The Fox Ninja
It seemed that Konoha didn't have much luck after the chunin exams. Sasuke had defected to sound, quite a few of their high level ninja were dead, and now Naruto had died on a routine mission. All they had found of him was his blood-soaked forehead protector and a large pool of his blood. Every one of Naruto's friends had taken it badly, especially Hinata Hyuuga, but Sakura took it the worst. Not only did she loose Sasuke to Orochimaru, but she also lost her other teammate and friend. She had slowly become more and more of a recluse. Nowadays she never says a word to anyone, save for her family, and sensei and even then it was the fewest words possible. The rest of the rookie nine had tried to console her out of her depression but to no avail. The only thing that kept her going was the wish to no longer be a burden on anyone again.
Naruto's friends had held a private memorial for the boisterous youth in secret. Most of the village still hated him and would have probably ruined the memorial service. The only ones in attendance were his close friends and those he had managed to make an impact on. What was left of the rookie nine, their senseis, Tsunede and, some of the workers from the Great Naruto Bridge were just some of the people in attendance. What shocked everyone there was that Gaara, Kankoro, and Temari had also come to pay their respects to the young ninja. Encouraging words were spoken by those that knew him best and stories were exchanged of happier times with Naruto. Times like when he painted graffiti all over the Hokage monument.
"People never really die. They live on in the hearts and memories of those they have touched with their lives. It would be a great dishonor to Naruto to just sit around here and not continue on in his memory." Tsunede had said in closing of the memorial service.
Now many years later Sakura is now the leading medic-nin in the entirety of Fire country, next to Tsunede. As she slowly walked towards Hokage tower she noticed a presence following her. She couldn't quite nail down its location but it was there none the less and it disturbed her. Although she had gained a lot of confidence since Naruto had died this presence had something about it that unnerved her. This presence made her feel like she was still a rookie genin instead of the upper-class jounin she was.
"Who…who's there?" Sakura said with obvious nervousness in her voice.
Out of nowhere a figure appeared in front of her. It was dressed in black pants that hugged his ankles and waist tightly while still providing perfect movement and stealth, a loose fitting shirt made out of the same black cloth and in the same style, hugging his neck, waist and wrists. Hands covered in traditional ninja gauntlets with one minor alteration. The metal on the back of his hand was not the shiny metal, but a mat black. His face and hair was covered with a mask with the only thing showing was his eyes. They were probably what shocked her the most. Instead of normal eyes his eyes were bright yellow and his pupils were twice as big as a normal person's, looking like he had the eyes of a dog of some sort. He had a forehead protector on but it was made out of the same mat black metal that covered the back of his hands. She didn't recognize the symbol that seemed to be hand carved into the metal. Attached to his belt were two ornate daggers.
"Hello Sakura." A deep voice came from the masked figure in front of her. "You don't need to be afraid of me as long as you don't attack me."
Sakura didn't know what to do. Whoever this person was he was incredibly brave or very dumb. He appeared in broad daylight wearing black clothes in the middle of a ninja training village and was standing in front of one of the most powerful ones in the village. Despite these facts the aura he was giving off told her one thing, if she fought him she would loose.
"Who are you and why are you here?" she said failing miserably to sound confidant to the man in front of her.
Letting out a soft chuckle he replied, "I need to meet with the Hokage in an hour on top of the Hokage monument. She needs to come alone. I swear she will not be harmed." He then reached under the hem of his shirt and pulled out a small orange and blue jacket and tossed it to her before disappearing into thin air.
Sakura stood frozen stiff. The jacket she held was undoubtedly Naruto's. She picked up the garment and ran as fast as she could; pouring chakra into her legs to move faster. Busting through the halls she didn't stop till she was standing in front of Tsunede before hurriedly trying to tell the older woman what had just transpired. When Tsunede finally got Sakura calm enough to tell her what had happened it was almost time for the meeting.
"I didn't sense any malicious intent but caution should still be taken. Also do you recognize this symbol?" Sakura asked as she began drawing on a scrap sheet of paper. As she finished she noticed that Tsunede had paled.
Without another word Tsunede disappeared in a puff of smoke, and left Sakura to wonder about her mentor's strange reaction to the Kanji.
Atop the Hokage monument the dark clad man sat patiently meditating. He didn't have to wait long as Tsunede appeared in front of him looking very intently at the man sitting in front of her. He slowly stood up and bowed.
