A cloaked figure ran swiftly through the gates to a temple, the open night air surrounding him and stabbing at him as the figure narrowly dodged a barrage of Kunai and Shuriken. The cloaked figure turned around at a 180 degree angle and performed a short series of complex hand signs, most particularly the last sign to finish the technique, the man directed the flow of the energy emitted into an artifact concealed in his chest.
With a powerful burst of bright crimson chakra Countless shuriken and Kunai composed of flame killed most of the cloaked figure's pursuers immediately, and if any survived they were on the edge of death anyway.
"Discretion was never part of the mission after the objective had been achieved after all…"
The cloaked figure said to himself in a sinister tone, smiling as countless lifeless bodies of priests and shinobi alike filled the his line of vision as he turned his head, the Fire temple burning to the ground. The act itself seemed so symbolic and proper, as if to challenge to great five nations themselves.
"Fools, you blindly protect something that does not belong in the hands of shinobi, or any human being for that matter."
The cloaked figure said aloud as he pulled something from within his cloak. The cloaked figure grasped it in his hand and inspecting it thoroughly as if it were a work of art.
"Evil Demon! Return the Sacred Flame right now!"
A young man shouted from the cloaked figure's right, not bothering to do more than shift his neck in the direction of the voice's source. A boy who was no older than sixteen held a sword in his hand in a fierce attacking stance, yet had terrible burns and appeared to have problems standing and even breathing.
"Boy, you are the only survivor, are you not? You are lucky to be alive. Do not rush toward death."
The cloaked figure replied, taking further time to inspect his newfound treasure. The artifact referred to as the sacred flame was a glowing blue orb, lines of fiery red running around the circumference and spiraling in a colorful pattern of different shades of orange, red, and yellow.
"You killed all my friends, family, and even the girl I love! How could I forgive myself if I just allowed you to walk away!?"
The boy shouted. The boy's courage and sense of pride intrigued the cloaked figure.
"Admirable words boy. But you were foolish to not walk away and now you are left with two options. Would you like to grow strong like me? Or would you like to die like the rest of my victims today?"
The cloaked figure said, a large sword manifesting instantly in his hand. The blade appeared mere inches from the boy's neck in a threatening manner. The boy's body immediately went limp as he dropped his sword to the ground in an automatic reaction to the terror he was experiencing, tears rolling down his face.
"I must apologize. I lied when I said you had two options."
A blonde haired boy kept shifting his body around, his eyes snapping open as the world rushed over him like a raging waterfall, bringing him back from his dream to reality. The boy stood up and walked over to his makeshift kitchen, heating up some water for instant noodles and green tea. If anything Caffeine would shift the boy's energies and allow him to focus on the task at hand.
"Hey Naruto hurry up and get ready. I received an order from the leaf to investigate a village on our way home."
A voice said to the boy referred to as Naruto's right-hand side. Naruto turned to face his master, Jiraiya of the Legendary Sanin who appeared already dressed and very much awake.
No more than ten minutes later Naruto and Jiraiya were packed up and ready to depart.
"Alright let's not waste any more time, keep up with me okay?"
Jiraiya asked, Naruto nodding his head in acknowledgment before they both vanished in bursts of speed.
Naruto and Jiraiya stood before a pile of ashes and corpses everywhere. This was the scene of a massacre, pure carnage and destruction.
"Master Jiraiya I know this may sound strange but this doesn't look like the work of other Ninja."
Naruto said to Jiraiya, waiting for his master's reply.
"Well whether it was the work of ninja or a demon we need answers. Let's split up and search for survivors."
Jiraiya replied, still cautious as if an enemy could appear at any given moment of vulnerability.
Naruto nodded his head, acknowledging his masters words before using his shadow clone technique to form a total of twelve Narutos, splitting up in every direction in search of any signs of life.
Jiraiya hadn't found one survivor yet but upon inspecting the corpses just as Tsunade had said in the letter were the bodies of multiple ANBU and Chunin level Leaf Ninja. According to Tsunade's report the mission details were classified and they were only to report back what information they could gather along the way back to the village.
"Whoever attacked this temple was after something valuable and dangerous… The fire technique that burned this place to the ground had to be a AA or S rank level Ninjutsu meaning the enemy could very well be a Missing Ninja who left his village to become a criminal or even a Ninja our intelligence has no record of…"
Jiraiya noted, writing down the details of his findings into a scroll, taking one last look around before meeting back up with his student to compare his own findings. After finding nothing else worthy of note Jiraiya headed back in Naruto's direction.
Two men stood atop a hill gazing down at Naruto and Jiraiya searching through the ruins of the Fire Temple.
"Well brother we were ordered to clean up weren't we?"
