I do not own Naruto or any of its characters.
Someone was out there. Naruto felt it. His team wasn't with him now but regardless he dashed headlong, gliding past the forest trees, his gut urging him to chase after a phantom sensation. Dusk fell and overtook most of the light. He saw flickering in the distance and raced toward it. A grin tugged at the corner of his mouth.
Naruto braced himself against the cold winds and rainwater. As he neared his destination the air thickened and warmed, almost pleasantly, except it spoke of bad news. Smoke. Light flickered around the woods ahead of him. If this was a forest fire it would be a bitch to put out despite the rain.
He made it past another oak and stopped. A cabin stood before him, ensnared in flames like a snake strangling its prey tighter and tighter. He saw more buildings burning behind this one. A village, then, but…. No people running about, no screaming.
"Hello." Naruto heaved his voice over the blaze's crackles and the wind's cackles. He could no longer sense the energy that brought him here. "Hey, anybody around?"
Calling out, he realized, wasn't smart if there actually were enemies about, but what the hell. Let them know his presence.
Naruto flared his energy, signaling his teammates again, and at the same time closed his eyes. He sensed their energies drawing towards him from several directions, Sasuke closest, then Sakura, and last Kakashi who'd been scouting ahead. It'd be a few minutes but they were on their way. He scanned for any other nearby energies again, detected nothing.
But something's off about this place. When Magelord Tsunade had given them this mission, she said it was different. Strange. Investigative rather than the more or less straightforward beat-up-the-bad-guys, escort, or message delivery missions they frequently received. They'd been getting reports of villages, like this one, found abandoned or ablaze, which Naruto didn't think was too out of the ordinary considering the war with the other kingdoms.
The odd thing was there were no bodies.
It didn't make sense. The creepy Dorago tribes were in the distant south, and the cave dwellers of the Earth Kingdom thankfully never traveled far from their mountains. And war was rarely bloodless or neat.
Naruto shook his head, placed a palm on the hilt of his sword, and ventured deeper into the flaming village, searching for any signs of life. Or death.
The heat became overbearing the farther he went. He could boast little water magic and would have to wait for his teammates to arrive if they wanted to control the fire. His feet sunk into sticky, chilled mud, and he gazed at the flames around him. They leapt off cabin timber, swirled with the wind and raindrops, the elements dancing together like master swordsmen fighting aimlessly.
"Naruto."
Sasuke Uchiha appeared beside him, clad in his brown cloak and persistent emotionless expression. He surveyed the area, paying Naruto no attention.
"Good of you to show up," Naruto said. "It's never a party unless you're here."
Sasuke didn't reply. Asshole.
"Anyway, it's pretty much like what the reports said." Naruto moved further into the burning village. "No sign of anybody yet, no bodies. We should take care of the fire and then search for any evidence of what—"
"Shut up," Sauske hissed.
Before Naruto could form a rebuttal, he saw Sasuke alert, peering at something behind him.
Naruto turned, didn't see anything, but heard the sigh-like crack of a burning building as it collapsed in on itself, finally surrendering to the blazes. Then a man completely clad in white robes bolted out of the flames and sank his hand into Naruto's abdomen.
Pain erupted in Naruto's belly like boiling water scorched his innards, and he crumpled onto the ground screaming, the robed man still holding onto him. Naruto balled his hand into a fist and punched.
Naruto hit air. He clutched at his abdomen, choking back his screams, and looked around. The robed man stood atop a hut, flames licking at him. Then he shot off into the dark.
Naruto expected Sasuke to chase after him but he didn't. The Mage Adept just stood there, his face twisted as though he'd swallowed spoiled milk.
"What the hell are you standing there for?" Naruto said. "Go after that bastard!"
Sasuke glanced at Naruto, his eyes unfocused. Then he shook his head and jumped onto the burning hut, and disappeared into the dark forest beyond.
Not like the Uchiha bastard to get spooked, Naruto thought. He struggled to sit up, still holding onto his abdomen. He felt drained. With each beat of his heart electricity arced down his arms and legs, up into his head. Made it hard to think or focus on anything else.
He lifted his cloak and undershirt to inspect his torso. Nothing, no markings, just the dancing light of fire.
"I hope you don't plan on taking your clothes off. It's an awfully cold night."
Naruto turned to see Sakura standing beside him, one eyebrow raised and frowning.
"Some guy in white got the jump on me. I was just checking to make sure..."
"Yeah yeah, I get it." Sakura turned away from him and peered off into darkness."I guess Sasuke is chasing him. Are you strong enough to come with me?"
Naruto started to stand, felt the electricity tear through him again, then thought better of it. "I'm okay here. You go."
Sakura nodded, "Come when you can or wait for Master Kakashi."
And she was off. Always after the Uchiha.
Naruto waited, his eyes closed, sensing his teammates energies. Sasuke had stopped somewhere ahead and Sakura was closing in on him. Master Kakashi was nearby, taking his time as usual.
This must be some kind of magic, Naruto thought when another shockwave pulsed through his body. The pain's intensity seemed to dwindle. How often it came too. That robed asshole didn't just sucker punch me.
Several minutes passed with Naruto waiting in the mud, drenched in rain and warmed by fire. He sensed that Sasuke and Sakura were heading back here. Master Kakashi arrived and he set off to inspect the village. When the other two returned they put out the fires together.
"Tell me one more time. And don't leave anything out."
Magelord Tsunade sat with hands clasped atop her wooden desk. Despite being in her fifties, she was probably more beautiful than most women Naruto had beheld in his time, at least physically. Skill with illusory magic didn't hurt, of course.
"We were investigating near the northern borders like we were told," Naruto said, careful to keep disdain out of his voice. He'd already went down that route with Tsunade once, and didn't need to again. "I sensed someone so I went to check it out. It was a burning village. When I got there I couldn't sense anyone anymore. We didn't find anything there. No bodies. I was hit in the gut by some bastard all dressed in white, and he got away. My belly still kinda hurts."
Sanzo, Tsunade's adviser snorted, and he gave his characteristic scowl.
Magelord Tsunade looked to Sasuke.
"I tried to follow him. He got away." Sasuke's gaze and voice were both perfectly level. "That's all."
Sakura nodded, a frown creeping onto her face.
"That's all?" Tsunade murmured to herself and let out a long sigh. "Master Kakashi?"
The man's mask crumpled up with a smile. "I got to play fireman."