The World Was All Before Him

The World Was All Before Him

- SuishouTenshi

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, NARUTO!!! (Longest chapter yet for Naruto’s birthday).

Act III, Scene III: In the Lips and Hearts

The sudden and uninhibited flush that overcame Jiraiya’s features told Kakashi that, infamous pervert or not, the Sennin was honestly troubled by Naruto’s kidnapping, and despite the calm and collected front he put up for Yondaime’s sake, he was distracted enough by his student’s agitation to truly forget the necessity of trousers.

But then again, he wasn’t called a Sannin for nothing. A nice twist of a Replacement and an Illusion technique later, Jiraiya appeared once more fully clothed.

Kakashi chose to ignore the familiar cerulean towel that was currently fluttering away in the trees behind them.

“The trail has been split.”

Kakashi pulled himself to a screeching halt next to Jiraiya. Truth be told, he had been blindly following the older shinobi all this way. Give him ample time and space, Kakashi was experienced enough to use the tracking methods he learned from his time in ANBU to trace down Naruto’s abductors. But Jiraiya had simply run with it, as if he could analyze vague chakra signals and bent tree branches in fractions of a second. Now that Kakashi looked closer, he could tell that yes, the enemy’s trail had indeed been divided into four directions.

The enemy was trying to mess with their heads, but they had the home field advantage. Kakashi was just about to offer Jiraiya his deductions to the kidnappers’ whereabouts when the Sennin bit his own thumb, drew an unfamiliar pattern on his palm, and shook the earth with a cry of “Taijuu Kuchiyose no Jutsu”.

In what seemed like an agricultural nightmare, hundreds of crimson colored toads in all sizes and shapes began to rain from the sky. The downpour slowed after mere seconds but the horrifying image stayed in Kakashi’s head, and the freakiness of the situation was only amplified when the army of toads saluted their master with a unison croak.

The toad in lead, which came up roughly to Kakashi’s thigh, bounced forth. “You called, Jiraiya-sama?”

“Sorry for disturbing so many members of your family, Gama, but we need you to track down someone for us.”

The one called Gama gave Kakashi a cursory glance. “There’s nothing new on Orochimaru, Jiraiya-sama.”

Kakashi hadn’t been expecting to hear that name which had become nearly taboo in Konohakagure. A glimpse of Jiraiya’s unperturbed countenance told him that as intriguing as the snake traitor’s name was, Kakashi was in no way privileged to any information pertaining to the missing ninja.

“Different person, Gama. We’re looking for an abducted boy. He should have Minato’s scent all over him.”

“Minato’s kid? We got it, boss.” Gama turned and gave his miniature army some sort of signal. The next thing Kakashi knew, he was once again alone in the forest with Jiraiya.

“The toads aren’t as efficient in tracking as the ninken, but they have experience and connection with the smaller forest animals. We won’t have to wait very long. In the meantime, Kakashi, tell me, if I weren’t here with you, how would you go about deciding which trail to take?”

Kakashi didn’t think it was the appropriate time or place for a pop quiz, but Jiraiya seemed to trust the toads to do their job and there was really nothing else for Kakashi to focus on.

“One of these trails would lead the abductor back to the village. If the Mist shinobi wanted to take Naruto to their leader, a simple disguise would help them navigate through Konoha’s crowded streets.

“The second trail leads to a stream which would take the kidnappers uphill to the bathhouse on the edge of the town. It’s too early in the day for the bathhouse to be open, so if they’re aiming to be inconspicuous, that would be a more roundabout route toward the center of the village where their inn is located.

“The last two routes will take them out of Konoha altogether and toward the direction of Sand. But choosing two very popular trails to head into Sand makes it seem like they’re trying too hard. It could be reverse psychology, and they don’t plan to leave the country at all just yet. If I were alone, I would take the first trail.”

It was the most standard deduction, most psychologically sound, and by the way Jiraiya was smirking at him, mostly wrong.

“I don’t know what that brat of a Hokage taught you, but always remember, Kakashi, to look underneath the underneath.”

Just as his words ended, two toads hopped frantically back towards them. “Some frogs said they saw a strange man carrying a large sack of something wading upstream in the waters!” one reported before it could catch its breath.

“Good job, tell your family to go back home, and to keep an extra ear out for you-know-who.”

Jiraiya immediately sped toward the direction of the stream. Kakashi pushed away the slight embarrassment at being proven incorrect and followed without hesitation. But with every leap he took, he only seemed to lag behind more and more. It didn’t take long for Jiraiya to send a henge to deliver a message.