One man said to the other, both were about 5'10" and dressed in identical black cloaks. The actual clothing and facial features of the two men remained hidden under their black, heavy travelling cloaks.
"We were brother. Let's begin the sweeping operation."
The other man said, a sinister smile on his face as he grasped the hilt to his weapon, a bloodthirsty aura emitting from his body.
"What's wrong Naruto?"
Jiraiya asked, taking a bite of a small rice cake as he and Naruto walked along a dirt path, the sun out brightly today and the sky a pure shade of azure.
"I can't explain it but I feel like something bad is about to happen. We need to keep on our toes Master Jiraiya."
Naruto said, looking around his surroundings cautiously. Jiraiya simply nodded his head and trusted his student's intuition. During their travels during his training Naruto showed a surprisingly exceptional sense of intuition… No it was more than intuition… Jiraiya believed it was the Senju Clan blood that ran through Naruto's veins that he inherited from his Father.
The Senju were a special Ninja clan who's Ninjutsu involved a Kekei Genkai that blended Earth and Water together to create the "Wood Element" Ninjutsu. As even children of this day and age know the First Hokage himself was a member of this Senju Clan and was a prodigy and embodiment of his clan's extraordinary power and ability, and the Fourth Hokage who was Naruto's father also was a part of this powerful clan. Before Jiraiya knew it he swore Naruto could see a few moments into the future.
"Jiraiya Sensei…"
Naruto said simply, pulling out a sheathed sword from within his belongings and setting them on the ground. Naruto then immediately unsheathed his weapon in just enough time to block an oncoming attack from who appeared to be an assassin, not bearing any identification to even recognize them as a missing Ninja.
"Who are you? What do you want with me and my master?"
Naruto said, matching the strength of his enemy as he held his ground and kept actively deflecting and redirecting the strikes of his opponent.
"I refuse. What good would that information be to you anyway? Seeing how you're about to be a lifeless corpse!"
The Assassin replied, swinging his sword from various diagonal angles in order to sever the limbs of his target. This maneuver was a quick, ruthless way to immobilize and fatally wound your opponent at the same time. However with his sword training Naruto was able to parry each blow, using what his master taught him Naruto began to analyze and memorize his opponents attack pattern looking for an opening…
If even one moment of vulnerability presented itself Naruto could end this battle with a single blow. Naruto jumped backward just in time to dodge a powerful overhand swing of his opponent's sword, leaving a small fissure in the ground at the point of impact.
Now!
Naruto thought to himself as he stabbed the Assassin straight through the torso, impaling him through the heart like a hot knife through butter and killing him immediately.
"You killed brother! Bastard, I'll send you to hell with my own two hands!"
The other Assassin said, dropping his attention from Jiraiya to his brothers killer and charging at him with the intent to kill. The Assassin was stopped in his tracks and fell hard to the ground, his ankles strapped together tightly with strips of rope, leather and stone as weight.
"I'm your opponent. Not my student, one of the first rules to Assassination is to be aware of your surroundings. You're a failure as an Assassin and as a man. However failure or not you'll make a good source of information for our ANBU's Interrogation Squad."
Jiraiya said, making sure to secure his prisoner and having him bite down on a strip of wood that's secured around his neck to insure he does not kill himself while in captivity or transport.
Two Days Later…
Naruto and Jiraiya arrived at Konoha Village around 3 AM and because it was so late had to go through this annoying and time-consuming screening at the check point to verify their identities before they were allowed to enter. Due to the lateness of their arrival there was no time for Naruto to meet up with any of his friends so he and Jiraiya immediately went to the Hokage Tower to turn in their report to Tsunade. After ten to fifteen minutes of travel through the nostalgic streets of their hometown, Naruto and Jiraiya stood in front of Tsunade's office door, knocked and awaited a reply. After a few minutes of silence Jiraiya merely smiled and shook his head as he slid the door open enough to peek in Tsunade fast asleep on her desk.
"We'll turn in the report tomorrow morning so don't sleep in all day. Go back to your house and settle in for the night and I'll talk to you tomorrow."
Jiraiya said, grinning as he vanished in a cloud of smoke.
Naruto took a deep breath as he unlocked his door to his old apartment. Naruto had not lived here in nearly four years and expected his abandoned home to be covered in excessive amounts of cobwebs and dust by now. As Naruto was fumbling with his key half asleep in the dark he realized as strange as it was his door was left unlocked. Upon entering Naruto was astonished to find that not only did somebody clean his home it appeared spotless as if somebody had spent an entire day working on it. Naruto was if anything grateful and intended to find and thank the person responsible for this act of kindness but it was late, he was tired and he could figure everything out the next morning.
TO BE CONTINUED…