personal-0004

Chapter 6: A promise

That night Kakashi headed out to one of the bars. It was sort of an informal tradition for him. Entering the smoke filled bar he couldn't help but chuckle silently at the 'mission' he was leading. He'd come of age in the midst of the Third Great Ninja War. When the village had been fighting on multiple fronts and was short of people. He'd been assigned to his team and his beloved sensei. Back then there was no time to take it easy with D-ranks and training at the academy had been strictly geared towards readying you for life and death combat.

Minato had broken them in with short range patrols, and before long taken them out on real missions. He was a veteran with over fifty enemy kills by the time the war ended. Then he'd gone into the ANBU and become a black ops legend. His last mission before taking on his team had involved blowing up a drug lab in Nagamo and exterminating the gang involved. In Fire country if the local police faced a difficult problem putting in a quiet call to the Hokage was always an option.

Navigating the crowded bar he spotted a friendly face and was waved over to a little table.

"Kakashi, you hear the latest?" Asuma asked as he sat down.

The second he heard his friend's grim tone he knew it had to be bad. "No, what?"

"Renji and his squad," Asuma began as he lit a fresh cigarette. "They're all gone, K.I.A."

Kakashi grimaced; four new names were going on the memorial stone. He tried to picture Renji. A red head with tattoos on his face and neck. The Chunin had only been promoted by the Hokage a year or so ago and was in his early twenties. He didn't know any of the Genin he'd been in charge of.

"What happened? It's pretty damn rare to lose a whole squad except in war time. Was he on some sort of special mission?"

Asuma shook his head. "That's the weird thing. They were in Wave protecting some bridge builder from bandits. Just a typical escort mission."

"So what happened?"

"No one knows. The Hokage's sent out an ANBU squad to investigate. There were no survivors and so no witnesses. All that's known so far is they and the client were ambushed along a road near his home."

"Bandits?" Kakashi asked sounding doubtful. Any Chunin was a match for at least fifty well armed men. Only a very large, or very desperate, group of outlaws would attack a squad of ninja.

"Doesn't look it," Asuma said and took a long drag from his cig. "There were no other bodies at the scene."

Kakashi nodded. Even if they were somehow caught by surprise and overwhelmed they would not have gone down easy. "Ninja then, maybe nuke nin."

Asuma nodded. "That's the assumption, but whoever did this was smart enough not to leave a calling card. We may never find out who was responsible."

Kakashi frowned but did not disagree. Wave country was largely swamp; by the time the ANBU arrived to investigate most of the physical evidence would be gone. Whoever did this would likely get away with it. As he drank with his friend Kakashi wondered what exactly had happened to Renji. Had they been targeted by people with a grudge against Konoha? Kami knew there were plenty of those out there. Had they somehow just run across the wrong people at the wrong time? Had they been attacked by a group targeting their client? That seemed the least likely. Rogue ninja were expensive. Who in their right mind would spend that kind of money to kill a bridge builder?

In any case he took the news as a reminder that any mission could turn lethal at any time. He would make sure to keep an eye on his kids.

XXXXXXXXXX

As Naruto locked the door to his apartment and headed to the gate he had a huge smile on his face.

Not one of the usual smiles that covered up the hurt and rage he felt, this was an honest smile. He was excited at the prospect of his first real mission and of the idea of actually leaving Konoha for

awhile.

When he'd been a child he'd often thought of running away. Of escaping this horrible place and all its cruelties. Some nights he would dream about it. The idea would fill him with hope and excitement. But he was always afraid too. He didn't know what was out there beyond the village walls. What if the people there all hated him too? And what if he left and never saw jiji again? The idea of leaving forever at once tempted and tormented him.

Arriving twenty minutes early he was glad to see he was the first to get there. The fifty foot high gates were open of course. Though it was early morning there was light traffic as carts and people on foot came and went. For a ninja village it was surprisingly easy for people to come and go. Merchants arrived all the time with the goods people demanded, local farmers came with the food people needed, and the civilians were free to come and go as they pleased.

Being a ninja he was not. He could not leave the village unless he was on a mission from the Hokage. Standing there his heart was pounding. He could see the road that seemed to stretch out forever. He had no idea what Hikedo was like, but for him it seemed as foreign and exotic a place as Iwa or Suna. It was somewhere else, somewhere different, and the idea of going there and leaving this place for a time had him grinning from ear to ear.

