"Talking."
"Thinking."
"Sound Effects."
(Location Change)
"Non-human Talking."
"Non-human Thinking."
"Jutsu."
(Background Music)
Shameless advertising: If you're interested, check out my other Naruto fanfic, I had just posted it yesterday.
My one and only disclaimer: I own nothing of the Naruto Universe except for the OC's (If any) and new ideas I bring to this fanfiction. All rights go to the creator of Naruto himself, Masashi Kishimoto.
(The Hokage's Office)
"Tsunade! There has to be some kind of mistake!" Naruto said in a hushed whisper. His hands planted firmly on the desk of the blonde Kage. Naruto had a face that was a mix of desperation and rage. Tsunade sighed and rubbed her temple's in frustration. She knew what Naruto's reaction was going to be when he heard the details of the mission.
"No, there was no mistake. You are to travel across the land of fire to search and destroy the heavy influx of bandits that have been appearing lately. Your partners for this mission will be Satsuki Uchiha, Sakura Haruno, and Hinata Hyuuga." Tsunade looked on at the blonde with a sympathetic gaze, knowing to some extent their past.
"But I'm strong enough by myself! I don't even need sage mode to clear out a whole army of bandits!" Naruto tried to argue. With the two blondes, stood Danzo and Shizune in separate corners of the office. The old man shook his head slowly, this was the reason he believed love shouldn't be a factor when working as a shinobi.
"Boy. There are many bandits that have the capability to use and harness chakra to a high degree. They become even more dangerous when you can't tell the strong from the weak because your ego gets inflated with ninja training." Naruto turned his head to glare at the war hawk. The blonde's jaw was set in place, and his hands turned into fist.
"Satsuki is there for additional firepower in case you run into a particularly strong bandit or rogue ninja that has skills or abilities that go above your expectations. Sakura is there to heal you in case you get injured since bandits are especially known to use poison. And Hinata is there to tell the strong bandits that can use chakra from the weak that can't. And let us not forget... It takes you awhile to even awaken Sage Mode." Danzo kept pelting the boy with logic that he couldn't refuse, and that only made him angrier.
Tsunade placed a hand on top of Naruto's to at the very least calm the blonde down. "Not to mention, but you are traveling for a long time. This mission spans over all of the Land of Fire. You need the backup... Please... I need you to put your problems aside and finish the mission so you can come back to me alive..." Naruto looked away from his grandmother figure, a sigh escaping his lips, and the blonde slowly nodded his head.
Shizune, who was always by Tsunade's side grew a bit curious and asked the question everyone wanted an answer to. "What happened? After the Pain Invasion you had brought Satsuki back in your arms, your eyes red with the Nine Tails influence. Sakura was working overtime in the hospital while you had disappeared. And Hinata was boarded up in her room while you threw yourself in missions far away from the Leaf. Did... Did they cheat on you? Was there some secret relationship we don't know about?"
The room grew silent and the tension was high. After the Pain Invasion, Tsunade had woken up faster than the doctors expected her to in order to resume working in the Leaf. The village was still being repaired, and everyone was being sent on missions outside the village to raise funds. It was during this time that everyone witnessed Naruto's mood get progressively worse, and his smile become progressively fake. Even Danzo was curious.
"If they had cheated on me, I wouldn't feel as bad as I do now..." Naruto said through clenched teeth. It took Naruto a long time to at least forget about his soon to be teammates, but that was all crashing down on him. It felt like a smack to the face to so suddenly and soon have the three objects of his hatred come back into his life. So with a heavy heart, the blonde gave up. The blonde didn't want this conversation to linger on, so he changed the subject.
"I'll take the mission, I won't allow my personal feelings and relationships to hold me back... I'll do what I have to do..." Naruto said with clenched fist. The blonde didn't even know what he was going to do or how he was going to react once he sees the women that broke him. A better question would be how they would react once they saw him...
