We Are Shinobi (Naruto Fanfic)

4: The Offer

"I can't believe you," the ANBU states. There's vast silence except for the ruffle of the leaves around.

"Kakashi--please! Try to understand..." I try to defend myself but wince under his glare when his Sharingan activates beneath his mask.

"You know I can't let you leave... Not now, not after everything!" he exclaims, throwing a kunai in my direction very quickly. I step to the side and it just misses my shoulder. "You've taken away everything I had left!" His voice is getting louder, anger infuriating the teenager's features. I dodge another kunai.

My head falls low to the ground, and guilt floods over me. "I had no choice..."

"Don't lie to me! It's because of you that Kushina and Minato-Sensei died!" he explodes, running towards me with lightning-like chakra forming in his hand. "Just when I was actually starting to think of you as a friend!"

He has me pinned up against a tree with one hand, the other hand letting out a piercing sound, resembling a thousand birds. The light from his chidori almost blinds me. Tears stream down my face. My left hand radiates with pain as blood drips furiously from a deep wound. 

But the memory of how I got the cut hurts more than the wound itself.

 I don't even try to plea anymore. My fight is over.

* 42 hours earlier *

The sun is just beginning to rise. I stretch and walk over to the small window of this single-room apartment graciously provided to me by the Hokage. It's October 9th and Kushina's child is due to come any time.

Quickly, I slip on some clothes and step outside. The air this morning is it's usual warm. Well, warm compared to the Dream Village.

I know I need some sort of plan. I figured out, through lots of sleepless thought last night, that I cannot stay in the Hidden Leaf Village any longer. If I don't go home willingly, Hiashi-Sama could send people for me and my punishment when I get back could be way worse. I've already formulated a story of how I was captured and kept hostage and escaped. Hiashi-Sama will believe it, he's not as deceptive as the Yondaime.

I find myself at a hill, going up on top of the Hokage Momument. The overview of the Hidden Leaf Village is spectacular. I can see the whole village, every street and building. The trees rustle on the far side, and the sun rises in the east. Oh, how I wish I could stay.

It feels nice to just sit and let myself do nothing. No worrying, no thinking... just peace as the morning air blows through my hair and on my face.

My peace is interrupted. Footsteps approach from behind and I grunt at Kakashi for interrupting my peace. I sit up and run a hand through my hair, "What is it this time, baka?"

Turning, I quickly stand and grab a kunai out of the holster on the side of my leg, provided to me by the Hokage. There stands a figure in a black cloak. The same one from yesterday at the KIA Stone. His mask has a single eye-hole.

Slowly, tentatively, I lower my kunai to my side but refuse to put it back in the holster. "You're that one from the KIA Stone yesterday." I murmer.

He takes his hood down but not the mask, revealing jet-black hair. I can only see darkness through the eye-hole. He is around my height.

"So you're waiting for just the right time to steal a scroll and leave the village, huh?" he asks. I flinch and steady myself, positioning one foot behind the other. My grip tightens on the kunai. How did he know my plans? Who is this guy?

"What are you talking about?" I reply quietly, trying to act as if I know nothing about this. He never moves, just speaks strangely.

"I have an offer to make you," at this, I listen carefully, "But first, you must assure me of something."