Ghost of Past

First Bounty

Welcome back, guys!!

Now let's go into the story ;)

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Naruto had been wrong; very, very wrong. Zetsu was annoying, yes, but at least the scumbag wasn't trying to kill him. Kakuzu, on the other hand, was ready to rip his heart out at the first opportunity he felt annoyed by the young mokuton user. If he was honest, Naruto had no clue about how he had survived the first months.

Contrary to what Zetsu had told him, Kakuzu wasn't much of a teacher. His lessons were a matter of trial and error, where errors translated into severe injury, and to any normal person, death. He couldn't count the times when he had narrowly escaped death. So, Naruto tried his best to avoid errors; Kakuzu at least gave him plenty of motivation for that...

It was a harsh method, but one that paid off. When Kakuzu wasn't around, as he was continuing his bounty hunting and had deemed Naruto too weak to tag along, White Zetsu would visit and provide all kinds of scrolls and books. Naruto soon discovered that he could easily learn suiton jutsu. Similarly, he also learned the weaker doton and futon jutsu quite quickly. Kakuzu had mastered every element, although mokuton was something only Naruto could do. Theory was provided by Zetsu, practice taught by Kakuzu, and Naruto worked non-stop to earn his survival- because the further he progressed, the harder Kakuzu tried to murder him.

The price of failure was, after all, not something that Naruto wanted to pay. He hated his situation, but knew no alternative. He didn't remember anything from prior to meeting Zetsu, and was too weak to escape on his own. Kakuzu easily overpowered his every move, and Zetsu... well, there was no escaping from them. It was not as if Naruto didn't hate the sewed-together man enough as it was, and he didn't even know why! Kakuzu had merely laughed when Naruto asked, mumbling something about hoping Naruto would never remember.

It was roughly a year since Naruto's waking up when Kakuzu deemed him ready to join him on the road. Up until that point, Naruto had remained in a hideout or camping somewhere in the wilds, whenever Kakuzu set out for a bounty. Those were the moments when Naruto could recover from Kakuzu's cruel training methods. "Wipe that blood from your face," Kakuzu had grumbled at Naruto after their spar (one-sided beating) had ended.

"...?"

"I have wasted enough time on you. It's time you earn your own weight."

"If you think I can do it."

"Either that, or you'll die. I don't care. I bet I could still fetch plenty of money for your little wood release."

"Geez, I feel so reassured now," Naruto muttered. Kakuzu ignored him, instead unsealing and throwing a black cloak at the fourteen year-old. "Thanks, I suppose?"

"Just make sure you don't get recognized by Konoha scum."

"Why?"

"You want to have an entire village after you?"

"What did I do to earn that?" Naruto blinked before his mind caught up with his words. "Mokuton..."

Kakuzu only nodded before he walked away. Naruto was forced to quickly gather all his belongings, seal them away in a storage scroll, and run after his 'sensei'. Sensei, a title that Zetsu had mockingly used to describe Kakuzu. Naruto never called him that, though. The only thing which Naruto wanted was to make them pay for the way he had been treated. He wanted to know why he felt such hatred against Kakuzu, before he tore the man to shreds.

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"It seems like Naruto-kun grew up these last months! Yes, his strength has grown considerably."