoulders, confused on why she was getting so worked up by. It wasn't anything important.
"He was collecting herbs for a person. He must be quite well-versed in his knowledge of medicine." Satsuki scoffed, though nodding in agreement. Though it was now time for Satsuki to continue to train.
"I'll wait until you're finished. You should be done in another hour or two. You progressed quickly in the Tree-Climbing exercise quite quickly." Naruto walked over to the nearest tree to him but farthest tree from Satsuki.
"As expected of myself."
Naruto leaned right on a tree as he watched Satsuki progress in the exercise even more every second that went on. He then looked up into the sky above.
Shikamaru always said he wanted to be a cloud. Must be the dream of his. Though it is understandable for someone as lazy as him. Naruto thought, looking back down to see Satsuki's progress.
She is just about there.
Now that I think about it, I haven't talked with him or the others in quite some time. I've just been caught up doing all of this. Naruto thought, a small genuine smirk appearing right on his face.
Though Shikamaru's team probably hasn't made much progress in getting stronger. They're quite problematic. Naruto thought, finally seeing that Satsuki was finally done with the exercise after numerous amounts of thoughts escaping Naruto's head.
Satsuki dropped towards the ground and walked towards Naruto.
"Train me." Naruto looked up and saw Satsuki looming right over him with an ominous aura riding all around her. Nsruto sighed and got up to stand right on his feet.
"Why?"
"Tch, so I kill Itachi." Naruto gave her a side-glance before shrugging his shoulders lightly, signaling that he agrees on training her. She slightly brightened up before making her way to the other side.
"You know, I'll get stronger until the day where you and I are equals in strength."
"Equals, huh?"
"Yes, equals. Now, let's get started with this spar."
Naruto sighed, getting into his stance. The two locked eyes with each other just moments later. As they sparred an endless amount, Naruto just couldn't stop thinking about what Haku had said to him.
Who I hold precious to myself? You ask difficult questions, Hunter-nin.
~~~
"How are you not tired?" Asked Satsuki, panting like crazy as the sunset was rolling down on them. Naruto looked at Satsuki, sighing right back at her.
"You don't see it, but I am very much tired. I am just good at hiding it."
"Just how good you hid that you were an Uchiha?" Naruto gave her a weird look before raising an eyebrow straight towards Satsuki without hesitation needed.
"You want to talk about it again?"
"No, absolutely not. I am not crying like a little girl again." Naruto shrugged, walking right past Satsuki. But he must admit, Naruto was amused at Satsuki saying that.
"You know, crying is fine."
"My father said it showed weakness. I will never show weakness ever again." Naruto gave her a puzzled look. Fugaku, huh? So he was that type of person.
"I guess that's what your father thought was showing weakness. Maybe he was right, crying is a state where you are most emotional — mot vulnerable. But maybe he was wrong. Crying is also such a tragic thing, but it can be such a beautiful sight." Naruto looked up into the horizon.
"Crying is something that makes us human." Satsuki looked at Naruto with a slight pout being created with her lips at that current moment.
"You sound like a therapist."
"I guess so. But we have to go and eat. It's just about time for dinner." Satsuki nodded, knowing that he was right in that sense. The two started walking away into the vast and endless forest once again.
~~~
The two arrived at the house once more. Tazuna gained a nasty look on his face.
"Naruto, you smell like crap. Clean yourself up," Tazuna suggested. Naruto knew he was right about that sense and did went to the bathroom and took a shower to washen up for the day.
I haven't took a shower in 2 days. Sad. Naruto thought, walking out of the shower and wearing a pair of new fresh clothing that went right over his body parts.
Naruto got out and walked right down the stairs.
He sat right around the table and waited for everyone else to come and sit around. Kakashi came walking in with only one crutch this time around.
"You've healed quite well," said Tazuna, getting a nod from Kakashi of the Sharingan. He chuckled slightly, nodding his head at the statement that was just made.
"I have."
"Dinner is just about ready." Tsunami was just making last second preparation nows. She brought the food towards the table and place it right at the center.
It looked tasty. Really tasty~
"Dig in." Naruto and Satsuki immediately started eating the exact nanosecond she had said those two words right out of her mouth. Oh, they were fucking monsters when eating.
"Don't you think you should relax when eating?" Asked Kakashi, surprised at the speed that they were able to eat. Satsuki and Naruto swallowed the portions of food that they had stuffed in.
"I rushed my food so I could find Naruto."
"I didn't even eat the whole day."
Kakashi slightly chuckled at those two responses. These two were like. . . exact copies of one another. To make it even worse, they were both Uchihas who were the last of their kind.
"Why? Why do you guys keep trying?" Everyone suddenly grew silent and looked at the person just voiced themselves to everyone present at the table.
It was Inari.
"Your efforts on defeating Gato is pointless! He is way too strong! He has the money and men to back it up. You even said it yourself, he has a real assassin working for him." There was tears that was spilling down his face.
"You all don't know what we went through! What this whole land has been through because of Gato! You all have been living in a place full of luxury!" Naruto clenched his hands into a tight fist.
"Hm, the last time I checked, you don't know us either." This immediately silenced Inari up. Naruto looked at Inari with his blank and dull face and lifeless eyes.
"Thinking and actually knowing are two different words with different meaning. Thinking you know someone is nothing but half-assed things. But actually knowing someone is concrete. You think but you don't know." This made Inari widen his eyes.
"Your beliefs about ninjas may be true about some but not every person that exists then or now. Thus making your beliefs merely just assumptions and everything but concrete." Naruto turned away from the table.
"Don't think you can just generalize ninjas and shinobi alike in just one large category/group," Naruto slowly walked away with intent to going to sleep.
"Because I'll prove you wrong."
~~~