Danzo nodded his head in approval, obviously pleased. Tsunade grimly nodded and reached into her desk to take out a small scroll. The scroll was black in color with a golden S stamped on it. The blonde held out the scroll in front of her fellow blonde. Naruto could only stare at the scroll apprehensively for a few seconds before taking it into his hand, but Tsunade kept her grip on it.
"Naruto, I am allowing you to lead the squad. It is your job to explain the mission to your teammates. They do not know about the mission or the fact that you will be joining them. When your team returns, I expect all four of you to be alive. You will be the person to hold the team together, as without you, those three may break apart. Can I trust you?" Tsunade asked.
Naruto nodded and gave the best grin he could muster. "I won't fail, and I will make sure everyone returns alive. You have my ninja word granny, and I never back out on my promises!" Tsunade nodded, and let go of the scroll. With a wave of her hand, the Kage dismissed the sage. Naruto swiftly turned around, and slowly walked out of the office. The blonde closed the door behind him with a quiet thud.
(The Village Gates)
"Why is it so hot in this fucking village?" Came a voice that was on the cusp of becoming a growl. The person in question tugged at the high collar of her gray shirt in mild annoyance. "My choice of clothing doesn't help either..." The woman stated as she glared at her pants and the purple cloth wrapped around it. "What the hell is with my sense of fashion. After killing Itachi I felt like my choices only got worse." The lady continued to growl at her misfortune. She was going to keep walking until someone called her out.
"Satsuki Uchiha!" Said girl stopped, her already bad mood getting worse as she turned her head to glare at Izumo and Kotetsu guarding the gate. Satsuki already knew what came next, so she simply walked over to them. The Uchiha's long hair began to drape over her form from the sweat, giving her a slightly alluring look. The two men seemed more cautious and afraid with her form than smitten though... Which was understandable... "Where are you going? You are not allowed to leave village grou-"
"Yes, I know already. Probation from joining Orochimaru and later the Akatsuki for a bit. We've been through this multiple times." Satsuki had cut them off. After coming back to the Leaf against her will, the Uchiha gained her clan compound, got promoted to Jonin, and constantly took missions to help rebuild the village. She was lucky to gain all of this with only a probation, but that was because Naruto pleaded for her to only get a slap on the wrist... Even after what she did to him...
She had fucked up big time when it concerned her relationship with Naruto, even she could admit that much. She always wanted to break the bond that the two shared with her own hands and see the aftermath of that result, but because she came back to the village expecting to make allies and live here again, having Naruto for a friend would have been a really good idea. Without the blonde, she was actually alone in this village, as no one would even think of getting close to the girl who killed Itachi.
"Anyway..." Satsuki said as she had forcefully cut herself away from her musings. "I was assigned a mission outside of the village today. I was only going to be waiting by the village gate until the team leader comes by to verify my leave." This seemed to be enough to placate the guards for a bit as they sat back down while cautiously staring at her. The Uchiha rolled her eyes as she walked back to the village gates and huffed in annoyance, even other ninja were scared of her.
Now that only left one problem...
"Fuck this heat." Satsuki muttered as she reached for the zipper at the top of her collar, and began to pull it down until it reached her abdomen. It showed off some breast, sure, but she didn't give a fuck at the moment. She has been stuck in this village for god knows how long, and still hasn't readjusted to the heat. The Uchiha looked up from her zipper when she heard footsteps.
"Satsuki." A feminine voice said with absolute venom in her tone, despite it being quick and to the point. Said girl released a sigh, not even having to see who it was to know who it was. Sadly, she had the displeasure of looking at it.
"Sakura." Satsuki said with the same amount of venom within her tone of voice. The two women stared at each other with passive expressions, as if they were looking at another civilian they didn't give a fuck about. "So why are you here?" The Uchiha asked while crossing her arms over her chest. Sakura merely placed a hand on her hip in return.
"I was given orders to wait by the village gates for my team and team leader, seeing as I am going out of the village." The Haruno then proceeded to raise an eyebrow. "Is it safe to assume that you are in the same position?" Satsuki nodded, causing Sakura to scoff. "Just peachy..." The two then went into an uncomfortable silence as they waited for the rest of their team to arrive.
