Bonds of Family
Prologue
This is a re-upload of my first original story on FanFiction as well as my first collaborative piece of literature.
Co-Author- Diablo's Heir
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. There is no copyright or infringement intended.
I hope you enjoy the story. Thank you and reviews/comments are welcomed.
The night was calm, however, throughout the forest, below the midnight sky; the clash of kunai with shuriken was well heard along with the screams of the dying. A battle was being waged beneath the canopy of trees that made up the woods along the country border. A group of male ninja, shinobi, stood in a circle in the middle of a clearing that lay deep in this dense forest. Sweat dripped from beneath their Kirigakure headbands as weapons trembled in their hands.
"Did anyone see where the enemy went?!" one of the Kirigakure ninja, cried out. "They move like shadows! There must be at least 10 of them; they took out four of our platoons!" His comrade looked around nervously as he spoke. For the past few days the small coalition of five ninja platoons had been systematically hunted down and killed. Of the five only one remained with half its original members alive.
"Jakotsu, quiet you damn fool; you'll give away our position with your racket." Barked an older looking man. He was obviously the leader of the remaining platoon members. "Keep your shit together and we can turn this around and gain the upper hand." He continued as he scanned the surrounding area without so much as a hint of fear in his eyes. The moonlight above was bright and cast shadows upon the ground. He hoped to catch even a glimpse of the squad that had been pursuing his men for days
Suddenly from the shadow of nearby trees four figures appeared, walking slowly and steadily towards the group of ninja. From the north was a small boy with short spiky black hair. He wore dark clothing consisting of shorts and a short-sleeved shirt with an Uchiha clan symbol over the left breast underneath a cloak. Strapped to his arms and legs were sleeves of kunai. He stood no more than three and a half feet in height and carried a ninjato in his left hand, while his right held a fistful of shuriken. To the ninja who watched him approach he appeared to be just a child no more than six or seven years old but the murderous aura emanating from him spoke of his experience.
From the south walked a young female, a kunoichi, with long straight black hair. She was older than the young male they had first seen but not by much from what the men could see as she passed under the pale moonlight. She stood only a few inches taller than the boy and was dressed in a midnight blue qipao dress. In her hand she held what appeared to be a custom katana with the Uchiha insignia engraved into the hilt. The sword was almost as big as her. As a cloud passed overhead and blocked out the moon all the men could see through the pitch black darkness of the night was the piercing gaze of her blood red eyes devoid of all emotion save one, bloodlust.
The other two came from the east and west. One was a young boy with a short bowl haircut and a long black robe that went all the way down to his feet. He had insects flying all around him and his face was covered up by the robe up to his nose and dark goggles over his eyes. There was an ominous feeling about him that the men just could shake. Perhaps it was the fact that when the moonlight hit him his skin appeared to be a purple color. The other was a girl with long flowing curly hair. She wore a black qipao dress with red circular designs and black combat shorts underneath. Attached to her right leg was a kunai pouch and around her waist was another pouch.
"They are only children?" Jakotsu, the man who had been making noise before gasped aloud relief filling his voice. His comrades however seemed to look rather confused and worried. "This is bullshit there is no way we have been getting slaughtered by these four kids, right Manju? It's just not possible." He continued raising his pike. The leader, Manju raised his one of his kunai knives and narrowed his eyes at the boy who approached from the north. "Get ready boys, we'll show them what happens when you mess with the Kirigakure elite." He spoke with a deadly calm in his voice.
The others followed suit after seeing their leader prepare his weapon and now held their weapons with more confidence as their enemy had revealed themselves. "Let's take them down, even if they are kids they still need to die!" Manju ordered before charging forwards toward the boy in front of him. He was flanked by two men on either side of him outmatching his opponent five to one.
As the fracture platoon split even further to take on the remaining members the long-haired girl smiled with a devilish grin, "Formation Zeta!" she spoke in a voice like the whisperings of death and received a nod from each of her teammates. She then quickly performing several hand signs to create a cage of lightning around the six men that had charged towards her "Lighting Style: Shocking Entrapment".
"Quick, scatter!" one of the men cried out and four of them quickly escaped the cage before it could close around them. The other two were paralyzed by the sudden rush of electricity and caught in the cage. Perfect the girl thought smiling at the sight of the men standing there. "Initiate second configuration." She commanded as she began to fight off the four men who had escaped being trapped.
Manju and the men that had accompanied him quickly surrounded the boy and engaged him in close quarters combat but found out soon enough that the child excelled in that field. Within the first thirty seconds of combat two of the men fell dead from lacerations to their arteries while Manju suffered a few light cuts to his arms and chest. The boy's ninjato was longer than their kunai which gave him a slight advantage that he made full use of.
