"Hmmm?" asked the stumbling Naruto.
Kakashi considered his student for a moment. "What does Woundhealer do exactly?"
Rin was about to answer but caught Kakashi's gesture and closed her mouth.
"Woundhealer heals wounds. Wounds of the body, of the mind, of the spirit."
Kakashi cocked his head slightly. That odd tone in Naruto's voice was the same as when he'd answered about 'Doomgiver' which was kind of reinforcing his earlier hunch. "And 'Stonecutter'?"
"Earth and stone part like air before Stonecutter's blade," mumbled Naruto.
"Kakash-" Sakura's own question stopped at a repeat of that request for silence directed at her.
"Any other swords out there?" asked Kakashi.
"Twelve swords of power, forged by the gods in a game, taken back by the gods when the swords proved too powerful," came a voice from Naruto but that didn't quite fit Naruto. "Twelve swords..."
At which point Naruto tripped and fell on his face.
"Mah, too much to hope for," admitted Kakashi.
"His conscious mind is getting in the way of the information he gathered with his weapon mastery," speculated Rin.
"Something that has happened with Sharingan users as well during wartime," said Kakashi.
"I don't get it," admitted Sakura.
"Sakura, how do you walk?" asked Kakashi.
"I just walk, you know - one foot in front of the other," stated Sakura.
"Ah, but in order to walk you have to shift your balance at just the right time, you have to move your legs correctly in the right rhythym. You also move a lot of other muscles and maintain balance at the same time," said Kakashi.
Sakura started thinking about all that and stumbled slightly on a rock that crumbled underfoot.
"Just as you're doing right now, your brain is telling your heart to beat, your lungs to breathe, kidneys to operate," said Rin, glancing at Kakashi to see if she were following the same concept. "So these swords are sufficiently complicated and powerful he's having trouble grasping all of them at the same time. Just like if you had to personally think your way through all the things you do automatically, you wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything else."
"Or maybe I'm completely wrong," said Kakashi. "During the war, there were a few cases of Uchiha who tried to learn a jutsu through their Sharingan that was above their ability to actually manage. It caused them a few problems."
"And Naruto learned three," concluded Sakura. "Woundhealer, Stonecutter, and - what was the other one?"
"Doomgiver," unexpectedly answered Sasuke.
"I like the name of that one," admitted Kakashi.
"So, Tazuna, when were you going to tell us about this not being at all what you were hiring us for?" asked Rin.
"Wha?" asked Tazuna.
"Oh, you figured it out?" asked Kakashi. "Yes, the Demon Brothers were after the bridge builder here."
"Errr, that is," said Tazuna.
"So, if that's the case, there may be other ninja enemies?" asked Sakura, stopping in the road. "Why are we going forward then?"
"Because the bridgebuilder here is going to cut Konohagakure a percentage of proceeds from his bridge when it opens, so that we're reimbursed for a B-Rank mission?" asked Rin, smiling sweetly at Tazuna while fingering a kunai.
"Errr, yes, I suppose," said Tazuna.
"Plus we need to get stronger, and the only way to do that is to go forward," suggested Sasuke.
"There's some of that too," admitted Kakashi. "Mainly though, it's because of what happened back there. Sakura. You know that you were functionally dead."
"Uhm," fidgeted Sakura, glancing at the unconscious Naruto.
"The blood loss, the severed limbs?" prompted Sasuke.
"Ah, yeah," admitted Sakura.
"You're alive. You were apparently not so dead that Naruto's sword couldn't bring you back," pointed out Rin.
"If you're asking me to be nice to him, I don't know if I can do that. He's been an annoyance and obstacle for so long."
"Stop," said Sasuke, his face losing all pleasantness. "I am NOT yours. I do not belong to Ino, or Mari, or Ami, or anyone else. I am not even going to THINK about such things until after I've had my revenge. Do you understand me?"
"Y-yes," squeaked Sakura.
"Hnn?" asked Sasuke, glancing at Kakashi.
"You did the dramatic shadowy thing pretty well," admitted Kakashi. "Even threw in some intensity in the atmosphere. Well done."
"Hnn," hnned Sasuke with a shrug.
"Sasuke, if you'd get the other side?" asked Rin, hefting up Naruto.
"Oh, that's... WHAT?!"
"A little less loud, Naruto," chided Kakashi gently.
"About time you woke up," noted Sakura. "Honestly. If it was up to me we'd have just left you."
"Is it just me, or is she being even nastier to him since he brought her back from being either dead or a quadruple amputee?" asked Rin.
"No, it's not just you," said Kakashi. "Overcompensation?"
"Hnnn," indicated Sasuke.
"No it's not!" protested Sakura. She opened her mouth again, ready to list off any number of problems she had with Naruto.
"Kubikiribocho, two-handed sword with the special ability to drink in the iron in blood and multiply it so that it can rebuild itself," said Naruto abruptly, looking in another direction.
"Duck!" responded Kakashi.
A sword went speeding past them to bury itself halfway into a tree. Someone landed on it a moment later.
"A mama duck and four baby ducks," said that person, looking down on the team.
"Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the Hidden Mist," said Kakashi. "Though frankly, half the Hidden Mist ninja have 'demon' or something like that in their titles don't they?"
"Common naming convention, it's part of our unique rustic charm," said Zabuza. "Ahem. Kakashi Hatake. I've read your bingo book entry. I'm looking forward to this battle."
"The Sword of Justice balances the pans," whispered Naruto, holding out one hand.
"You killed a graduating class of Kiri's Academy so you could graduate early," said Kakashi. "Your lust for bloody battle is well known."
"Of right and wrong," continued Naruto.
"Nice to be recognized for one's talents," admitted Zabuza.
"Of course, half of them would have died anyway as that was the method of graduation - you had to kill the person you'd been partnered with throughout the Academy." Kakashi motioned to his genin to stay behind him.
"-and foul and fair," continued Naruto.
"It was a pretty lousy system, don't you think?" argued Zabuza. "Only way to stop it was to demonstrate how ridiculous it was."
"Eye for an eye," incanted Naruto, a ghostly sword seeming to draw itself into his grasp.
"Well, it did stop after that," admitted Kakashi.
"Doomgiver scans," continued Naruto.
"What IS that genin doing over there?" asked Zabuza, curious because swords WERE pretty much his focus in the ninja arts.
"The fate of all folk everywhere," finished Naruto as the ghost-sword seemed to solidify.
"I'm rather curious myself," admitted Kakashi.
Zabuza considered the way the boy was apparently repeating some poetry under his breath, and the way the others all seemed to be anticipating something. The jonin was hard to read, as expected. Also as expected the genin and bridge builder were very easy to read. The blonde with the sword he apparently was talking to was preoccupied with something.
The other two genin were waiting for something to happen, and the bridge builder was trying to hide directly behind the genin with the sword.
Read the comments on this episode
(Posted Sat, 05 Oct 2013 17:17)
Questions? Problems? Suggestions?
Send a mail to addventure@bast-enterprises.de
or use the contact form.
らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
All other series and their characters are © by their respective creators or owners. No claims of ownership of these characters are implied by the authors of this Addventure, or should be inferred.
The Anime Addventure is a non-profit site.