Sleep was hard to come by last night.
Naruto was on edge after finding that letter. Playing games with Ellen eased his concern for a moment, but once she left, he soon found himself agitated once again.
He had known for quite some time that someone had been breaking into his residence. It bothered him, sure. However, they weren't doing anything to his stuff and, in fact, were leaving behind fruit and vegetables.
Whatever they were doing, it was clear it wasn't malicious. Indeed, whoever it was seemed to be trying to improve his nutrition. It was often why he thought it was Kurenai or Lycaon. They spoke to him frequently about improving his diet, as his eating habits were hindering his growth.
But this note didn't feel like it was from them. It wasn't eloquent enough to be Lycaon, and it felt too on point and brief for Kurenai. She would have let him know it was her in the letter.
At least he thought so, but as the morning light came, Naruto decided it was best to check. Since she was back, she would likely meet him in their typical training spot...
Which also happened to be the roof mentioned.
There weren't many open areas to train in New Eridu. It was a bustling city with very little space available. They had to make do with what was available.
Luckily, his sensei had already arrived as he landed on the roof. Waiting on him per their norm.
However, Kurenai's gaze sharpened upon seeing Naruto, quickly noting his tenseness. "Is something the matter? You look more serious than usual. ...Did something go wrong at work?"
"Work is fine...This is my problem. Someone left this in my apartment last night." Naruto shook his head before reaching into a hip pouch, drawing forth the letter that concerned him.
Kurenai's gaze was intently focused on the letter as Naruto handed it to her. She scanned it before letting out a pitiful sigh. "Ah, I see... He finally did it."
"What do you mean, I see? Who is he?" Naruto narrowed his gaze upon seeing Kurenai relax.
Someone had broken into his home, and Kurenai wasn't bothered by it?
"The person who left this means no harm. I can assure you of that." Kurenai exhaled once more, glancing off into the distance, toward a nearby rooftop, before muttering. "Parasocial asshole..."
Naruto quickly followed her gaze, but did not see anything. Was someone there? Were they being watched?
Was he?!
"Mah, do you know this person?!" Naruto glowered, confronting his sensei.
"I do," Kurenai nodded before sighing for a third time. "However, it's not my place to tell his story. What I can say is that while you should be cautious about an incident like this, I would follow the instructions and meet him tonight. It's been a long time coming... For both of you."
"And what does that mean?!" Naruto accused. He pointed at Kurenai before he was forced to take the letter back. He then recoiled, seeing Kurenai turn her back on him and slowly stroll away from him. "He...Hey! Where are you going?"
"Giving you a day off from our regiment... You're going to need to be well rested for tonight." Kurenai shook her head before lowering her head, almost as if she was sulking. "It's time for a better instructor to take over your training..."
In a swirl of leaves, Naruto was left alone on the rooftop, openly staring at where his sensei had once been. A mix of emotions rushed after her sudden departure, but the predominant one was confusion.
What did Kurenai-sensei mean by that?
And why did she look so upset?
[ X ]
It was finally time.
Slowly walking down a flight of stairs with her head hung, Kurenai closed her eyes as she reached a lone hallway. She knew this time had been coming. And yet, to be so suddenly taken from the duties she had performed over the last five years...
Kurenai's sorrow was only matched by her anger. He had been her student, and to have the rug pulled out from her in this manner... She knew she had told him to take matters into his own hands, but she had told him that many times before! He never had!
...And she had grown attached...
Naruto was her student... And even if Kurenai knew she couldn't assist in helping him learn his father's legacy...
"It's nothing personal. We're running out of time... He needs to be prepared." A voice reached her, a lone figure standing in the hall behind her as she reached the door to her apartment.
"Maybe to you it wasn't. For me, it is. I've been the one training him while you have been off protecting him. You know how it feels to be told that your work is inadequate!" Kurenai snarled, turning her head back as she unlocked the door to her apartment.
The withering look she gave Kakashi could kill lesser men.
Kakashi, however, remained impassive, his hands in his pockets, unaffected by the venom in her words and in her stare.
