Chapter 1 - Well it Rains and it Pours
Naruto groans as his eyes slide open, a pounding headache the first thing to greet him as he comes out of his drunken sleep. He moves his hand to his eyes, blocking the near blinding light of the sun, and groans as he hears the sound of a tapping foot near his head.
"Really, Naruto? Again?" A voice rings out, one that nearly always greets him when he wakes up recently, equally worrying and comforting in its anger. "You can't keep doing this!"
Naruto catches a glimpse of the pink hair of his verbal assailant, and sighs, "Sakura…. give me a minute, please." She prods him with her foot as a response. "You're ANBU now, you have to-please, Sakura." The pleading tone in his voice manages to shut down the lecture before it can begin. "Just give me a minute, and I'll be fine." He reaches within himself, to that cavern inside him where the Kyuubi resides, and attempts to coax out a bit of power. He ignores the fox's scathing remarks, and feels the alcohol in his body begin to be burned off. He sighs as the hangover begins to subside, and finally manages to look at Sakura. She's changed a bit since the incident, although he supposed everyone has. More mature looking, he supposes. Her eyes are more tired, and he doesn't think it's just because the old lady has been running her ragged. Still, it's been a year; at least she can stand to look at him now. He moves his eyes away from her face before he opens his mouth to speak. "Got home from a mission yesterday. You know how it is." Sakura rolls her eyes.
"You got home two days ago, idiot. Kyuubi or not, this isn't sustainable!" He's entirely sure she has that worried look on right now, the one that bores right through his soul. "Even the Hokage is worried, and knowing her habits that should say something!" She squats down, making some effort to put herself on his level. "When you're not out of the village, you're partying. It doesn't look good to the civvies. You do… that," He winces at the tone she uses when she says that, "and then come back and party it up like nothing happened?"
"I have a great track record, what right-" She cuts him off again, determined to finish her lecture, "Do you think a perfect record of ANBU missions matters to them? Assassinations, deposing rulers, toppling empires, ending entire platoons before they can attack? If anything, that makes it worse!" She sighs. "Look, I'm not your mom. But you need to clean up your act. You can't dwell on that for the rest of your life." Naruto nods sadly, even though they've had this conversation multiple times before. Sakura looks up when she hears a knock at her window, and sighs at the masked face of Dog, her former sensei. She slides the window open and exchanges a few murmurs with him as Naruto watches on, confused. "What are you here for, Dog?" He asks, his voice slipping into the more professional tone reserved for fellow ninja. "Mission. Get packed for a long one. The request comes directly from Hokage, around…" He checks a non-existent watch, "Two hours ago. She'll be angry if you're any later than you already are." Naruto shoots Dog a glare, but there's no heat behind it. He knows it's just Dog's way of memorializing his best friend, much like the sword that rattles at Naruto's hip as he stands up is a way of memorializing his. "Yeah, yeah. I'll go right now." He gives Sakura a nod, before leaping out the window after Dog. He hops from rooftop to rooftop in the direction of his apartment, the window left open like it always in. He hops from the nearest rooftop through the window gracefully, and lands on his bed. He just lays there for a second, sighing at the comforting feeling of the well-worn sheets. He looks up at the familiar cracked ceiling above, sighing at the memories it brings back. Back in the good old days, when all he had to worry about was passing the Ninja Academy Graduation Exam. How naive he was. He stands up from the bed, grabbing his bag from a nearby nightstand. He shakes it slightly, feeling some weight already in it. Good, at least he won't have to find his spare shuriken kit. He throws a sword polishing kit and a sharpening stone into the bag, strolling into his kitchen and throwing a few packs of instant ramen in as well. He grabs a cracked picture frame and gently places it in the front pouch. He glances around his apartment one more time, the battered walls somehow no longer feeling like home. He sighs, grabbing his bedroll and mask from their resting place near the window, and hopping out the window to begin the trek towards the Hokage tower. It seems that recently he spends less and less time in between missions. Diving into his work, is what Sakura would say, although it's not like the old lady doesn't facilitate that. How could he blame her? To drop any false modesty for a second, he's pretty fucking good, even addled by alcohol like he has been recently, and the Hokage knows it. He continues leaping, seeing the Hokage Tower steadily approaching in the distance. He speeds up, feeling the muscles of his legs flex as he channels the tiniest amount of chakra into them. As he gets close to the Tower, he judges the distance between him and the Hokage's window. 3… 2… 1… he leaps, managing to sail through the open window without touching the windowsill.