“Top speed, Kakashi.”

“We should conserve some energy for the battle, Jiraiya-sama.”

“Nice to know you’re thinking ahead, but this really isn’t the time. If what I’m guessing is right, then any second counts. Naruto-kun is in danger.”

Kakashi didn’t debate with the man, nor did he dwell unnecessarily on the mental image of a limp and bloody Naruto. But the lone Sharingan had come out from its hiding place beneath the hitai-ate, and the surrounding foliage became a mere blur.

The bathhouse was eerily silent when they finally arrived. They searched the premises discretely and found an old woman washing vegetables in the stream. Jiraiya glared suspiciously at the woman, and it took no more than a glance from Kakashi’s Sharingan to see through the illusion. An exclaimed “kai” later, the stout grandmother became a carefully cloaked shinobi, and the overly large zucchini “she” was washing revealed itself to be an unconscious Naruto with his head held forcefully underwater.

The shinobi sensed their attack just in time to dodge a dozen glinting shuriken. His hold on Naruto’s head didn’t loosen, however, and Kakashi’s all-too-well vision told him that Naruto’s pulse was nearly nonexistent.

As far as Kakashi knew, no shinobi alive could move faster than Yondaime Hokage with his Hiraishin no Jutsu, but in terms of hair, Jiraiya’s white tresses were just as astounding. Previously messy strands tightened and stretched, and as soon as the opponent evaded their shower of shuriken, Jiraiya sent out his seemingly sentient hair to whip the enemy away from the waters.

To the Mist-nin’s credit, he didn’t release his hold on Naruto. The pressing need to get Naruto away from the water was eradicated, however, and the sudden jerk from his captor succeeded in knocking Naruto into a coughing fit which seemed to empty most of the water in his lungs and woke him up from whatever sleeping jutsu the enemy shinobi put him under.

It was a common rule in the ANBU guidebook that small and energetic children made the worst type of hostages. Naruto currently looked like he was doing his best to prove that statement correct as he writhed and whined in the cloaked shinobi’s unrelenting arms.

But Kakashi was a bit too preoccupied to take joy in knowing that Naruto was making the situation difficult for the opponent. If the enemy had no qualms about drowning the boy in a stream, then there really weren’t much to stop him from slitting Naruto’s throat with a kunai right there in front of them.

Of course, Kakashi should consider themselves lucky enough that the enemy didn’t finish Naruto off right there inside the boy’s bed, and instead brought him all the way out to the opposite end of the village where there was an abundance of water though any semi-decent Mist shinobi could have simply suffocated Naruto with water vapor alone...

“You’re not from the Mist,” Kakashi’s mouth murmured before his brain could tell it to shut up. Next to him, Jiraiya remained in a battle-ready stance and didn’t seem the least surprised at Kakashi’s revelation.

The enemy held onto Naruto and didn’t answer; either he was mute or just a really good ninja. Jiraiya, on the other hand, decided it was time to employ the oldest trick in the scroll — file down the enemy’s defense by feeding their ego.

“It wasn’t the most subtle thing you could’ve done, but then again, subtle wasn’t exactly what you were going for, now was it? Breaking into private properties, kidnapping the Hokage’s only child, leaving a note pointing the guilt at Mist, and kill the child by drowning him in water... Nice planning, I must admit. Rock-nin? No, you knew that Yondaime’s private barrier would be down this morning to admit my entrance. An inside job then?” Jiraiya taunted, but still, the enemy did not make a single sound.

“Oh, come now, I know you’re just dying to tell someone your glorious plan. The fact that you didn’t simply bring a bucket of water into Yondaime’s property to drown Naruto means you’ve got a flair for the dramatics. You wanted Yondaime to panic, and you wanted us to chase you, possibly make a scene in the village. Doesn’t sound like a Konoha shinobi’s style. So Rock it is then?”

After a tense few seconds, the cloaked figure finally spoke. “It doesn’t matter where I’m from; this child dies here and now.” He held a kunai against Naruto’s throat, and the natural instinct of self-preservation told Naruto to stop struggling.

“Such an obvious wound like that will make all your efforts to pin the blame onto Mist ineffective,” pointed out Jiraiya, whose posture seemed perfectly calm and unalarmed.

Kakashi wasn’t so sure that the kidnapper cared much about how Naruto died at that point. The kunai inched a slimmer closer to Naruto’s throat, and it was taking all of Kakashi’s self-discipline to not charge forward without a plan.

