The Memory Keeper (Naruto Fanfic)

Chapter Six- The First Mission

Hey, Hi, Hello. Here is chapter six. The next chapter shall be the 'c' mission with Tazuna, possibly more. In any case, enjoy this chapter and get ready for some upcoming drama/action in the next chapters.

DISCLAIMER-I don't own Naruto): frowny face.

WARNING- Our pretty little emo Uchiha gets his ass kicked. By a girl, no less.

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   "Kakashi-sensei, it is considered rude to show up two hours late," I mutter. (AN: Some of you might have been expecting someone much more interesting. Hahaha, nope! All in good time.)

   "Ah, is it? So sorry," he tells me, using the same lazy tone but this time, laced with blatant amusement.

   I have to force myself not to move much at his voice or turn to look at him. My posture relaxes marginally, but shivers are sent down my spine. "Yes, Kakashi-sensei, I hope you are," I reply.

   "But it is amusing, hmm?" He asks, a playful tone taking place in his voice.

   "I suppose that yes, it is." My voice is emotionless. I try desperately to rid my cheeks of the blush caused by his voice and proximity. He chuckles, and I hear the soft shifting of clothes as he steps closer. He stops as he stands next to me, quietly observing (such as I am) Naruto pouting and Sasuke deflecting Sakura's many advances.

   "Mmm," he wonders aloud, "this shall be an interesting year, ne?"

   For the first time, I look him straight in the eye. His squared jaw, the straight nose, the onyx eyes, the soft black mask that covered his face. His hitae-ate covered his left eye. "Yes, it will be," I murmur. I look away quickly, having already soaked in his face. He chuckles again before mumbling something about how I was acting shy.

   I glance at him before quietly commenting, "I'm not shy."

   He meets my eyes and raises a hand to ruffle my hair. "Sure you're no-"

   He's cut off as Sakura finally leaves and Sasuke and Naruto note his arrival. "Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto shouts. "You're late again!" He bounds over to us. Sasuke silently turns towards us, a smirk full of contempt on his face.

   Kakashi ruffles my hair once more before dropping his hand from my head and replying, "Ah, yes, a black cat crossed my path and I had to take the back way..." He trails off as he quickly realizes we don't believe him. "Well. Let's go get our first mission."

   "Yeah, our very first mission!" Naruto shouts, pumping his fist in the air. We begin walking towards our destination. Naruto comments about how excited he was. I don't neccesarily pay attention, but I still process his every word. I'm more painfully aware that I was walking extremely close to Kakashi-sensei, a mere six inches. If I had the desire to do so, I could easily reach out and touch him. So, as is normal for me, I avoid physical contact with him.

   When we get to the mission assignment area, Hokage-sama is there waiting, along with a man I don't ever recall seeing before. They welcome us and then give us our very first mission, a 'D' rank that required us to go assist some older woman with her garden.

   It was a boring, menial task but it certainly kept us occupied. We pulled weeds, planted seeds, watered flowers, trimmed hedges and harvested a few fruit from a couple of trees. It took us roughly three hours to do this, and we were all hungry by the time we finished. The woman we completed these tasks for provided for us a platter of sandwiches and a pitcher of lemonade. I ate half of a snadwich and managed to gulp down a few mouthfuls of the sickly sweet drink before deciding I had had enough. Kakashi- sensei eats quickly, enough so that we didn't have a chance at seeing his face. Naruto ate a couple of sandwiches and three glasses of lemonade, whilst Sasuke has two sandwiches and a single glass.

   We left shortly after we finished eating, only departing after recieving the money and giving our thanks to the kind old woman. We walked back down to the Hokage tower. After turning in the money, we left.

   Kakashi-sensei decided, oh so graciously, that we had done good on the mission and therefore deserved exemption from completing any more today. Instead, he told us, we'd be practicing our skills while letting him observe us and give us tips on how to do better. He assigned us each specific things. Naruto and I were to spar together while he was helping Sasuke with his skills. Naruto and I sparred for about thirty to forty minutes before we switched out. Naruto was helped with his skills as Sasuke and I sparred with hand-to-hand combat.

   I was currently beating him. His speed and strength were decent, but not good enough. I dodge his punch while simultaneously throwing my clenched fist out to connect with his stomach. My strike hits, and he gasps in pain. I understood the basic mechanics of chakra control, and therefore charged my fist with chakra, enough to make it really sting.

   The punch has enough charge to send him back a few feet. I leap forward, using my small size to my advantage. I bring my arm up, swinging my elbow down on top of his head in a swift, solid arc. It leaves him gasping on the ground, panting in pain and wiping a spot of blood off of the corner of his mouth. He grimaces up at me. I stare at him blankly before saying, "I win."

   I turn to Kakashi-sensei, who's gaze (along with Naruto's) I can feel upon me. They seem to be very surprised.

   "Naruto, you and Sasuke take a break and then continue sparring, hand-to-hand. Kimi-chan, with me please," Kakashi-sensei says. Naruto walks to Sasuke and they both sit quietly, catching their breath, while I drift over to Kakashi-sensei. He leads me a bit away, out of earshot, and stops walking, turning to me. "Kimi-chan-" -my cheeks threaten to flush- "- your hand-to-hand skills are very impressive. I must ask, who taught you?"

   "My brother Masao touaght me everything I know."

   "Ah, well, seems as if he was very skilled as well. In any case, what sort of ninjutsu can you do?" He asks.

   "That he was. I can really only do the normal academy-grade ninjutsu," My response is quick.

   "Okay, we'll definitely work on that. What is your chakra type, may I ask?"

   "Lightning."  I answer simply.

   "Hm, I know just the techniques for you. For now, until you increase your chakra and begin to work your way up, we'll stick with basics. Now, I want you to try to gather chakra in your hand, enough so it's visible. When you've accomplished that, and I assure you it'll take at least a week or two, inform me. But that's pretty much all I can give you until you accomplish that. Today's training is over, okay?  Report tomorrow at the same place as yesterday, and at the same time. See you later," he informs me, and I nod. We walk over to the boys, where my things are sitting. As I gather them, he tells them training's done and we can go home.

   Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei are both gone quickly. Naruto hangs behind, presumably so her can say goodbye. "Naruto, goodbye. I shall see you soon," I tell him politely.

   He grins. "Oh, Kimi-chan, I was wondering if you'd wanna go get ramen with me and Iruka-sensei?" He asks.

   I consider it for a moment before nodding. "Okay."

   Maybe I was finally experiencing what Kazuo told me all about- the camraderie, the team work, the willingness to sacrifice one's own life for the benefit of a team member, one who was like family. Perhaps this was only just the beginning.

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