"You're late." Tsunade says by way of greeting, not even seeming surprised as he stumbles slightly, landing in front of her desk.
"You sent Dog to get me, what do you expect?" He shoots back. Tsunade just shakes her head in disappointment.
"I didn't have anyone else to send. We're in a fairly urgent situation, here."
"Really? Why? What's going on?"
Tsunade sighs, grabbing her cup of sake from the table. "It's Rain Country. We have reason to believe that the Taka no Hane are making moves there." Naruto's eyes widen, and his grip on his elephant mask tightens.
"That's not possible." He says, "You know it isn't. They couldn't-"
"Naruto. Our spies in Rain specifically mentioned known members of the group. Kisame Hoshigaki, Suigetsu." She pauses knowingly for a second, finishing, "Karin. All known members, all A-rank or above. Seventeen kidnappings, three murders. It fits their modus operandi."
Naruto, involuntarily, slams a hand on the table. "It isn't possible! How could it be?" Tears are welling up in his eyes, frustrated tears. "If they're back, what was the point? Kiba, Neji, you're telling me they paid it all for nothing? What was the point of everything we spent on Operation Snake? Tell me, old lady!" He shouts, pointing his finger into her face. She sighs, pushing his finger away.
"Look, Naruto. This could be a trick. An attempt to strike fear into us. I'm not telling you everything was in vain. Just… I need you to go to Rain, make very sure." She looks him into the eyes, and purposefully says, "Fallen Leaves policy." Naruto's eyes widen. The last time she trusted him to do a mission that policy applied to was the mission everything went downhill.
"Are you sure, old lady?" He asks hesitantly, less out of doubt for her judgement and more out of distrust for himself. Tsunade nods solemnly, and Naruto returns her nod. He brings his mask up to his face, affixing it firmly. "Am I to go now?" He asks, his tone slowly returning to neutral. Tsunade nods again, and Naruto is off in the blink of an eye, augmenting his legs with chakra. It's a long run to Rain, but he doesn't care. In fact, it's probably good. It will give him time. Time to… think. He hops from tree to tree without looking, contemplating the mission he's about to go on. Fallen Leaves policy. That means no holds barred, nobody in the village besides him and her will ever know it happened other than rumor. Restricted only for missions where distasteful and downright disgusting acts might be the only path to success. The last time he took one of these, two of his squadmates perished in the line of duty, and another was crippled. The last time he took one of these, a village was razed in the pursuit of justice, a village full of civilians. He did the deed with his own hand, and whatever twisted justice was earned in the course of that mission could never make up for the lives he ended. And now, he finds out that he may not have even gotten whatever justice he thought he did. Now, he finds out the group that he sacrificed any chance at Hokage to end might not be gone. His brows furrow, and his knuckles pop. That can't be allowed, he muses, especially not when he was the one assigned to end them in the first place. No. If they really are alive, if by some miracle they survived the Kami no Ken Rasengan, he will hunt them down and destroy them so thoroughly that not even rumors of them will remain. That's his solemn promise, he thinks, and he never goes back on his word. Never.
Naruto easily runs through the handseals for Kuchiyose no Jutsu, summoning a small surveillance toad, having circled the whole Rain village himself once, looking for anything amiss. "Look through the village," Naruto mutters, "And report back if you feel any chakra signatures that aren't city nin." The toad does a little salute and hops off into Rain, leaving Naruto, yet again, alone, thinking. He hates thinking. All it does is bring back memories, memories he doesn't want to relive.