That only invited her ire further.
"Maybe if you did your damn job, this wouldn't be necessary, and Naruto could live his life here in peace!" Kurenai snarled before she scoffed, opening her door as she turned her head away.
And with a slam, she entered.
But on the other side, for one of the few times, rare sorrow broached Kakashi's lone visible eye. "I'm sorry..."
"But we're not strong enough to defeat him."
[ X ]
Something was off today.
It all started in the morning when Ellen waited for Naruto as she typically did. It annoyed her. However, she was always willing to give him a pass for his morning antics.
He was up at dawn, training and bettering himself. Ellen couldn't fault him for doing something productive. Now, if he could do that in other aspects of his life and stop being such an idiot...
Maybe finally learning how to take a hint...
Ellen shook her head as she sat at the lunch table with her friends, staring off into the distance. At another table in the far corner, where Naruto sat alone... Without his traditional cups of ramen.
That in and of itself was a warning that something was amiss. Corin typically sat with him at lunch; however, she was nowhere to be seen. And whenever Naruto went without ramen, serious events followed.
And it wasn't like him to let her walk alone in the morning. It went against the gentleman's code to let a lady walk alone! And he had stood her up this morning!
Alarm bells were ringing in Ellen's mind. Her eyes sharply dilated as she recalled everything recently. Was there anything she missed that could have caused this?
It obviously wasn't what happened at work. Naruto enjoyed that! He always did whenever they had a job that required them to go into a Hollow... Unless it was a job like last night.
Those jobs were never easy, and he had shouldered the responsibility...
And despite the dour mood the job had left all of them in, that didn't feel to be the case.
Ellen felt this had to do with something else. He was relaxed around her the night before...
Or was he?
He did seem a little tense when she arrived. And he was holding a strange parchment...
There was also another fresh bowl of fruit in his apartment, and she knew he never bought them. Ellen always ended up eating them. For all this time, she figured it was Kurenai that had always left them since she knew it wasn't Lycaon. However, a thought came to Ellen, and she pursed her lips at the prospect.
What if it wasn't?
Ellen glowered, her sharp teeth grinding against one another. This was annoying. Her entire day so far revolved around Naruto, and that frustrated her! She had so many other, better things to focus on! Like class!
"Ellen? Are you okay? You've been zoning out for all of our lunch period." One of her friends gently nudged her shoulder.
...Or her friends!
"Huh? Yeah, I'm fine." Ellen returned to the rest of the world, shifting the lollipop in her mouth with her tongue so it didn't fall out.
"Ah, problems in paradise?" One of her friends giggled.
"Oh, did he do something? He's in trouble, isn't he!" Another joined in, causing Ellen to roll her eyes.
"Whatever." Ellen ignored their banter, her gaze shifting toward Naruto one last time. How she hated that she had to keep an eye on the idiot...
"Yo, Ellen!" A strange voice approached Ellen, and a well-tonned young man from the school stepped toward her with a confident smirk. "Prom is around the corner. Rumor has it that our class president... Huh?"
Ellen stood up from her seat and grabbed her backpack, sliding it over her shoulder. She didn't even notice the young man who had approached her and brushed past him without a second thought; her gaze focused forward with one goal in mind.
Find out what was bothering him so she could enjoy the rest of her day!
"Eh, what's with her?" The strapping young student pondered as Ellen's friends laughed.
"You must be new!" One of Ellen's friends shook her head.
"Ellen has a boyfriend!" Another one of her friends chimed in, shaking their head. "And before you get any ideas about challenging him or something stupid, he's out of your league. He's got a reputation around New Eridu."
"Ever heard of the Ninja Butler?"
[ X ]
How many times had he had to repair Naruto's suit?
Lycaon had lost count.
Despite all the modifications he had tailor-made to ensure that Naruto wouldn't destroy his suits, the boy found a way. Lycaon swore it was a hidden talent he had.
However, he had to release a sigh of relief, gazing upon the newly stitched suit. If that were the only trouble he was getting into, he would take it...
