Naruto: The Unwoven Threads of Fate

The Next Morning

"Hey Sasuke, is Kakashi still out of it?"

"Yes, he hasn't even moved."

"Want to..." I look at Kakashi, his eyes are closed, "this could be our best chance to see what's under his mask."

"Hn."

"So yes? I'm going to take that as a yes." Slowly, I reach towards Kakashi's face. This is the moment! The one that every Naruto fan dreams of, the holy grail!

The first thing I notice is that my face is in the floor. That's not supposed to happen.

"I wouldn't try that again. Never wake a sleeping nin by reaching towards their face if you value your life." Ah shit, Kakashi is awake. "You are lucky I recognized you. I didn't stab you too deeply."

What? Now that I think about it, it does feel like the back of my neck is being pinched. Did he almost kill me? For waking him up?

"Y-yes Kakashi-sensei. I will never do that again." A droplet of blood rolls out of the wound. I wipe it off my neck.

"Good!" Withdrawing his kunai and sitting down on the bedroll Kakashi asks, "So, where are we? Last thing I remember is Zabuza being carried away by that hunter nin. And why do I feel like I fell on my face five times?"

I freeze. Sasuke glances between me and Kakashi.

"I have no idea. You passed out after the hunter nin took Zabuza and we got you to Tazuna's house. You've been out all night. Sakura said you have chakra exhaustion. Probably from that eye of yours."

Sakura walks into the room. "Kakashi-sensei! You're awake! How do you feel?"

"Like someone dropped me on my face five times." Sakura glances at me nervously. I vigorously shake my head no, pleading with her.

"Well... maybe it is a side affect of chakra exhaustion? I don't know what it feels like." Thank you Sakura! I owe you one. "Anyways, you all have to meet Tsunami! I helped her make breakfast for us all." With the promise of food, we make our way to the kitchen. Next to the sink there is a pretty lady with black hair and eyes and a nice smile.

"So you are the shinobi who protected my tou-san? Thank you! I'm Tsunami!"

"Kakashi."

"Sasuke."

"I'm Alvarcus, and what these morons meant to say is it is nice to meet you."

Tsunami laughs. "Enough pleasantries. We can talk more after we eat."

Tsunami is an amazing cook. Her food is delicious. It was such a nice breakfast, even when Tazuna wandered in. Then Kakashi had to ruin it all.

"Everyone, I have bad news. It is very likely that Zabuza is still alive. A couple things bothered me about his death." Dead silence follows. No one dares to breath.

"The hunter nin." Startled, Kakashi looks at me. He gestures for me to continue. "Hunter nin are supposed to destroy the body on site and bring back something to prove their kill. Usually a head. You could argue in this case that bringing back one of the seven legendary swords of Kiri would be good enough proof that Zabuza died since he wouldn't part with it willingly."

"That was a legendary sword?" Sakura asks.

"Yeah. You have to train for years to use it properly. Back to Zabuza. The hunter nin used senbon to kill him. Why senbon? Senbon are small and tricky to aim with, a hunter wouldn't use senbon when a kunai would get the job done. It just doesn't make sense."

"But we saw Zabuza go down." Sakura exclaims. "Kakashi-sensei even said there was no pulse!"

"That's the thing about senbon, a skilled user can cause effects like that. Senbon are just glorified needles. If placed in the right spot senbon can cause someone to appear dead, and the neck is a prime spot for that. Where was Zabuza hit? His neck. I'd bet that Zabuza is still alive and that hunter nin is on his side."

"That was exactly what I was going to say. I'm impressed. Very observant Alvarcus."

"Thanks." I totally cheated. I knew what happened already thanks to my foreknowledge.

"Just like he said, Zabuza is still alive. So we need to get you gennin up to a certain standard. You all need better chakra control. Thankfully I know the perfect training exercise for this. You're going to climb trees."

"What." Sasuke grunts out.