The rain of Rain country pitters on Naruto's mask as he and his comrades leap from tree to tree, towards a small village on the outskirts of the country. Just a textbook mission, with the added danger factor coming from the people they'd have to fight. Really, if they weren't going to fight this group, he wouldn't have brought squadmates at all. Were he Hokage, he probably wouldn't have ordered the mission in the first place. While perhaps using distasteful methods, the Taka no Hane has mostly done missions taking out rogue nin, hunting down bounties, and assassinating prominent figures. While not the more glamorous side of nin work, it's pretty typical for a mercenary group. As much as he hates to admit it, he's done a bit of all three, so of course he wouldn't see a purpose to the mission. Still, he sees the Hokage's reasoning. A powerful Konoha missing-nin can't just run amok in an allied country, and what is ANBU for if not hunting down rogue nin? He sees the large complex in the middle of the village, seemingly pretty conspicuous for a secretive nin group to use as a base of operations. He leaps forward, Kiba and Neji, well, Wolf and Hawk flanking him, at least until-
His train of thought is interrupted by a tentative croak, his scouting toad having returned. "7 chakra signatures that aren't village nin, 4 a Genin team from Iwa, three unidentified." He nods, and the toad dispels itself, leaving Naruto to think on the information he's been provided. Three unidentified signatures, just like Tsunade says. Whether or not they're fakes is still up for debate, but they're bold to stay in Rain for this long. Whoever they are must either be confident they can take whoever is sent after them, or stupid enough to believe nobody would notice their presence. Either way, he thinks, it goeth before the fall. He falls from the tree onto the ground, walking for the village proper. Now comes good old fashioned Naruto stupid-tactics. He flexes his proverbial chakra muscles, doing the tree walking exercise as he walks on the ground, allowing his chakra presence to be felt by anyone who's attuned to such things. If Karin's really here, she'll know a nin is here and making no effort to conceal his presence, and send one of the two fighters after him. Since his chakra is fairly powerful, he has no doubt that Kisame will be that man. He feels none of the nervousness he once would have at that fact, continuing to aimlessly wander through the streets of rain, some civilians stopping to stare at his masked form. His ears and nose twitch constantly, Kyuubi enhanced senses monitoring for any sign of a sneak attack, one hand resting on the hilt of his katana. It only takes another minute before he hears it, sandals slapping against a nearby wet roof, a disturbance in the air, the scent of blood. Kisame Hoshigaki descends on him, bringing his sword down with a roar of exertion. Naruto rolls out of the way, drawing his sword. A sharklike grin splits Kisame's face.
"Oh, boy. It's better than I could have hoped. Long time, no see, eh?" Kisame asks amicably, as if talking to an old friend. Naruto lunges at him with a slash of his katana, which Kisame easily parries, leaping back as he does to regain distance.
"Yeah, I was hoping I'd never see you again. I was hoping that I was thorough enough they'd be burying you in a can. Suppose not all dreams come true." Kisame grins, going through lightning fast hand seals, the rainwater forming a small shark, which is then launched at Naruto. He leaps to the side, lifting his sword as quick as his reflexes allow to parry an overhand slash from Kisame.
"So, you took up a sword since last time?" Kisame asks, pressing his own downwards on Naruto's blade, the impromptu strength contest not fazing Naruto, who lashes out with his foot, aiming for Kisame's knee. Kisame pulls his leg back, but that provides Naruto an opening to move to the side, slashing his sword. Kisame leaps back again, but this time Naruto managed to graze him, a shallow slash opening in his chest. Kisame, still seeming totally unworried, throws a forward thrust, seemingly expecting Naruto to dodge backward. Instead, hea leaps over the thrust, thrusting his own sword at Kisame's face using his newfound height advantage. Kisame, ever vigilant, sweeps his sword up, hitting the bottom of Naruto's feet and sending him somersaulting over his head harmlessly. He immediately capitalizes, spinning to slash his massive sword at Naruto, who still hasn't regained his senses fully. It connects with a clumsy block, sending Naruto flying down the street.
"Well, you're pretty good. For a beginner, that is." Kisame says offhandedly, striding down the street. "I suppose I shouldn't have expected too-" He's cut off by the Naruto he hit poofing into smoke, the real one bursting from underneath him, Rasengan in hand. "Rasengan!" He screams, more a battle cry than a jutsu announcement. Kisame steps forward, but that only allows Naruto to reorient his body, slamming the Rasengan into the middle of Kisame's back, sending him tumbling down the street as his shadow clone did just moments ago.
"What was that, Kisame?" Naruto asks smugly. "I don't think I could hear you, underground at all." He weaves together a set of handseals, and cries, "Rasengan Barrage!" As soon as his shout finishes, no less than ten shadow clones appear, all with a fully formed Rasengan prepared in their hands, and charge Kisame. Kisame's grin becomes wider, and he sweeps his blade in a wide arc. The shadow clones poof, and Naruto's face falls. Shit. Samehada, how could he forget? Sure enough, the bandages begin to unravel, revealing a mouth at the tip. "Oh boy," Kisame says, "Your chakra is even more delicious than old Samehada remembers it being!" With that, he begins the longest string of hand seals yet. Naruto, not willing to let him complete whatever jutsu he's weaving, rushes him, but Samehada bends to defend its master long enough for Kisame to finish the jutsu and shout, "Seikatsu Katana no Jutsu!"