XXXXXXXXXX

About ten minutes later Sasuke and Sakura arrived together. Naruto had no doubt they had run into one another on the way here and Sakura had decided to tag along. Amazingly Sasuke actually looked to be in a good mood for once. He at least was tolerant and Sakura walked at his side. She was beaming, a content look was on her face and her eyes locked onto Sasuke.

Enjoy it while you can you dumb fan girl, his good moods never last long. When he'd finally given up on her he'd realized just how pathetic he must have appeared to everyone. He'd treated her the same way she treated Sasuke. He'd made a fool of himself again and again in the desperate hope that somehow or other it would win him some approval. It never did of course, and the more he'd done for her the worse she'd treated him. It was amusing to see the same happen to her now.

He could already tell what would happen. She would read too much into the fact he was willing to tolerate her right now. She would get her hopes up. Then later when he was back to his same old moody self she would be crushed to learn nothing had changed. For someone who's supposed to be so smart she sure is a moron when it comes to him. Then again I wasn't any better. 

In an odd way he owed Mizuki his thanks. No matter how painful the experience he had finally learned the truth. Not just about what he was but that he could never hope to win people over. No matter how much it hurt it was still better to face the truth and deal with things as they were, not as you wanted them to be. I guess that's part of growing up.

He kept his thoughts well hidden and greeted his teammates. The three of them settled in for what they expected to be a two hour wait.

But to the amazement of the entire team Kakashi came strolling along book in hand at exactly 8.

"You're actually on time!" Sakura cried out.

"A mission from the Hokage is serious business and needs to be treated as such," Kakashi said pleasantly.

"Does that mean meeting us each day doesn't count as serious business?" Naruto asked.

"That's right," Kakashi said while reading his little orange book.

If looks could kill he'd have burst into flames there and then.

"All right team, let's go. Two days to get there, three for the festival, and two to come back," he walked out of the village with his team trailing him. "Try not to get lost or killed, okay?"

XXXXXXXXXX

The two day trip there went by without incident. Kakashi had them sleep in their sleeping bags while keeping a watch. Naruto had offered to have his clones take care of all that, but as with their D-ranks Kakashi insisted that everyone do their part. Though they would just be acting as security Kakashi made a point of treating it like a serious mission. He wanted them to practice the same habits they would need on more important and more dangerous work.

Though Hikedo was designated a village, it was actually a prosperous small town of about 60,000. It was the capitol of its prefecture. Entering the village it was easy to see the preparations people were making. Streets were being swept clean and everywhere, on every door and window, people were displaying flowers or green branches. In the middle of the village there was a large open air market place that was crowded with stalls offering different games and tasty foods. All the people were smiling and in a fine mood.

Naruto at first felt a little weird because the people here weren't glaring at him or ignoring him. When he stopped to think about it he realized that made sense. The people here didn't know who he was. To them he was just a kid with some weird scars. Having people smile at him and treat him the way they treated his teammates was definitely strange.

When you grow up being treated a certain way you just accept that's how things are, and how they are meant to be. Even if you hate it you just figure that if everyone is treating you that way it must be for some reason. His mind understood the reason for it now, but he still found he was so ingrained to being hated and ignored he had trouble accepting normal treatment.

Entering the village Kakashi had asked the local residents where he might find the mayor and had been directed to the open air market. There they found him. The mayor was a middle aged man with a wide belly dressed in plain work clothes. When they first saw him he had a hammer in his hand and was helping put a stand up.

"We don't worry much about formality here," mayor Binya told them. "Thank you for coming to provide security." He glanced at Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke worriedly. "I, uh, had expected your team to be made up of adults."

"There's no need for concern," Kakashi assured him. "Despite their ages all the members of my team are real ninja while I am an elite Jonin. I promise you we can handle things during your festival. We'll take care of crowd control and see to it no one causes trouble."

"Crowd control?" Binya blinked at him. "Our own police force can take care of that. That's not why you were hired."

Now Kakashi looked surprised. "I'm sorry, but the request was for security during the three days and nights of your festival. Was that a mistake?"

"No, you are here to provide security for the next three days. But not for the festival."

Beneath his mask Kakashi frowned. "Then what are we providing security for?"

The mayor looked around nervously. "Please come with me."

XXXXXXXXXX

Binya took them out of the village and into the nearby woods. About a couple miles from Hikedo they came to a modest wooden house with a small garden. He led them up the stone walkway and opened the door.