It was not longer the kidnapper that Kakashi was staring down, however. After he had ceased struggling, Naruto appeared to have finally registered that this wasn’t another war game he and Kakashi played under the sun. Furthermore, his papa wasn’t there, and his only friend was also nowhere to be seen. A look of horror washed over Naruto’s innocent visage, stubby little arms spread forward toward the only familiar figure in view, and the dewdrop tears that were rolling down marked round cheeks made Kakashi rage with frustration at his uselessness.

It was out of fear, or perhaps longing, or maybe a simple defiance against a child’s instinctive knowledge of the acceptable. Whatever the trigger was, Hatake Kakashi knew from that instant onwards that he would never forget the moment when Naruto, childish features twisted and scrunched up as he sobbed, reached for him with a desperate cry.

“Mama!”

Later, Kakashi could not exactly recall how long it took him to make those consecutive hand seals, but he did know that he had started off with an Earth element jutsu and directed a thin trickle of high speed soil upwards to wrench the kunai away from the enemy’s hand. Then it was Kagebushin, and Naruto was soon safely away from the abductor while two clones and the original Kakashi sent the enemy flying with merciless taijutsu. The shadow clone that took Naruto back into safety covered the child’s eyes just in time to shield him from the sight of Kakashi ramming a Raikiri through the opponent’s chest.

Their mysterious enemy wasn’t even allowed a chance to scream.

His clones disappeared in puffs of smoke. Now tainted by blood and unnamable organs, Kakashi turned around just in time to catch Naruto, whom had ran for his arms despite the gore. Jiraiya approached them slowly and didn’t even bother to reprimand the young Jounin for not leaving their only source of information alive.

Kakashi saw Jiraiya’s aged eyes sweep across Naruto’s blond tresses, which were now dotted with blood, but did not read disappointment in the Sannin’s glance. Jiraiya forwent the comforting speech and went to kneel down next to their dead enemy and swept back the hood of the cloak. Beneath it was a young and familiar face.

“It’s the redhead Genin from sensei’s office,” Kakashi’s breath hitched. “It was an inside job after all. He was outside yesterday when sensei invited you over for breakfast, so he would’ve known that the chakra shield would be down this morning.”

Jiraiya hummed but made no comment. “Take Naruto-kun back to his father and call for some hunter-nin to clean up this mess. I’ll wait here to watch over the body.”

Kakashi nodded and picked up a dry-eyed Naruto. “I’ll send them with some pants.”

Jiraiya chuckled, but Kakashi was no longer looking at him. Naruto had wound his arms around Kakashi’s neck, and it felt like he wasn’t going to let go anytime soon.

***

Inside the Hokage office where Kakashi frequently visited, he suddenly felt intimidated and out of place. Sarutobi-sama was sitting in the Hokage seat, puffing away on his pipe. Jiraiya-sama was leaning against the sealed windowpane, arms crossed and a grin fixed on his face. Yondaime perched casually on an edge of the huge Hokage desk, and had not taken his eyes off of Kakashi since the latter sent Naruto to take a bath with the Uchiha matron.

“His name was Sugiyama Taka, orphaned at birth,” Kakashi read from the scroll of information that the hunter-nin had handed to him mere minutes ago. “Graduated from the Academy six years ago, never advanced to Chuunin, never attempted to take the exam. Took regular shifts in the Hokage tower, but gave no distinct impression to anyone in particular. His cell leader died during the Kyuubi invasion, and both of his teammates have advanced to ANBU, which left him without a team. He had no family, mentor, or friends.”

Jiraiya scoffed. “No attachment whatsoever. No distinct trait. The perfect spy.”

“But for whom?” Yondaime asked with his eyes still fixed on Kakashi. “I’m still not confident about ruling out Mist’s involvement in this.”

“Except Rock has the better manpower and motivation,” said Sandaime-sama. “I would never have thought Mist to have the guts to do something like this.”

Kakashi scanned his scroll. “His apartment was clean. No evidence connecting him to either Mist or Rock. The investigation team did find an abundance of rare scrolls, mostly stolen from the Hokage tower library.”

“No motivation to take the Chuunin exam, but enough to study rare jutsu?” Jiraiya grimaced. “Damn it, he could be an independent agent.”

Sarutobi-sama shook his head. “In this day and age, it’s far better to have one inside traitor than to have our supposed allies turn against us.”

“Fine, suppose he was an independent agent acting on his own will. What good could come out of it by killing Naruto-kun and blaming it on Mist?”