"Everyone outside!" Kakashi hobbles out the door on his crutches. How does that even work? Chakra exhaustion makes you need crutches? I'll have to ask a medic nin later if that is a thing or if Kakashi is playing a joke on us.

Grumbling, us gennin follow Kakashi outside.

"Now, to do this exercise you can't use your hands."

"But Kakashi-sensei! That's impossible!"

"Just watch." Without a care in the world, Kakashi walks strait at a tree. Then up the tree. Then he walks upside down on a branch. Show off. "That is how you are going to climb the tree."

"How do we do that?" Sasuke demands. He looks very eager. I can't blame him, we finally get to learn how to wall walk.

"Simple, channel just the right amount of chakra to your feet, and you will stick to the tree. Too much and you will push off, too little and you won't stick."

Kakashi throws three kunai into the tops of three trees.

"There. Once you all can get a kunai your training is over. Good luck!" Kakashi hobbles back into the house, leaving us on our own.

"Well no time like the present." Walking up to the tree I plant a foot on it. I channel some chakra and give my foot an experimental tug. It stays. I put the next one on the tree. No problem there.

"Huh. Maybe this isn't that difficult?" I mutter to myself. In the anime it took Naruto and Sasuke a week to get this down. Well, Sakura got it really easily. Maybe I have smaller chakra reserves like she does?

Aw that would suck! That would mean I can't throw around ninjutsu like it's going out of style!

"Would you look at that. A kunai." I pull the kunai out. "This is actually a disappointment. Kakashi-sensei finally decides to teach us something on his own and I get it on my first try." With a heavy sigh, I walk down the tree. Looking at Sakura I see her smiling and twirling her kunai around her finer.

"That was super easy! Kakashi-sensei made it sound like this was supposed to be a challenge!" I need to stop this. If Sakura continues talking about how easy this is it could hurt our relationship with Sasuke.

"Well, you know about the inverse theory of chakra control vs chakra capacity right?"

"That the more chakra you have the less control you have? What about it?"

"The reason we picked this up so quickly is because we have small reserves, so our control is better. But we will never be able to throw around ninjutsu without a care, because we don't have as much chakra."

Sakura pauses, considering what I said.

"If you think about it, we will never be ninjutsu type shinobi. Statistically, kunoichi have smaller reserves than their shinobi counterparts. You probably have average reserves for a kunoichi your age. But me? I have to be on the small side. There is no way that I could have average reserves and pick up tree walking that quickly. It's a shame, I really wanted to throw fireballs around like Sasuke did against Clone-Zabuza, but I will probably never have that much chakra."

"Yeah. That is a good point. Sasuke-kun must have really big chakra reserves to be able to use that many fireballs like he did!" Perfect. That was the best thing she could have said for Sasuke's ego.

"I know right? That was awesome! He saved my life a few times with those. But that means he is going to have a terrible time learning tree walking."

Throughout Sakura and my conversation I was discretely watching Sasuke. At first he was angry at himself for blowing up the tree. Once he noticed both Sakura and me with our kunai in hand already he got even more angry at himself for failing where we succeeded. It went downhill from there, with Sakura talking about how easy it was. Instead of being angry at himself, he was angry at us. As the conversation progressed, he realized that it wasn't a bad thing. In fact he looked rather smug at the end of our conversation, he must have been happy knowing he can use way more ninjutsu than Sakura and I combined. I'm glad he realized that, because an angry Uchiha is an annoying Uchiha.

"Hey Sasuke, how goes the tree walking?" Careful Alvarcus, this could blow up in your face very easily.

"I am having difficulty." What. Just. Happened. He admitted he was struggling. "That's okay though, I heard your conversation with Sakura. Want to know the difference between me and you?" Well that sounds extremely arrogant.

"Sure. Self reflection is a good way to find your weak areas and improve them."