Now, if he could only assist Naruto in understanding the complexities of a woman and how to recognize a hint...
"I should leave that to Alexandrina. She might be more suited to explain some of his questions than I would." Lycaon mused before he felt the hair stand on the back of his neck.
"Leave what to me?" A dreadful, terrifying presence ominously approached from behind. Luck would have it that terror subsided after Rina stepped beside him, nodding in approval of his work. "Excellent work, as always... However, I think it would be more beneficial if you assisted him with that. I've painstakingly been working with Ellen to assist her in expressing her feelings."
"Ah, my mistake." Lycaon chuckled, his attention shifting as the bell rang and the door opened once more to reveal Naruto. "Right on schedule. Good afternoon... Hm? Is something the matter?"
"We need to talk." Naruto crossed the office, directly toward Lycaon, withdrawing a note and placing it on the desk next to Naruto's newly stitched suit. His gaze was solely focused on Lycaon as he carefully spoke. "Do you know who wrote this?"
Lycaon frowned, glancing upon the letter sternly. The phrasing was uneloquent and straightforward. However, given the context, he had an idea of where it came from.
So it was time.
"Oh... I'll give you two some space by collecting Corin and Ellen for their assignments today." Alexandrina grimaced, stepping away and then gracefully floating out of the building.
As soon as the door shut, Lycaon exhaled. "I have an assumption of who wrote it, yes."
"And?" Naruto expressed his agitation before taking a deep breath to calm his anger. "Uncle, I just want answers, especially after how Kurenai-sensei reacted this morning."
"Did she say anything?" Lycaon asked.
"Plenty for me to trust this isn't a trap." Naruto frowned before shaking his head. "However, it was a comment she made before leaving that caught my attention the most... That this was a long time coming." Upon seeing Lycaon exhale, Naruto's gaze sharpened. "At first, it confused me, but the more I thought about it, things clicked. I figured if there was someone else who had answers about that... Would be the person who found me when I first arrived here in Eridu."
"It's... Complicated." Lycaon reached up and massaged his temple. He exhaled before glancing over at the photos in the office, all of the members of Victoria Housekeeping Co. decorating the walls, and paying particular attention to the younger pictures of Naruto. "I suppose you have assumed this for a while, but it wasn't an accident that I found you in that Hollow."
"Yeah, I've known for a while." Naruto nodded, having accepted that fact for some time.
It was strange that upon arriving in the Hollow that brought him to Eridue, he was found so shortly after he was found. Back then, it took a long time for people to traverse Hollows, as they didn't have the advancements they have now.
"Then you should know that the man who wrote this is the one who directed me to your location." Lycaon simply stated.
"Then why did they not take me out of the Hollow themself if they knew where I was? It's clear that they came from Konoha just as Kurenai-sensei and I did, if she knows him as well." Naruto scowled, gnashing his teeth.
"I don't have the answer to that. You would have to ask him." Lycaon shook his head and exhaled. "But yes, he is another shinobi from your world. From your village. He's one of the few I met that day."
"A few?" Naruto quirked his brow before he froze, a thought coming to him. One that made him hesitate. "There are more than just... Uncle... Tell me... Was there an old man amongst those?"
"Not that I have personally met." Lycaon shook his head again before he furrowed his brow. "However, given how they operate, it is clear that there is someone who is in charge. Someone who commands respect from those from your world who arrived here. One who is leading the efforts to find them a way home."
All the color drained from Naruto's features. His eyes wavered as he stumbled backward. He retained his balance, but his visage was clearly shaken.
"Old man... He's really... Then..." Naruto stammered, unable to control the rampant thoughts that ran wildly through his mind.
However, they came to a halt as Lycaon placed his hand on his shoulder and made eye contact. His gaze was calming, and his smile was warm. "Naruto. You should go tonight. Get your answers. But never forget..."
"You have a home here, with us. Don't ever forget that."
[ X ]
Okay, something was really wrong with Naruto.
All shift, Naruto was aloof and distant, doing his tasks after completing his assignments for the day. That wasn't like him. He was typically goofy and talkative.