"It is good of you to come however I am not the one who wishes to speak with you." As if on cue a second figure appeared. While the first figure was good sized for a ninja male the one that was now at his side dwarfed him easily. The first figure was probably just shy of six feet the second figure easily reached six foot three. Like the first he was dressed completely in black or dark colors his clothing was slightly different. Instead of the shirt that the first ninja had on, this one had on a black mesh chain shirt under a black kimono style top with short sleeves that showed his well defined biceps before being covered by his gauntlets. He also had two katanas in ornate sheaths strapped to his back crossing each other just below his shoulder blades. The other difference was the man's eyes. His eyes were hellfire red with a black "X" in the center with four stars, one at each of the openings. (Think Shukaku's eyes rotated 45°)
The first man bowed to the second and disappeared without a sound or a trace that he had ever been there in the first place. Even Tsunede would have to admit that this man made her feel a little bit intimidated, but she was determined not to show it.
"Hello Tsunede, I'm glad you decided to come." The man said. "I know that your not one for conversation so I'll get straight to the two points I came here to deliver. Naruto is alive." Those three little words hit her harder than her own hits at full strength. She froze at the implications of those words.
'Naruto is alive?' she thought, 'how can that be? Who is this man and why does he make me so uneasy yet at ease at the same time?' She finally got some control of her body back she fell to her knees crying uncontrollably.
He moved to comfort her but was stopped as a kunai flew between him and the current Hokage. Between him and the Hokage were three figures. The first was the unmistakable form of Sakura. To her right was none other than the "copy ninja" himself, Kakashi. To Sakura's left was Might Gai. Each of them had kunai at the ready.
Not known for his patience Gai charged the masked ninja, who sidestepped the blow. Drawing one of the katanas from his back and held it to the back of Gai's neck showing him that he could have been dead in an instant. Sakura and Kakashi were in total shock. This stranger had in mere seconds been able to defeat one of the best ninjas in the village. Sakura crouched slightly before beginning to move forward but was stopped by Tsunede's voice.
"Stop it all of you!" She cried through her tears.
The masked ninja removed his katana from the back of Gai's neck and resheathed it. Gai walked back to his comrade's sides rubbing the back of his neck where the masked man's sword had been moments before.
"It was not my intention to start trouble but know that I will defend myself, even from former comrades." The masked ninja said. "I will tell you the same thing I was going to tell Tsunede but you must swear upon your own lives to keep it to yourselves for the time being." He looked at each of them before seeing that they had agreed.
"Sakura" his voice had lost all firmness and was now more comforting. "Please don't freak out because of what I'm about to say. Naruto is alive." Sakura's reaction was very similar to Tsunede's. She fell to her knees, her hands clenched together in front of her as the implications of three little words hit her hard.
"I also need to tell you something else; the rumors about my group are about as false as they come. The Akatsuki fear us, so they have been trying to make others fear us. Whether or not you believe me, believe that we will not harm unless we are threatened. I went easy on Gai because he acted foolishly and he was a friend to Naruto when almost no one else was."
Tsunede had finally pulled herself together enough to be able to stand without collapsing. "Why did you come here then?"
"A war is coming and most of the villages are going to be blindsided by it. My group has ties to this village and we don't want to see it destroyed. You need to get all Jounins to Lee's speed and strength with Kakashi's techniques as soon as possible. I will be sending someone to help you. Until then." The masked ninja was gone before anyone could blink
As they reluctantly went their separate ways they didn't notice the small gathering just outside of normal visual range. Four masked figures stood crouched on tree branches watching the Konoah ninja go their separate ways.
There were of course the two masked figures that appeared in front of Tsunede and Sakura, as well as two that were slightly smaller. Both were female as they were wearing more down the lines of a combat dress instead of the pants that the other two members wore. They were also nowhere near as bulky as the other two members. They moved with elegance and grace that had an undertone of power and death to those that underestimated them. Their heads were also covered by a masked hood like the other two with the only thing showing through were their eyes. The taller of the two ladies had deep emerald eyes that seemed to have limitless depth to them while the other had red eyes with slits instead of normal pupils.
"Why did you give them the extra piece of information?" the other male asked.
"They have a right to know and... I couldn't stand to see what it was doing to them." They remained silent as they left the area to make preparations.
Two days later a cloaked figure accompanied by a dog sized red fox approached the gates of Konoah. No details filtered through the billowing folds of the cloak and hood. Not even when Neji tried the Byakugan did any details about the man reveal themselves. Neji, Shikamaru, and Ino dropped down before the stranger and asked his purpose.
When the figure didn't say a word Shikamaru used his shadow bind technique to stop it and the fox. At least that's what it should have done. With what appeared to be no effort the figure resumed moving as though he wasn't being inhibited at all. Neji once again activated his Byakugan but had to quickly deactivate it for fear of being permanently blinded by the amount of chakra being put off by the figure. Ino then tried to take over the figures mind but just before the technique finished the figure held a small orb in front of himself and the orb absorbed Ino's consciousness. Ino dispelled her technique and returned to her body.