"You were right about our reserves. I can throw ninjutsu around a lot. You can't. That's just how it is. You picked up tree walking quickly, and I didn't. The difference is that I can learn tree walking, and you can't learn to throw ninjutsu around like me. Your chakra supply just can't handle it."

I knew I was going to be insulted. "Wipe that smug grin off your face! I can kick your ass any day of the week!"

"Hn. We both know that is a lie. I have the upper hand when we spar."

"Yeah well you smell funny!" Childish I know, "I'm going to get Kakashi-sensei to teach me how to make fire chakra, then we will see who wins the next spar."

Sasuke gulps and turns very pale.

"That's right! Picture it! Picture your burning defeat!" With those parting words, I scamper inside Tazuna's house.

"Kakashi-sensei! I got the kunai already."

"Did you cheat and use a chakra string to pull it down?" Kakashi accuses me.

"What? No! I don't cheat during training. That would be counter productive."

"Prove it. Walk up the wall."

Sigh. "Fine." I walk up the wall and onto the ceiling. "That good enough proof?"

"Yes. Well done. You're done training for the week. Enjoy the break."

"No! You said you would teach me how to make fire chakra a month ago. Now is the perfect time. You can't run away and I need to improve. It's perfect!" I have him cornered!

"Okay, okay, fine. Just don't go burning down any forests."

"I promise nothing."

Kakashi glares at me. That is a serious scary glare for only having one eye visible.

"Okay I promise to at least not attempt to burn down a forest. If it is a by product of a battle, so be it."

"That is the best I am getting from you, isn't it?"

"Yep! Now, fire chakra time! How do I do it?"

"Form a tiger hand sign."

The tiger hand sign requires the thumb, index, and middle fingers to point up while the ring and pinky fingers interlock.

"Correct." Kakashi snags a leaf out of the air and sticks it between my two index fingers. "Channel chakra into the leaf."

The leaf bursts into flames.

"Yes! Got it in one! What's next?" That was so easy. He should have had me do this a month ago.

"The next step is to steadily burn the leaf for 5 minutes straight. This task requires you to mold the correct amount of fire chakra to keep the leaf burning but not burn it to a crisp. Come find me again when you have that complete."

Burning leaves slowly. That is how I am going to learn a fire elemental chakra change? Then I better burn some leaves. I'll have this down in no time!

It took two days. Two long boring days. The good news? Sasuke still hasn't completed the tree walking exercise. The bad news? I now smell like ash where ever I go.

What is nice about the leaf burning exercise is I can wander around and practice at the same time. This is great, because it gives me a chance to explore the village and forest, and I can do it during Tazuna watch duty. All in all it was a nice training exercise.

Now that I have one leaf down, I'm jumping into two leaves at once. One per hand. I'm not naive enough to think I am ready to start on my fire whips. I won't be for a while. The best I can hope for is that I can get those down before Zabuza returns. They could be seriously beneficial against Haku's ice release.

That is how I came to be in a field, by wandering around while trying to burn leaves. It is also how I found Haku. That's right, I found Haku collecting herbs by pure chance.

"Oh. Sorry I didn't mean to disturb you. I'll go find another clearing." Please let me leave. Please let me leave. I didn't hurt Zabuza, Kakashi did that by himself. You have no reason to attack me!

"It's okay, I don't mind sharing. Company is always welcome. Where are my manners, my name is Haku."

I know. "My name is Alvarcus. Pleasure to meet you."

"It is a pleasure to meet you as well. What brings you to the forest? Usually I am the only one out here."

How much can I tell Haku? In the anime Naruto and Haku leave on good terms. Friends even. I don't have that charisma. Naruto is ridiculously likeable and I'm... well me. Naruto and I are nothing alike.

"I like to wander around every once in a while. Get a change of scenery. It just helps that I can train and walk at the same time." She already knows who I am, so there is no point in hiding being a shinobi. As long as I don't give any specifics, I can walk away.

"You like to wander around? I am sure that drives your sensei crazy. There are a lot of mercenaries around these days."

