When he reached the top, Naruto was still there. Sasuke stalked forward.
"Not used to working with people," said Naruto, without looking. "Sorry about that."
"Sorry?! You went off on your own and as a result all three of us failed!" stated Sasuke.
"No," said Naruto.
"What do you mean 'no'?" asked Sasuke.
"We failed Kakashi Hatake's genin test," said Naruto. "Because we were supposed to somehow mesh together as a team despite none of us knowing how to work with others.His test was about teamwork."
Sasuke considered that, grunted, then eventually decided to sit a few feet away. "So what's your skills? You didn't have many in the Academy, but I saw enough in all that - you've gotten stronger."
"I'm a fixer," said Naruto. "In the world I went to, there were a few cities left. People were being hunted down, killed, eaten... or converted."
Sasuke considered the haunted look he could see in Naruto's face, then nodded, the last of his anger redirecting itself. "So you hunted the hunters."
"Yeah, that sums it up," said Naruto. "I'm a sniper now. I kill silently, from a distance. Some of the things hunting humans could regenerate from wounds - fast. You had to be able to put them down and keep them down until you did so much damage they couldn't simply heal."
"If I run into anything like that, I'll be sure to let you know," said Sasuke.
"Hidan?"
"Yeah, did you just get this awful feeling... no it couldn't be."
Kakuzu eyed his partner. No, in this case Hidan had to be right. Just a momentary chill, that was all it could be.
"So what now?" asked Sasuke. "Back to the Academy?"
"Did you collect the bounty?" asked Naruto.
"Bounty?" asked Sasuke. "What bounty?"
"Split between the three of us, the killing of two missing-nin and the capture of one," said Naruto. "It will go into our records as a successful mission, B-Rank."
"I didn't do anything," said Sasuke, staring at Naruto.
"We were a team, we split the spoils," said Naruto, reaching up and moving his scarf up and then his hood forward. "You... you decide your own path. I've got an appointment with the Hokage, possibility of being fast-tracked to ANBU. They apparently think my skills might be of use. Be seeing you."
Sasuke watched Naruto fade out until he was gone. After waiting a minute, he reached out to check but apparently Naruto had left without so much as a sound or displacing the air enough to detect it.
Sasuke briefly considered hiring Naruto to take care of a little problem of his own. No, he had to do it personally. But maybe Naruto could be hired to do fire-support on any allies his brother might have. It bore thinking about.
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(Posted Wed, 17 Aug 2011 23:19)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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