Inside was a room empty of any furnishing but a small mat. Hanging on the walls were portraits symbolizing various kami and earth spirits. Kneeling on the mat, and apparently deep in meditation, was a young girl of perhaps eight or nine. She was dressed in a white tunic and loose red pants of a priestess. Her long black hair was tied in a pony tail that ran halfway down her back. She remained where she was kneeling with her eyes closed, not noticing the opening of the door or the five sets of eyes that here watching her from it.

"Her name is Shizuku; she is our Priestess of the Spring." Binya whispered. "Your job is to protect her."

Kakashi's one visible eyebrow rose. "You went through the expense and trouble of hiring us just to protect a priestess for three days?"

Binya quietly slid the door shut again. "That is the time she will be in danger."

"Danger?"

Binya nodded solemnly. "I am afraid someone is going to try and murder her."

"Murder?" Sakura gasped.

Kakashi motioned her to be silent. "Has someone made a threat against her life?"

"You could say that, during each of the last seven festivals our Priestess of the Spring has been found brutally killed. And all of them were children around Shizuku's age."

"Seven murders?" Kakashi said.

Binya nodded.

"Do you have any suspects?"

"The entire village," the mayor said sadly.

Kakashi looked at him stonily. "You're going to have to explain that."

"Hikedo is a very old village with many old customs." The mayor looked down in shame. "Among them the custom of human sacrifice. In ancient times a pure and innocent child would be offered up to the spirits of the earth. A boon you might say, her life and blood in return for bountiful harvests and peace within our lands."

"A lot of places used to practice that, but the custom fell out of favor hundreds of years ago." Kakashi pointed out.

"The same was true here… until seven years ago. The land had suffered four years of bad crops. Drought, flood, hail, early frost, one natural disaster after another was slowly ruining the local farms and farmers. Then seven years ago during the Festival of Spring Renewal our priestess went missing. Each year one girl is selected to act as our Priestess of the Spring. She is brought here to live separate from her family for that time and to devote herself to prayer and meditation. She performs the ritual ceremonies of the festival and then is returned to her family and a new priestess is chosen. But seven years ago our priestess disappeared on the second night of the festival." He shook his head sadly. "She was eventually found in the woods with her throat cut."

"Let me guess," Kakashi said coldly. "You had a bountiful harvest that fall."

Twitching the mayor nodded. "No one knows who is responsible, or how many people are involved. The people here don't talk about it."

"So basically it's one vast conspiracy?" Kakashi asked.

"More or less," Binya admitted.

"I can't believe people can still be that barbaric in this day and age." Sasuke said.

"Not everyone feels that way!" Binya said. "Most people here are disgusted by the murders, but it's impossible to tell who feels differently. Last year I had my entire police force guarding this place around the clock. But the priestess was still found dead, poisoned. It was impossible to tell when it was done or if it was done with the aid of people on the police force. But it was a possibility."

"So you suspect some of your police are part of the conspiracy?" Kakashi asked.

"That's right," Binya said. "That's why I decided to send for you. Only people from outside the village can be trusted to really protect her. The custom is that the sacrifice must be made during the time of the festival. Once it's over she will no longer be the priestess and so be safe."

"In that case why don't we just take her away somewhere for the next three days?" Kakashi offered.

But the mayor shook his head. "The priestess has to be the one to begin and conclude the festival and perform other ceremonies during it. If she isn't here the festival can't take place and the entire village would erupt."

"She's a jinchuuriki," Naruto said quietly.

Kakashi looked at him nervously.

"What?" Binya asked. Naruto glared at him furiously and the mayo took a couple steps away from the boy.

"I said she's a jinchuuriki, she's a human sacrifice made for the good of this village," Naruto answered clearly. "You people don't give a damn whether she lives or dies so long as the village prospers right?"

"Naruto…" Kakashi said cautiously.

"Well she's not going to die! I'll protect her and make sure she lives. That's a promise!"

Sasuke and Sakura both looked on surprised by his intensity. It was almost as though he felt a personal connection to her for some reason.

Kakashi slowly nodded his head. "While Naruto is a bit more emotional about it than I would like I agree. We will protect her with our lives."

Chapter 7: Priestess of the Spring

The air was filled with the sweet scent of flowers and the mouth watering aroma of meat cooking over an open flame. All around them the crowd was smiling and cheering. Little children sat on their parents' shoulders looking on at the procession. The grownups were dressed in their best yukatas making them as colorful as the parade. They were in bright colors, greens and purples and reds and yellows and of course orange. Everyone looked so happy, they were all cheering and clapping their hands as their Priestess of the Spring slowly walked past. She was preceded and followed by school children in their own bright yukatas. The children carried tree branches and flowers, symbols of spring renewal. No one seemed to make a big deal about the twenty orange clad ninja who walked along keeping the priestess surrounded at all times. Each Naruto kept his eyes scanning the crowd and the roof top for any possible threat.