Or at least they were argumentative! Ellen could usually comment and rile Naruto. They would argue, and she would win, getting what she wanted...
Today, that wasn't working!
He wasn't even looking in her direction! It was as if he were actively ignoring her. Even when she purposely tried to draw his attention to...
"Ellen," Ellen's attention was drawn to a tapping on her shoulder. Gazing to her left, she noticed Corin meekly standing beside her, a concerned expression evident on her features as her gaze shifted, observing Naruto silently clock out and head out the door. "Did something happen yesterday? It's been... Quiet today. ...And he never lets us leave alone."
Ellen glowered. It was so apparent that something was bothering Naruto that Corin had to ask.
"I don't know what it is, but I'm going to find out." Ellen hissed, fed up with how Naruto was acting today, ignoring everyone. Including her!
"Um... Could I come with you?" Corin surprisingly asked, causing Ellen to recoil and queerly lift her eyebrow. "It worries me. Naruto never acts like this... I want to help if I can."
Ellen frowned momentarily, but upon seeing the demure expression on Corin's face, she couldn't help but sigh. She was simply worried about her friend.
"Then we'd better follow him." Ellen nodded, approaching the door with a determined expression. "I'm not sure what is going on with him, but whatever it is, I'm going to snap him out of this funk."
"He better believe it."
[ X ]
There was chilly air tonight. Naruto shivered, his eyes warily scanning around him.
Ever since he left the office, it felt as if someone was watching his every move. Observing him... Stalking him.
He was more than aware of Ellen and Corin attempting to follow him. He knew his brooding attitude today had likely bothered his friends, and Ellen was coming for answers.
But right now, he didn't want to deal with them. He needed to get answers first, so he ditched them by using his agility and ability to traverse vertical surfaces to lose them. Ellen would be pissed at him later, but Naruto would explain.
...Or at least make it up to her later with some treats...
...Why did it feel like sometimes they were a couple?
Leaping onto the rooftop of his apartment complex, Naruto scanned the immediate vicinity. No one was here. No one was on the nearby rooftops. At least, he didn't notice anyone's presence.
Naruto scowled, staying vigilant. He refused to believe that the person who left that letter in his apartment wouldn't show, not after making their presence known to Naruto. He had begun to suspect someone was watching him, and now it was confirmed.
He wanted to confront him about everything! Find out who he was, what he wanted... What connections did he have to his past?! To find the location of the old man? Why didn't they take him in? Why...
"Naruto!"
Naruto's attention snapped back into focus, Ellen's voice jolting him from his thoughts. However, his gaze sharpened upon hearing the sound of what sounded like a whistle. A sound Naruto knew very well.
The sound of kunai cutting through the air.
Naruto swiftly withdrew a kunai from his pouch and deflected the rogue kunai, batting it away as Ellen leapt between him and a masked perpetrator rushing his location.
With a horizontal sweep of her scissor blade, she aimed to slice the attack in two, but to her surprise, the masked attacker easily parried her blade with a simple kunai with enough force that it caused her to lose her balance.
And allow the man to kick her away.
Naruto lunged toward the attack, meeting kunai with kunai. They traded swift deflects, and Naruto hit him strike for strike. Confidence built within Naruto. He could keep up. He was a match...
His eyes flickered when the man moved with unnatural speed. He caught his wrist with his open hand before Naruto recognized he had countered his swing. And with what felt like little effort, he tossed him aside and almost directly into Ellen.
Naruto stiffened, his nerves screaming at him after that exchange. He observed the man approach cautiously. Despite feeling he kept up with the mask attacker, with how effortlessly he shifted to catch Naruto and how easily he lifted him off his feet...
This didn't feel right. This guy...
"Who is this guy?" Ellen grunted, holding her stomach after gasping for breath. "I don't think I've ever been hit that hard..."
"We're gonna have to work together. Whoever this guy is, he's good." Naruto's gaze sharpened, catching movement near the ladder before smirking, glancing over at Ellen. "You thinking what I am?"