It was fairly obvious that the two didn't like each other, and this dislike spanned all the way back to their academy days. Because she felt like she had an image to uphold by being the last Uchiha, Satsuki was always working hard, training and becoming stronger. It was around the time that she had joined the academy that she met Sakura, a girl with self-esteem issues and lack of self-worth.
Satsuki hated Sakura's kind with a passion, and with every chance she got, would belittle and downgrade her character. After a few months of this, the pink haired girl would obviously get tired of it and fought back. They didn't have the rivalry that Satsuki and Naruto had, but pure rage and hatred of one another. Whereas Satsuki was strong, skilled, and powerful... Sakura was smart, resourceful, and cunning. They both used their respected areas of expertise to fight for the top of the class.
Satsuki had won.
It was because of this that their time as genin was so much worse. Sakura realized that she would never match Satsuki's power, so she decided to combine her strong suits with her training to become a combat medic. The medical field was something that Satsuki couldn't even hope of touching, and Sakura wasted no time belittling her for it. The competition had evened out a little more when the team discovered that Sakura had a body that was naturally stronger than even Satsuki's.
The two had barely become genin and they were already ahead of the majority of the other graduates. Satsuki relied on her taijutsu and ninjutsu, and Sakura relied on her medical ninjutsu and intelligence. The two had evened out in genjustu as Sakura's chakra control was nearly perfect whereas Satsuki relied on her eyes. The two couldn't even work well together on dangerous missions and were almost kicked out of the ninja program multiple times.
But Naruto was there.
Naruto would always help both girls with their training by either injuring himself so Sakura could work on healing him or just by simply sparring with Satsuki. The blonde had formed a deep friendship with the Haruno and a strong rivalry with the Uchiha from the time he spent with them. Every time the two would step out of line, he would be there to pull them out of trouble. And when Hiruzen or Tsunade considered them to be a liability in the field, Naruto would always plead with them to reconsider.
It was around that time that the two began to fall in love with him.
Suddenly the hatred the two had for each other had increased tenfold, but they stayed in line so that Naruto wouldn't have to worry about them. The insults became worse, and they almost fought each other on multiple occasions. Kakashi had to voice his concerns to the whole team, and training was disbanded for team building exercises for a while. And the two did what they were trying to avoid... Making Naruto worry about them.
But that was around the time that Satsuki had left.
A bit after that, Naruto had left with Jiraiya to begin his training trip to bring Satsuki back from Orochimaru. Sakura felt like she was going to be left behind by the two members of her team, and therefore became Tsunade's apprentice. Sakura had awaited for Naruto's return, excited to see him again to show off her skills and training. With Satsuki out of the way, she wanted so desperately to confess...
But something was off...
Naruto was a very caring person, and because he was worrying so much about Satsuki and her current situation, he would constantly think about her. Sakura watched the blonde as his feelings turned into need, which therefore turned into a love for the Uchiha that even he himself didn't want. It was at this time that Naruto tried even harder to bring back Satsuki, while Sakura was left empty, realizing that Satsuki won without even being there.
Now ain't that a bitch.
Eventually, Naruto did bring Satsuki back in his arms. It was at this time that Sakura noticed the destroyed expression on the blonde's face, and surprisingly, the small hint of fear on Satsuki's towards the blonde. Sakura was given her chance and comforted Naruto, trying to get him to open up, but he would only tell her small details on what happened when he went to go pick up the Uchiha. A relationship bloomed between the two, and Sakura could say that for the first time in a very long time, she was happy.
But then she ruined everything...
"When is the rest of our team going to get here?" Sakura said as she tapped her foot in impatience, her thoughts turning her mood sour.
"Hn." Came the Uchiha's famous reply. Sakura quickly gave the girl a glare as she knew it was said for the sole purpose of irritating her. Satsuki acted as if she didn't see the glare, and continued to look at the crowd of passing civilians. Sakura huffed and turned back towards the crowd, waiting for their final member and their team leader. Surprisingly though, their next teammate appeared as soon as the pinkette had settled down.