He spotted some movement on a roof and tensed. He relaxed when he saw it was just the teme. Sasuke and Sakura would keep an eye from the roofs while he was the one who stayed near Shizuku. Kakashi was somewhere in the crowd in a henge. Naruto picked up his scent and knew he was moving along with the procession but had no idea which face was his. Their job was to protect Shizuku for these three days and they were all serious about keeping her safe.

XXXXXXXXXX

Flashback

Shizuku was looking calmly at the four ninja who had come to keep her safe. Binya had introduced them to her and explained that they would be staying at the shrine during the festival to protect her. The mayor had then excused himself to return to his carpentry.

The little priestess had accepted their arrival with a serenity that caught them all off guard.

"I understand that you will be staying here in the shrine," she said quietly. She smiled at them innocently, a child's smile. "No one else ever stays here with me. Nori comes and teaches me and Momo cooks for me, but otherwise I am always alone. I think it will be nice to have company."

"Do you ever have contact with anyone other than your caretaker and your teacher?" Kakashi asked.

The little girl shook her head. "Everyone else stays away from here and I am not supposed to leave the shrine."

"You must get really lonely," Naruto said in a soft voice.

Shizuku looked at him. "Not really, I meditate and pray to pass the time. I know what I am doing is important to the village so I don't mind it."

Naruto was very surprised to find he actually believed her. There was not a whiff of resentment coming off her. He knew how hard it was to be all alone so he couldn't begin to understand how she could be all right with it.

"Don't you have any friends? Anyone you can talk to?" He asked.

Kakashi glanced at Naruto silently.

"I have only Nori and Momo," she said. "I… have a mother I have not seen since I became priestess. I would… I would really like to be with kaassan again. But that is not for me to decide."

"What do you mean?"

"Whether or not I see kaasan again is karma. What will be will be, I cannot change it but only accept it."

"Then you understand the reason why we are here?" Kakashi asked carefully.

She simply nodded. "I know that the seven priestesses before me were all sacrificed, and that you are here to try and prevent that from happening to me as well."

"How can you be so calm about it?" Sakura blurted out. "Some people out there want to kill you! Why aren't you scared?"

"Because I have been taught to accept whatever fate is meant for me. Whatever my karma is I accept it," she said tranquilly.

"What if your karma is to be murdered in the next three days?" Naruto asked. "Would you just accept that?"

"Yes," she said.

"Well you know what? Fuck karma!"

"Naruto!" Sakura said sharply. "You can't say that to her!"

"Why not? It's what I honestly feel."

"You cannot oppose what is meant to be," Shizuku told him politely. She did not seem offended or bothered by what he had just said. "We must all bend before the wind. To resist fate only causes suffering. Do you not believe in karma?"

"Hell no," he said with a sneer. "'Cause, my karma was to die all alone hated by everyone. If I was going to pay attention to what fate or kami or whoever planned for me I'd have laid down and died a long time ago. But I decided instead that I was going to be Hokage one day. Not because it was my karma but because it was what I wanted. That's my dream and I'll make it come true no matter what it takes!"

Shizuku's eyes widened a bit at the passion and fervor of his words. "But… but aren't you afraid of what will happen if you oppose what fate has in store for you? Whenever a soul opposes its natural destiny only suffering can come as a result."

"So what?" Naruto asked. "Life is filled with suffering anyway. If I have to suffer anyway it might as well be to fulfill my dream. What's your dream?"

"What?" She asked in confusion.

"What's your dream?" He repeated. "What is it you want from life?"

She looked a little nervous, a little unsure of herself. "I… I don't have a dream; I am ready to accept whatever comes."

"Come on, everyone has a dream, everyone has something they want." He pointed at Sasuke. "The teme there wants to kill a certain man and restore his clan."

"Hn." Sasuke said with a slight frown.

He pointed at Sakura. "She wants to have the teme fall in love with her and give him a whole herd of little pink haired kids."

"Hey!"

He pointed at Kakashi. "He just wants to spend the rest of his life doing nothing but reading porn."

Kakashi shrugged. "Well that's true."