"All three of you have gotten stronger over the years, but not strong enough. Go to team 7's training area and wait for me I have a few other students to gather." With that the figure and the fox strode past them heading straight for Hokage tower.
The three Konoah ninja stood in shock. Somehow this person had known them years ago and could easily beat them with little effort. Even when they attacked him he didn't fight them, instead he nullified their attacks. They stared at the back of the figure before complying with his instructions. Whoever this person is it would be wise not to make him angry.
The figure walked on getting nervous glances as he passed by. The fox by his side bore its teeth at a few of the townsfolk as they passed by but made no move to attack. Whispers could be heard behind the cloaked figure as he walked steadily towards the Hokage tower. The occasional whisper of the words "fox ninja" could be heard every now and then. Over the past year and a half many had heard rumors of a mysterious ninja that always used foxes. His skill was said to be unmatched by all, including the legendary sannin.
A squad of ANBU appeared and took up honor guard positions as they continued to the tower. When they finally got to the tower the group went directly to the Hokage's office. As they entered the door the ANBU bowed and left. The cloaked figure also bowed but stayed along with the fox by his side.
"So, what brings the mysterious "fox ninja" to Konoha?" Tsunede said with sarcasm dripping from her voice.
Her only response was a forehead protector tossed onto her desk. It was the same type of protector that the ninja's had been wearing two nights ago.
"I see. I hear that you have already chosen some students."
"I still have more to get. I want you and Sakura there when I first start training them. Other then that please don't interfere with my training methods. I will need four A class missions in a week and a B class mission tomorrow. I believe a man just came in from wave requesting a B class is this correct?"
Tsunede nodded.
"Good, my team will take that mission, if you don't mind." He waited for her to respond before continuing "I have a few more members to recruit. If you and Sakura would meet me at team seven's training grounds in about twenty minutes I have something to show all of you." With that the figure and fox were gone.
Tsunede just sat there for a few moments. 'This man gave me the same feeling that the other two did the other night. What is going on?' she thought before calling for Sakura and finishing some of the growing mountain of paper work that kept building up while she waited for her apprentice to show up.
Meanwhile across town the figure and fox showed up in front of the rest of the rookie nine and team Gai one at a time and had small battles to test their strength before telling them to assemble at the training grounds. Twenty minutes passed fast and soon everyone was gathered in the training grounds except the 'Fox Ninja'.
"Hokage-sama, what is going on?" Sakura asked looking at all of the friends gathered in the clearing.
"I believe I can answer that question, Sakura." Came a male voice just behind her.
Sakura out of reflexes spun around and using her spin and her inhuman strength sent a shattering punch at the owner of the voice. Much to the surprise of everyone who knew of Sakura's strength the figure standing behind her caught the fist as though it had no effort behind it. The arm holding Sakura's fist came out of the billowing sleeves of a cloak and hood belonging to none other than the 'fox ninja' himself.
Every one had changed in some way or another. Kiba had ditched his fur lined jacket and replaced it with black leather one still wearing his family armor underneath. Akamaru had also changed. He was now the size of a small horse.
Shino was now wearing an olive green hooded jacket, and a black high collared button down shirt. He was now taller and was still sporting his usual black sunglasses.
Hinata had also grown. Before she was a good looking young lady but now she was a very sexy woman, despite her attempts to hide it. Gone was the short hair and now there was a long flowing mane of deep purplish hair reaching mid-back. She was now wearing a tan and dark lavender jacket covering a chainmesh shirt.
Choji was almost a perfect replica of his father in Akamichi battle gear. Red clothes underneath steel plating showed that he was no longer as obese as he was a genin. He now appeared more muscular.
Shikamaru didn't change much except for his height. But then what do you expect from the worlds laziest ninja. Ino however made a change or two. She no longer wore the bandages allowing a lot of tanned skin to show between the gaps of her purple skirt and shirt.
Neji's change was more in the way that he acted rather than how he looked. He no longer seemed to be the eternal pessimist. His hair was now even longer and he had changed his outfit to the traditional Hyuuga fighting robes.
Lee now looked like a very much younger version of his sensei Might Guy. From the green spandex body suits to the bowl haircuts and the unruly eyebrows they are perfect twins in different times.
Tenten no longer carried the leg holsters for her scrolls. She now had one larger one strapped across her back as her chestnut hair was still up in its customary twin buns.
"You too have gotten better Sakura; however, even with the progress all of you have made it will not be enough to survive the fight that is coming. The voice came again from the cloak with amusement in his voice.
"I know who each of you are but I think it's a little unfair that y'all don't know who I am"
like it hate it let me know. my first naruto fic but far from my first story. let me know if you want me to continue. oh and if your a reader from loss and power know that im trying my hardest to get the next chapter out but i have hit a dead end. i know where i want to go i just can't think of a coheasive way to get there. anyway R&R