"Hey... Isn't that Hinata..." Satsuki stated more than ask in mild annoyance. If she hated girls with low confidence during the academy, she definitely hated them now. Sakura picked up the hint of annoyance and gave Satsuki another glare that told her to keep quiet. Satsuki rolled her eyes and complied as Hinata walked towards them.
"H-Hello... I... I'm here for the mission outside of the... The village..." Hinata stuttered and mumbled. Satsuki scoffed at the stuttering mess, while Sakura attempted to give Hinata a small smile. The pinkette was indifferent towards the Hyuuga but would be lying if she said she didn't have a problem with her stuttering and quiet tone, it reminded the girl of herself when she was younger.
"Yeah, we are here for the mission as well. With you here, all we have to do now is wait for the team leader." Hinata nodded and said nothing else as she stood beside her two team members. While Sakura did have a few problems with Hinata, she found the girl much better company than Satsuki. Hinata, on the other hand, was standing with a passive expression on her face, but her hands were clenching the coat she was wearing.
Everyone always knew Hinata as a kind and shy person, but in reality, she held a very strong dislike towards the two other girls at the gates. She had loved Naruto the longest, she had gained real strength from his, and yet they had taken him away from her. Hinata remembers how absolutely destroyed the blonde was over the two girls here, and it made her furious that they would ever hurt someone so kind.
Until she herself did the same thing...
When the heiress was younger, she could never amass the courage to talk to the boy who saved her from humiliation at the hands of her bullies. Whenever she did amass the courage, her bodyguard would always pull her away from her crush. Whenever Hinata looked back at herself, she cursed her uselessness in being there for the man she loved, but that was because she was broken.
It was always what she told herself.
Everyone adjusts to different events in different ways, and the way she had adjusted to her life problems from her early age was understandable, but painful for her in the long run. She was but a child who was forced to deal with one bad event after another, and yet Satsuki dealt with worse and came out strong, if not a little psychotic. But her fears and problems would only come in the way between her and her crush, causing a rift between them.
But it had gotten better.
After waiting for so long, she finally had her chance. Naruto's last and final chance of finding a partner ended with her. Satsuki and Sakura had already ruined their chances and had somehow pushed Naruto in her direction. When the two began to date, Hinata felt her confidence boost, and she felt as if she was understanding her hero a bit more by the day. The Hyuuga even confessed to him about all of the times she wanted to help him, be there for him, be with him, but was too scared to do so.
And he forgave her... He forgave trash like her... And she was so happy... But in the brim of her love and confidence, her uselessness reared it's ugly head once more and ended the relationship between them. It was funny actually, Hinata may have hated Satsuki and Sakura, but she was certain that she hated herself more. And when the love of her life left, the confidence she had amassed left as well... And now she was back at stage one.
The three women stood in a awkward silence, not wanting to talk to one another. It was no secret to the three that Naruto had dated all of them sometime in his life, and that created a situation none of them wanted to be a part of. While Naruto was avoiding them, they avoided each other, and now the three of them was expected to work together on a mission. The tension would only grow into an uneasy restlessness.
"Where in the hell is our leader?" Satsuki asked, agitation heavily laced in her voice. "The longer we have to wait, the longer I have to stand here with you two." Hinata had flinched at the statement, visibly affected by the choice words the Uchiha had to offer. Sakura simply rolled her eyes and confronted her teammate, already used to this behavior from her genin days.
"Why the rush Satsuki? I thought all Uchiha were supposed to be composed. I guess that you were the exception because you're already creating a giant problem by allowing more bullshit to push through your lips." Satsuki visibly became angry at the girl's choice of wording involving her and her clan, the tense situation became even worse as an argument was fast approaching.
"Says the bitch who was asking about the team's whereabouts long before I was! You are literally the last person I want to admonish my faults of impatience, seeing as that's what led to you and Naruto breaking up... Right?" The Uchiha said with a cruel smirk, knowing that she had pushed through the Haruno's patience. Sakura's face was flushed red with anger.