"As for me I'm going to be Hokage and rule my village." He gave her a big triumphant smile. "So what do you want?"

She looked down and squirmed a little. "It is selfish to have personal desires."

"Maybe I guess, but everyone has them. Isn't there something you want?"

She was silent for awhile.

"I want to be with momma again," she said in a small voice. "I just want to be with momma again."

Naruto nodded. "That's a good dream, if that's what you want you have to be willing to fight for it." He stepped forward and she felt him press something into her hand. It was cold and hard.

When she saw what it was she dropped it and steeped back in horror. The kunai fell to the wooden floor with a small clang.

"I am a priestess! I cannot carry a weapon! I am sworn to harm no living thing!"

"Even if they want to harm you?" He picked it up off the floor and held it out to her. "If you really want to be with your mother again, if that's your dream, you have to be willing to fight for it."

"Naruto, she's a priestess, she's not like us." Sakura pointed out. "It's our job to protect because we're the ninja; we're the ones who have been taught to fight."

"I know that Sakura-chan, and I don't plan on any danger getting anywhere near her. But just in case, she should be willing to protect herself if it comes down to that." Naruto continued to hold the kunai out to her. "Dreams don't come true just because you wish for them; you have to fight to make them real."

"Naruto actually brings up a valid point," Kakashi said. "While we will do everything in our power to protect you and keep you safe it would still be a good idea to be armed."

"I cannot do violence to any living thing," she said firmly.

"Then… then use it to make them think twice." Naruto said. "If it comes to it pull it out and shout for help. Maybe just seeing you're armed will buy you a few seconds. You can at least do that right?"

She thought of it. "I… I suppose I could. But to even carry a weapon…"

"It's only for three days," Naruto said warmly and slipped the kunai into a wide pocket on her trousers. "I'm sure kami or fate or whatever will forgive you."

"I… I suppose," she said but continued to look troubled.

XXXXXXXXXX

Walking along the parade route the original Naruto was the one closest to her. If anything happened he wanted to be at her side ready to act.

As they walked Shizuku looked up at him, she was about six inches shorter than he was. "Naruto, why do you care so much?"

"Huh?"

The girl smiled at his obvious confusion. "I am just curious why you care so much. Your sensei and your teammates want to protect me, but while they are very sincere in their efforts I can tell it is a mission for them. They will protect me because it is their job. If their job were to kill me they would try and do it just as well, right? That is how ninja are I believe?"

Naruto rubbed the back of his head in discomfort. "Well… if it was the mission we would sort of have to. We have to obey the orders of the Hokage and you usually don't get to pick and choose which missions you're assigned. We're not supposed to ever let things be personal."

"But you do," she said softly. "You really care about protecting me in a way the others don't. Why is that?"

"It's because I understand your situation," he told her. "I know what it's like to be a living sacrifice for a village and have them not even care." He looked at the cheering crowd. "They acknowledge you, they cheer for you, but how many of them would be sorry if you were to die so long as the village had a nice harvest? Sure, they care about that, but do any of them care about you and what you have to sacrifice for their sakes? Not damn likely."

"But aren't ninja expected to lay down their lives for their village? People don't appreciate that?"

Naruto shook his head. "I'm not talking about being a ninja. People respect ninja where I come from and the ones who die in service to the village have their names carved into a memorial, they are remembered. But I chose to become a ninja; Inever chose to be a sacrifice."

"What do you mean?" She asked. "How are you a sacrifice?"

Knowing he'd said too much he quickly smiled and shook his head. "Ah, never mind, forget I said that. The point is I understand what it's like to be where you are now and I want to protect you. I want you to live and have your dream. I want you to get to be with your kaasan, and I'll make sure it happens. That's a promise and I never break a promise, that's my nindo, my ninja way."

Looking up at him Shizuku smiled warmly. "Karma will decide if that happens, but thank you for trying to protect me." She placed a hand on his arm. "I'm an only child and my father died when I was very young. I always wanted to have an older brother who would protect me and watch out for me. If I'd had one I would want him to be just like you Naruto."

"Really?" For someone who had spent his whole life abused and unwanted hearing that meant a lot to him.

"Really," she said. "Would it be all right if I called you oniisan while you are here? Even if it's just for the festival I would like to pretend I have an older brother."

"Sure!" He said in genuine happiness. It was strange how such a small thing could mean so much to him.

"Then please take care of me niisan."

"I will," he said solemnly and placed a gentle hand over hers. I'll keep you safe no matter what.