"Please. I can handle mercenaries by the dozens. It's the shinobi I need to worry about."

Haku pauses in her herb collecting. "Shinobi?"

I bend over next to Haku and I start helping her collect herbs.

"Yeah. Gato has hired some missing nin to work for him. They are pretty scary."

"It sounds like you faced them before. Did you kill them?" Sneaky Haku, trying to find out if we know Zabuza is alive.

"We killed some of them. One of them was my first kill. That... was not a good day." I shudder at the memory. "The others got away. Fled to regroup and get medical care."

"I am sorry that they got away."

"No you're not. If you were, you wouldn't be collecting herbs to heal Zabuza."

Haku and I keep on picking herbs, neither of us pausing.

"Who's Zabuza?"

"You don't need to lie to me, hunter-san. I know." This is monumentally stupid. I'm going to try and convince Haku to not fight.

"So you do know. Yet here you are, gathering herbs with an enemy, to heal another enemy. Why?"

"Simple really. You're not my enemy."

Haku stops picking herbs to look at me. I continue without her.

"Gato is the enemy here, not you or Zabuza. You are just a tool, an instrument of his choice. You don't want to kill me because you want me dead, it is a job. Just like how it is my job to protect Tazuna. I don't want to kill you. I don't want to kill Zabuza, even if he did nearly kill my whole team. I just want to complete my mission and go home to my family."

"You have precious people?" Haku starts picking herbs with me again.

"I do. Kaa-san. Tou-san. My team. My soon to be born sibling. That is just a few."

"You understand then."

"That you will do whatever it takes to protect your precious people?"

"Yes."

"I do. It is the whole reason I became a shinobi. There are no shinobi in my family. I am the first. My parents are... very unsupportive of my choice. They want me to continue the family business, baking. I couldn't. Not when I live in this world. There are monsters out there Haku, really scary monsters that make Kakashi and Zabuza look like baby kittens. I want to protect my family from them. I can't do that if I am a baker. So I enrolled into the Academy, and broke my parent's hearts. I did it for them, to protect them."

Haku stares at me, contemplating. "I will do what ever is necessary to protect Zabuza-sama. Even if it means killing you."

I look up from picking herbs to make eye contact with Haku. "I know. And I don't hold it against you. I will do the same."

Haku gets up, collecting her basket of herbs for Zabuza.

"Hey Haku?"

"Yes Alvarcus-san?"

"Have you ever thought that Gato is going to turn on you and Zabuza?"

"It was nice meeting you."

"You as well."

"Farewell, and may we never meet again." Haku says as she walks away.

If only that were an option. We will see each other on the bridge in five days. On that day, only one of us will walk away.

I think I failed.

Dinnertime, Tazuna's House

Dinner is a quiet affair. Sasuke is brooding over not being able to tree climb. Kakashi is content with the silence. Tazuna and Tsunami are still nervous around us shinobi so they are quiet. Sakura just looks constipated. She keeps scrunching her face up, like she wants to say something but thinks better of it. I am just enjoying the peace and quiet. It is nice after such a trying day.

"Anyone do anything interesting today?" Sakura couldn't stand the silence anymore.

"I met a girl in the forest today. Can you pass the rice Sakura?" I hold my hand out. Sakura doesn't hand me the rice, she is just looking at me with a weird expression. "What? Is there something on my face?"

Kakashi give me his best eye smile and a thumbs up. "Good job! Out on a life threatening mission and you still have time for love. You really are my favorite." Love? What?

"I had no idea you were a scoundrel, Alvarcus. What else are you hiding from us?"

"Oh shut up Sasuke. In a few years you'll appreciate the female form too." Why am I going along with this? Oh, right because it is better than saying 'I met our mysterious hunter nin and we became sort of friends after subtlety threatening to kill each other.' That's why.

"But isn't... I thought that..." Tsunami leans in towards Sakura and whispers something in her ear.