"He's mine!" Ellen snarled, rushing forward, his scissor blade leaving a mist of ice behind it, flanking the man's left side.
Naruto grinned as he followed suit, taking his right, matching Ellen's pace. He wanted to force him to react to both of their attacks simultaneously. Force him to split his attention...
However, Naruto and Ellen's eyes widened in horror as he simply side-stepped their assault, her icy blade meeting Naruto's kunai, and they bounced off one another. And then, he grasped the wrists of both of their main hands.
"Not again!" Naruto felt helpless as, despite his effort to stay planted, he was effortlessly lifted off the ground...
Only for both him and Ellen to be dropped to the cement as the sound of a chainsaw revved and Corin swung her buzzsaw. The masked attacker brought his kunai to deflect it, but nothing could stop Corin after she swung. It sawed through it without opposition and into the man, splitting him in half.
"Ah! I didn't mean..." Corin exclaimed in horror, dropping her buzzsaw as she fell to her knees, upon seeing she had just killed a man... Before staring blankly at the sight of a sawn-in-half log landing on the concrete.
"A substitute?!" Naruto's eyes narrowed, scanning the rooftop for the masked shinobi along with Ellen, unable to find him.
"You three work well as a team. I am mildly impressed." A voice from behind caused Naruto and Ellen to shiver before turning around to see their masked attacker squatting on the edge of the roof.
Removing his white mask to reveal that he wore a cloth mask over the lower half of his face.
...It was an anti-climactic reveal. There were barely any facial features visible to recognize, besides the eyes and the gravity-defying silver hair... Both of which were visible before!
"However," The man's expression tightened as he gazed upon them with his heterochromatic eyes. "If I were an actual threat, you both would have already been eliminated before your friend ever had the chance to strike."
Naruto flinched as the man stared directly at him when he said that. Naruto wasn't sure who this person was, but the stare he gave him reminded him of the way Lycaon disciplined him in the past.
It was a look of disappointment.
"Who do you think you are, huh?!" Ellen roared, baring her sharp teeth as she glared at the masked man.
"Naruto's new instructor. I am taking over for Kurenai." The man stepped forward, off the curb of the rooftop, before standing aloofly before them. "However, you may call me Kakashi... Or from now on, sensei."
"Yeah, okay, whatever, Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto snarled, heatedly glaring at the man with gravity-defying silver hair. "I've got a lot of questions for you, and I'm not leaving without getting my answers! So you better get talking or I'm gonna make you talk?"
"And precisely how are you going to make me talk?" Kakashi raised his brow before he sternly met Naruto's gaze. "I think it is more than apparent you couldn't even if you tried."
Naruto bit back the growl in his throat. The damn masked man was right! Even if he did have the answers he sought, there wasn't a way he could force him to tell him! The man knew he could handle all three of them...
"However, I do owe you some answers." Kakashi exhaled, slowly reaching into his pouch before pulling out a simple business card. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed the card in Naruto's direction.
Naruto snatched it out of the air, glowering at the man. Glancing down at the card, it was a simple business card with the title of their organization and an address. A business known as...
Shinobi of the Hidden Leaves.
Naruto's expression fell. His stomach lurched into his throat while his heart rapidly thumped in his chest. It was just what Lycaon stated...
More people from his village ended up in Eridu. So did that mean...
"Meet me there tomorrow after school. You'll get the answers you seek then." Kakashi turned from the group, leaves swirling around him. "And from now on, every night, you will meet me on this rooftop. It's time for you to inherit your legacy."
Naruto froze and was rooted to his spot. Inherit his... Did that mean...
"Wait! What does that mean?!" Naruto leapt from his spot, but before he could reach Kakashi, the man disappeared.
Naruto snarled, gazing down at the business card, scanning the address of the business card. He had half a mind to head there immediately...
"Naruto..."
Naruto was snapped out of his thoughts to see both Corin and Ellen looking upon him intently, concern evident on their features... And rage was building in Ellen's eyes.
He grimaced, knowing what was to follow. And unfortunately, he didn't have any good answers.
"What the fuck was that?! What's going on?!"