Kakashi piped up, “I wouldn’t underestimate some villagers’ hostility toward Naruto-kun, and there are plenty of war veterans that still long for their glory days.”

“But this guy was a twenty-two-year-old Genin. What could he be a veteran of? Backyard wrestling?” said Yondaime.

The office plunged into silence as four generations of masters and students fell into deep thought. Kakashi could still feel Yondaime’s eyes on him, or more specifically, the blood that he didn’t have time to wipe off. But Kakashi couldn’t help but glance occasionally at Jiraiya. Finally, curiosity got to him.

“What if he didn’t have a vendetta against Naruto-kun, and the attack was targeted at Sensei, whom he couldn’t harm, even on a good day?” asked Kakashi.

“You mean, he wanted to get to me by hurting my son. I’ve thought about that possibility too, but why go through all the trouble to frame Mist?”

“To raise war,” Kakashi said simply as he stared resolutely at Jiraiya. “I can easily think up one person who would love to hurt Sensei and send Konoha into another war at the same time.”

Jiraiya scowled at Kakashi, and soon all eyes were on him.

“Fine, if you want me to say it, I will.” Jiraiya turned to face Sarutobi-sama. “It could be Orochimaru. After all these years, I finally got a trace on him. He’s joined up with a few dangerous missing-nin. They have a growing taskforce at hand, a terrorist organization, and are constantly recruiting. Orochimaru loved to hold grudges, and I’d bet he’s still sore about you giving the Hokage seat to Minato instead of him. Exiling him from the village only added oil to the flame.”

Kakashi hid his surprise fairly well under the circumstances. He didn’t actually know much about Orochimaru’s history, but had heard enough to treat Orochimaru as a serious threat now that he knew there were some hostile history between the snake user and his Sensei.

Behind the Hokage desk, Sandaime-sama gave a heavy sigh. “Knowing Orochimaru, sending a poorly trained Genin to do his dirty work was only a warning.”

“Of what?” Kakashi asked.

“That he’s coming back to ruin this village.”

When the atmosphere got too tense, Jiraiya grinned suddenly and said, “But that’s just conjecture. We could be worrying for nothing.”

“Or we’re worrying for a very dire future.” Sandaime pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly. “Anyhow, we should still be wary of both Rock and Mist. The alliances are still tentative, and any little thing can set it off. The delegates are leaving in a few days; let’s try to prevent any disagreements until then. Jiraiya, I expect nothing will deter you from submitting once more to your wanderlust?”

Jiraiya’s grin stretched impossibly wide. “Among other... lusts. I have books to write, virgins to deflower, and an old friend to track down. It might be best if I head out immediately, new pants and all.”

“So soon, sensei?” Yondaime’s eyes were finally diverted away from Kakashi’s face.

“Just take my picture out of its hiding place if you miss me, Minato. And tell your kid good-bye for me.” Jiraiya went over and gave Yondaime a fatherly pat on the shoulder. “Don’t stop writing, ya hear?”

“Of course, sensei.”

Jiraiya bowed to Sarutobi-sama and received a kindly smile of blessing in return. Finally, he turned to Kakashi.

The youngest shinobi stood deathly still as Jiraiya surveyed him from head to toe. “Don’t let anything stop you from doing what you think must be done,” Jiraiya said flatly. “Oh, and I’ll be taking this as a souvenir.”

In the blink of an eye, Jiraiya had vanished from their sight, and Kakashi’s face was once more exposed.

There was a pregnant pause before Sarutobi-sama broke into a throaty guffaw. He left the room with a trail of heartfelt laughter and mutterings about the wonders of youth.

The door shut with a soft click, and Kakashi was left standing in the middle of the office with an unsmiling Yondaime staring intently at him. He wasn’t sure how long they spent just looking at each other, but in the end, it was Yondaime who broke the silence.

“Let’s get you cleaned up.”

There was a basin always filled with water in a corner of Yondaime’s office just in case he worked late at nights and needed to wash up. Yondaime dragged Kakashi to that corner now, and after wetting the long sleeve of his pristine Hokage robe, began to gently wipe away the bloodstains on Kakashi’s forehead and hair.

“Sensei, your robe...” Kakashi protested belatedly. The royal attire of Konohakagure was already discolored by redness.

Yondaime swatted away his hand. “I have a dozen of these things in my closet, don’t worry. Do you have any wounds on you?”

Kakashi shook his head.