Sakura turns tomato red and exclaims, "Alvarcus is a boy!"

"What? Why did you have to shout that Sakura?" Tsunami flushes red in embarrassment. "Oh Kami, Tsunami did you think I was a girl?"

"Eh... maybe?" Tsunami squeaked out. "You just have such pretty black hair! You don't see many guys take such good care of their hair. I just assumed it was shorter because of the shinobi thing."

"I promise you Tsunami, I am definitely a boy." That makes two people who thought I am a girl. I'll have to shave my head if this continues.

"Ha-ha! This is comedic gold right here!" Tazuna is slapping the table as he laughs.

"Oh shut up! You made the same mistake." I remind him.

The front door opens. "Oh, Inari! Come meet the shinobi who are protecting your oji-san."

Inari barely spares us a glance. "Why? They are just going to die."

"Inari! Apologize!" Tsunami is appalled that her son would be so rude.

"It's true though. No one can beat Gato. Just go away." Inari storms upstairs to his room, leaving the rest of us in and awkward silence.

"I'm sorry about my son, he doesn't mean it."

"That's okay. It won't be the last time we have to deal with a disgruntled civilian." Smooth Kakashi, way to ease the tension.

"I think I am going to call it an early night." I've had enough people time for today.

Kakashi giggles, "Did you use too much energy with your forest girl today?"

"Yeah, sure, whatever. I just want to sleep."

The next two days pass quickly. I settle into a routine. Getup, breakfast, burn a ridiculous amount of leaves, get some lunch, burn some more leaves, eat dinner, mess around with my chakra strings so I don't get rusty, then sleep.

Rinse and repeat.

When the bridge attack was only two days away I finally had Kakashi's permission to try out my fire whips.

"Alvarcus, let's get one thing straight right now. If I say stop, you stop. You don't ask why, you don't hesitate. You stop immediately. You are literally playing with fire. You can seriously hurt yourself if you are not careful, and on top of that you are attempting something I have never seen done before. Are we clear?"

"Crystal. Can I try now?" I've waited so long for this moment.

"Yes. Start small. Half a meter string."

Okay, here we go. I form the chakra string, easy enough. Now, the difficult part. I feel within myself, feeling my own chakra. It's like a fire, always burning, always warm. I don't need warm, I need scorching. I up the intensity of the heat, I feel the furnace that is my chakra ignite. Searing heat runs to my finger. One spark emits from the tip of my finger.

Fuwmp!

The string ignites, I'm holding a half meter long fire whip off my index finger.

"This is bloody brilliant! Kakashi-sensei! Can I make it longer now?"

Kakashi nods his approval. I extend the string – no whip – outwards. One meter. Two meters. Five meters. At seven meters the fire starts to flicker.

"Alvarcus, enough." I cut the chakra flow. That was so cool!

Gasp, "That" gasp "was" gasp "so" gasp "COOL!" Man, I am really out of breath. I feel like I ran a marathon. "Can I" gasp "do it again now?"

"No."

"But" gasp "why not?" I just need to catch my breath, then I'll be good to go again. Why is it so hard to breath?

"Alvarcus you used a huge chunk of chakra to make that fire whip. You're exhausted. Go inside and lay down. You are not to practice this move without me present. Do nothing strenuous the rest of the day unless you want me to drop you on your face five times like you did to me when I had chakra exhaustion."

"Aw crap. You figured that" gasp "out. You're not mad are you?"

"Using your chakra strings to make me walk myself to Tazuna's house instead of carrying me was a rather ingenious idea, especially since I am so much bigger than all of you gennin."

I knew it would be okay.

Kakashi grabs my shoulder and squeezes. Hard.

"If you ever do it again without my permission you will experience One Thousand Years of Death again. Are we clear?"

Covering my backside protectively, "Yes. Yes we are. Puppet Kakashi-sensei is a bad idea, unless permission is given. Even then be very wary, my virtue is at stake."

"Good. Now go rest."