Three men had charged the other young man and pulled out exploding tags before launching them at the boy. Upon contact the explosions rocked the ground slightly and blew away trees. The three men smiled at one another and turned to go after the girls who were each dealing with four men but suddenly they all stopped. "Who said you could leave before our fight was finished. Now become food for my friends." The boy spoke in a low slightly raspy tone." The men paralyzed by insect venom could only watch in horror as a cloud of death descended upon them.
The curly haired kunoichi smiled as she skillfully avoided each of her foes attacks. "Wow, you guys are really weak." She giggled as she kicked away two of the men and launched them into the electric field where upon contact with the barrier they were electrocuted. The remaining two charged the girl with weapons drawn causing her to smile even wider. Biting her thumb she quickly launched into a flurry of hand signs before slamming her hand into the ground "Summoning Jutsu! Let's go Bombulo!" she exclaimed as a mighty ox burst forth from the cloud of smoke that had appeared and ran into the men impaling each one upon one of its horns. The men dead from the impact alone were then unceremoniously thrown off to the side as the bull let loose a mighty bellow and began charging at the group of foes that the long haired female was currently in combat with.
The long haired female cut through two of the men with her katana as she notice the ox charging and positioned the remaining two men in between her and the animal. The men noticed the trap and launched into the air to avoid being attacked. It was their final mistake as a swarm of insects began to devour their flesh. When their remains fell to the ground the three shinobi gathered towards one another before looking north where their final compatriot was fighting one on one with Manju.
Manju was seriously having a hard time with the child who had dispatched the remaining two men and was now fighting on par with the platoon leader. Ducking a wide arcing slash to his head Manju delivered a powerful kick to the boy's chest which sent the boy flying backwards and made him drop his weapon. "Now you die!" Manju exclaimed rushing in for the killing blow.
"Fire Style: Fists of the Dragon's Flame Jutsu" the young boy stated after quickly doing the required motion of hand-seals for his technique. Suddenly a blazing inferno of fire surrounded his hands as he got into a fighting stance and waited for Manju to approach. At the last possible moment the boy rushed forwards and punched a whole clear through the older man's chest Manju coughed up a globule of blood before collapsing to the ground, dead.
Turning to his team the final member of the four-man squad went to join them around the two men still trapped in the electrical cage. After simultaneously opening their eyes the two children bearing the crest of the Uchiha clan revealed crimson-colored irises to their remaining victims. The boy with three tomoe in both eyes, proof of his mastery; and the girl with a two tomoe in one of hers stared down at the terrified men with satisfied grins on their faces. It was a gaze that pierced the very soul of the two men trapped with the cage.
One of them looked at the team's symbol located on various parts of their outfits and instantly knew. "Natsumo we need to run. I know who they are! They're the youngest chunin level squad to ever come from Konohagakure." One of the two remaining men spoke fear lacing his every word.
The four stood unfazed by his statement, but the older boy began to speak. "Well, well, well. It would seem as if our reputation precedes us Kaname." The long-haired girl approached the cage and performed the release sign with her hands which caused the cage to dissipate. "Go back and tell your village of us. Tell them if another attack is even conceived against the Konaha then we will not stop until all of Kirigakure has fallen." The girl, whom the men guessed was Kaname spoke still in a voice which whispered in their ears like death of the two ninja. They quickly turned and began to run off.
"Hey, Kitara… how many ninja does it take to deliver a message?" the male Uchiha spoke with a smirk as he lined up his blade on his shoulder. "Only one, Ichimaru." The curly haired female, Kitara replied. Ichimaru quickly threw a barbed kunai which impaled one of the Kirigakure ninja, the one named Natsumo, in the back of the neck. The team watched as he fell from the tree limb he had been on into the bushes below and turned away sharply.
"Another successful mission." Kaname stated simply and turned her attentions to her fellow kunoichi who was leaned against a nearby tree. "Kitara, we are going to need to need to rest, set up camp and prepare the med kit for evaluations." She then looked toward the cloaked male who had been mostly silent during the final exchange. "Hakoushi, do an inventory check and pick up the scattered ninja tools." She lastly looked toward the other Uchiha. "Good job Ichi-nii. You need to rest and restore your chakra, you look a mess." She instructed to the child. In unison the three of them replied with "Understood." and went off. Kaname looked up at the moon as the clouds passed by the reveal its golden pale light. She could feel it as finally the second tomoe in her other eye formed.
A/N There will be a link to the companion story on my profile page.