His sensei worked in silence for what seemed to be hours, wiping away every visible stain tainting Kakashi’s hair. Kakashi stood still, his eyes transfixed on a dot beyond Yondaime’s left shoulder. But when Yondaime reached up to take off his hitai-ate, odd-eyes involuntarily fluttered shut.

“You’ve got blood just about everywhere. Raikiri?”

Kakashi didn’t answer, nor did he open his eyes. Yondaime’s voice floated all around him, and a warm breath was tickling the thin fuzz above Kakashi’s lips.

It was so sudden and yet so expected that Kakashi wasn’t even surprised when Yondaime drew him into a tight embrace and buried his nose into Kakashi’s silver strands. With his eyes still shut, Kakashi tentatively put his hands around his sensei’s waist.

“Thank you, for bringing Naruto back to me.”

Kakashi nodded into the lapel of the Hokage robe and murmured, “Naru-chan said his first word.”

Yondaime froze for just a second, and then he pulled Kakashi even tighter against him. “Really? What was it?”

“He called me ‘mama’.”

The pause was longer this time.

“Well...” Yondaime whispered, “that’s... normal. Sort of.”

“Sensei?”

“Hm?”

“I think I quit ANBU too soon.”

This finally succeeded in making Yondaime draw back. Cerulean eyes studied him with concern. “If you regret it, just say the word, and you’ll be back on the force first thing tomorrow morning.”

Kakashi shook his head hurriedly. “I don’t plan on going back. But there’s so much for me to learn as a shinobi. If Jiraiya-sama weren’t here today, we would have lost Naru-chan for sure.”

Yondaime slowly acquiesced. “For Sharingan users, the best place to train is on the battlefield. Do you want more missions?”

“No, not quite. I was wondering about Kuchiyose no Jutsu.”

The fourth looked a bit concerned now. “Gamabunta and his clan are quite hard to control for starters...”

“No, I have no desire to be a toad user. I was thinking of something more practical, especially for tracking purposes.”

“Ninken?”

“Dogs are easier to control, and their tracking skills are thus far unsurpassed.”

His sensei nodded. “All right. The Inuzuka owe me a small favor from my Jounin days, I’ll see if I can’t pull some strings. I suspect you’d want to train with them for a while.”

“Just until I master the technique.”

“Consider it done.”

Kakashi looked away. He wanted to say thank you, but something about Yondaime’s stance forbade such words from coming out.

“So... mama, eh?”

Yondaime wasn’t exactly teasing, and Kakashi wasn’t exactly embarrassed. But when Minato grabbed his wrist and led him toward the exit, nothing but sincerity in his voice, Kakashi knew both of them had just taken the first step upon a long and turbulent road.

“Come home with me, Kakashi?” Yondaime had asked softly. “I want to hear Naru-chan say ‘papa’, and perhaps we’ll teach him to greet you differently if you really oppose that other title.”

Blue eyes were twinkling, and the warmth in that smile was welcoming. Kakashi grasped his sensei’s fingers and felt a tight clench in return.

He didn’t know if he could ever let go.

- TBC

Review Responses:

Haru - (It's been a while since I had to do review response. o.O) Anyhoo, I'm glad that you were able to differentiate the difference between writer and character. Normally, I get people accusing me of being an "a-hole" because my character happens to be one. Yeah, Yondaime's kinda an ass there, wasn't he? And don't worry, it'll come back and bite him in the ass eventually. He's only human. He makes mistakes, and he can be selfish. Won't you try to forgive him? But the fact that I was able to elicit such strong dislike in you made me happy to a point. Weird, isn't it?

Meliana - Have some faith in me, would ya? And if any character is stupid in any of my stories, they're stupid for a damn good reason.

A/N: Title of chapter comes from something William Makepeace Thackeray said about motherhood. The full quote is thus: “Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of little children”.

You guys had the funniest guesses about Naruto’s first word. In reality, “mama” is the most common first word, so I wanted to go with that, but it’d be disappointing if I didn’t throw in a twist. Two people actually got it on the dot, so I was very pleasantly surprised.

Anyway, I don’t normally make polls because I usually have a firm idea where I want my stories to go, but this time, too many ideas are making me woozy. So for the next chapter, do you guys want to read about a. Neji, b. Gaara, c. Iruka, or d. Gai? Keep in mind that Naruto will be four-year-old in the next chapter. Vote!! I probably will end up not listening to the majority vote, but vote anyway! I’m interested in knowing what you guys want to read about.

And thank everyone for the wonderful reviews. I enjoy reading each and every one of them immensely. They really make my day (and nights!).