"What the fuck is your problem!? I was wondering where our team was, you are the one creating a problem by saying shit that you knew would start problems between us!" The Haruno shouted as she stood face to face with the Satsuki. The situation escalated even more when Sakura had pumped her fist full of chakra.
"You want to know what my problem is!? How about the fact that I have to stand with the two rebound girls Naruto fucked just so he could forget about me!" Satsuki shouted back as she had activated her Sharingan, her tomoe was spinning rapidly in response to her frustration. Sakura clenched her teeth in anger and cocked her fist back.
"Naruto was mine before you stole him you bi-" Sakura shouted before she was interrupted as Hinata stood between the two girls, her fingers pointed at both of their jugulars. The Hyuuga looked absolutely furious as she sat back and listened to the two argue. Naruto was never theirs, they didn't know a single thing about him like she did. He was hers and hers alone.
"Oh ho, so the timid bitch has a spine after all." Satsuki mocked the pale-eyed women holding her at finger point. Hinata remained silent and simply glared at the Uchiha... Maybe she should destroy the rivalry between both of their clans right now... It would be therapeutic to her peace of mind at the moment.
The three women who possibly made the most dysfunctional team in the history of shinobi stood stock still and glared at one another. Satsuki's hand was inching towards the handle of her blade, Sakura's fist was moving towards her kunai pouch, and Hinata had added chakra to her fingertips. The tension was so high that any surrounding civilians and ninja instantly gave the three a wide berth of space.
"SHINK!"
Satsuki had drawn her blade as Sakura had pulled out a kunai. Hinata had tensed and shot out her hands to pierce through their throa-
"Izumo, Kotetsu, I'm here to pick up my team." The kunoichi immediately froze in place when they heard the familiar voice they dreamed of talking to again. The three were sure that even if their team leader had shown up, they simply would have ignored him and continue to try and kill each other off. But their team leader wasn't Kakashi or some other Jonin, it was someone the three knew very well.
The three women slowly turned their heads in shock to see Naruto, passing over a scroll to the chunin watching over the gate. "Sorry I'm late, I had to gain access to a scroll that would verify Satsuki's absence from the village. I wish I could have gotten here sooner, as it seems that you two were dealing with your own problems over here." Naruto noted as he gave a quick glance to the girls that no doubt tried to commit murder today.
"No, you made it just before the fight was about to occur. Thank god... We'll verify your papers so you and your team can get moving as soon as possible." Izumo said in relief as Kotetsu hurriedly grabbed the scroll and took it to the back. Naruto nodded and muttered thanks to the two bewildered chunin. When the second chunin was out of sight, Naruto turned to greet his team, a bit of disappointment in his eyes.
"Alright you three, I need you to break it up. If you were to actually start fighting here, no amount of pleading on my part would keep you from going to prison for attempted murder of a fellow ninja." Naruto said with the straightest face possible as he walked towards his team. Said team was still pleasantly surprised to know that the blonde was going to be leading them on whatever mission was assigned to them.
They honestly hoped this mission would be a long one.
"Yo Naruto! Verification complete! You and your team can leave whenever you like!" Kotetsu said with an unwanted amount of relief that all three girls were able to pick up on. When the situation had settled down, the embarrassment began to kick in. The women knew that they had caused a scene in front of a lot of people, all while shouting a few things they definitely regret others hearing.
Rumors would definitely spread...
"Alright then, let's go." Naruto said as calmly as he could, but anyone close enough could pick up the absolutely tired tone in his voice. The blonde simply ignored all of the stares of the villagers and passed through the village gates with his team. He had definitely heard the shouting of the women when he made his way over, and with him being the hero of the leaf, knew that there was going to be a shitstorm when he returned.
The blonde could already hear the hushed whispers of the people he was leaving behind and had to internally groan at his luck. Now the village would know about his relationship with the three ninja... What's next? Does he gets chased by everyone in the Elemental Nations aiming for his corpse?
Would he ever catch a break...?
(The Hokage's Office)
(Background Music: Naruto OST 2 - Sasuke's Theme)
"Lady Tsunade, they are gone on their mission." Shizune said as she had entered the office of her master. Tsunade nodded.
"Thank you Shizune, you are dismissed." Shizune bowed with TonTon in her arms before leaving the office. Tsunade had interlaced her fingers and placed them in front of her face, covering the bottom half from view. The blonde had narrowed her eyes and released a sigh. "Now, Danzo, I believe you have some explaining to do." And just like that, Danzo had stepped out of the shadows to greet his leader.
"Of course, what do you want to know?" The war hawk asked, already knowing the answer. The old man leaned on his cane slightly to get comfortable. This was going to be a very long discussion.
"You know what I want to know. You told me that Naruto, Satsuki, Sakura, and Hinata were in danger and that the leaf in its current state would not be able to defend them. So in response, I had sent them on a mission that would require them to move from one location to another. You told me that many powerful people want them dead to take their corpse. In response, I had funded your ROOT ANBU and allowed you to send out your spy network. Not only did you tell me this very suddenly, causing me to rush my planning, but I am still unprepared to deal with whatever is coming their way... I need answers."
Danzo sighed... A long talk indeed...
"You know of the organization I am apart of, correct?" Danzo asked, to which Tsunade nodded.
"Of course. Before Jiraiya died, his spy network picked up on an underground organization that has been funded by the five Daimyo. Every year the meeting place changes from one of the Daimyo's capitals to another. The organization also includes just about every powerful and influential person from every country on this continent. The organization was created after the Third Great Shinobi War to maintain what little peace we have."
Danzo nodded. "That is correct. Truly, Jiraiya's spy network was fearsome indeed... But I digress. A few days ago, another meeting was called for all of the organization members. This year the meeting place was held in the Fire Capital. One of the many subjects that come up is corpse collecting. Every member bids on the new youths that come up in the yearly meeting, and whoever wins is allowed to send hunters to kill the target and bring their corpse to them."
Tsunade nodded. Collecting the corpse of a powerful ninja is common. An example would be her grandfather's cells that have shown up recently. When one ejects themselves with it, not only do their healing factor rise astronomically, but they also gain a weaker version of his wood release. Some collectors don't even use the body for themselves, but instead sells them to the highest bidder for money.
"So what you are saying, is that the team we had just sent has been targeted?" Danzo nodded, and the room had become silent for a moment. "What are we dealing with exactly?"
"In light of how powerful the four have become, bidding took a turn for the worse with one disadvantage after another being dropped on us. We are looking at sixteen different ninja villages and four wealthy merchant villages. These twenty villages decided to join together to take the targets down, and the great villages beside the Leaf and Sand are included as well. They had to leave because many assassins that even I couldn't identify were lurking around in our streets."
Tsunade sighed and began to rub her temples in frustration. She couldn't even blame Danzo, because she knew that above all else, losing our Jinchuriki, Uchiha, Hyuuga heiress, and her precious student would put the leaf in a heavily weakened state... Especially after the damage done by Pain. Of course, the man probably fought against it. "If we are going to help them, we will have to be very discreet about it... Or maybe... We will have to be bold..."
Danzo raised an eyebrow. "What did you have in mind?"
Tsunade smirked, one village against twenty? Challenge accepted. "Place Naruto, Satsuki, Sakura, and Hinata in the bingo book. I want high prices placed on all of their heads. Be sure to add the message 'Bring back to the village alive', that should add multiple factions after their heads, and therefore create a war between the bounty hunters. Oh, and bring me the rest of the rookies... It's time to hunt the bounty hunters."
Alright! Done! I wanted to create a story where Naruto is a criminal without exactly going against his mannerisms and personality. I also wanted a story where Naruto faces relationships with the three greatest ships on the series. I just didn't want yaoi, so I genderbent Sasuke. Combining them together, I came up with this story. The story will mainly follow Naruto, but I will be placing bits and pieces of Tsunade's antics.
So don't forget! Fav, Fallow, Review. Get good grades, stay in school, and if a man climbs down your chimney during Christmas... Call the cops!