Naruto Fanfiction
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto
Pairings: Naruto x Sakura
Author: Yurusane
Pre-readers: TokehGecko and MehPhisto
Author's Note: I'm in league with TokehGecko and MehPhisto in writing NaruSaku fics, though we're all lazy... so expect slowness. Tenbatsu means Divine Punishment; wrath of God. There will be a few OCs in this one, but I'll try not to rush too much... Btw, this is definitely AU!!!
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Tenbatsu
- Prologue
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She read the list again as she was hurriedly making her way through the forests surrounding Waterfall Village. Her mission was simple, locate the three legendary bounty hunters and ask for information.
Two of the legendary Bounty Hunters were old acquaintances of Jiraiya, so the location of the famous meeting place of all bounty hunters in the world had to be correct. In the forests of the Waterfall Village lies a small bar, led by four people.
She sighed as she went over the names.
Keiyo Jinkou – Bestowing Emperor.
Sanshuu Karite – Assembling Reaper
Shikei Hanketsu – Death Sentence
All three had pretty intimidating names and quite the reputation, even taking down S-ranked Criminals some of the ANBU of every Country were still even hunting down.
Jiraiya's information gathering told them that the bar they were headed to would probably be filled with Bounty Hunters, ex-Shinobis, most of those even ex-hunter-nins. And if she poker her head inside, about 20 percent of the entire bar would know who she was within seconds.
The finest collection of Information Gatherers assembled in this bar as well. The bar would be filled with people who knew all Shinobi of every Country. Most of the time, or so Jiraiya had written down.
Now, she was just a Chuunin, close to becoming Jounin and this mission was A-ranked, so she wasn't alone. Shadowing her a few miles behind her was Mitarashi Anko, one of Konoha's finest Hunter-nins.
The two of them would try and confront one of these legendary bounty hunters and try to do so without having to fight. This was a non-combat mission, after all. Simple information gathering.
She squinted her eyes and saw a small bar entrapped by thick trees. Letting her eyes scan over the place, she came to the conclusion that there was Genjutsu placed on the bar. Looking through the Genjutsu, she noticed only one entrance, which was also the exit.
Landing down a few feet in front of the bar, she saw two men standing at the entrance.
"What business do you have, Konoha Chuunin?" One of them said. She estimated his age around 25, the other probably 30. She herself was 24.
"Ah, my name is Haruno Sakura, and I am looking for three people." Sakura greeted and explained. "Perhaps you can help me?"
The oldest of the duo frowned. "Three people, huh? Let me guess..." He rolled his eyes. "Sorry, not one of those three are in at the moment. They don't travel together either, so seeing them together is nigh impossible." He sighed. "Hey you! We can sense you, you know!" He raised his voice just a little bit, so that Anko, hidden in the shadows of a tree would just hear it.
Sakura grimaced as Anko appeared behind her. "So this is just a waste of time, huh?" The purple-haired woman said and sighed at the same time. "Man, I really wanted to see those old legendary geezers."
The youngest of the guards frowned. "They're not old! One of them is even younger than me!"
The older groaned and slapped the younger one on the back. "You idiot! You just gave them information!" He turned towards the two Kunoichis as another guard stepped outside.
"Haruno Sakura and Mitarashi Anko. Konoha Chuunin and Special Jounin, recently revealed to us as a Hunter-nin as well. Captain of an ANBU Squad of Hunter-nins even." The newcomer said. "My name is Kanpeki Shusaisha, welcome to Tenbatsu."
Both Anko and Sakura frowned. "I assume all of you use codenames?"
His names were that of 'Short Temper' and 'Chairman' Kanpeki grinned. "Correct. We're all pretty much... not liked in the places where we grew up in."
Anko nodded her head. "I understand now why you've opened this bar."
Kanpeki scratched his head. "Actually, it was not I. It was one of those three you're looking for. The previous bar got hit by many people who disliked our little hunting business and we sort of stopped for a while. That was, until the youngest of the Legendary Three decided to gather the other two Legendary Bounty Hunters and create a new... bar, so to say."
Suddenly, Anko and Sakura both turned around and saw a man land close to them.
Kanpeki chuckled. "Welcome back... Sanshuu Karite."
Sakura's eyes widened, while Anko grinned. This man was one of the Legendary Three!
He wore a black Mask. A completely black mask. No eye holes, nose holes or mouth hole. He was also dressed in complete black. "Whatever, old man." Definitely a male voice.
The two Konoha Kunoichis saw him grab a scroll out of thin air and do a few complicated seals. "Kuchiyose." He whispered. From out of the smoke, a body landed on the ground.
"This one's called Suigetsu... I killed him a few hours ago and he's pretty much... still whole. I've come to collect." Karite mumbled as he held his right hand out. Sakura let out a surprised gasp in seeing the deceased Suigetsu.
Kanpeki shook his head. "Come inside. All of you. We're not naturally hostile, and I think I can trust you two from Konoha." He then turned to Karite, who had started following him towards the entrance. "Uhm, do you mind bringing the body with you?" The reply given to him was an agitated groan. "Hurry up already or you can forget the money!"
Karite shook his head. "Damn, I should kill you for talking to me like that, Shusaisha-oji-san." He annoyingly let out as he grabbed the dead Suigetsu by his hair and dragged him inside, following after Sakura and Anko. The two guards remained outside and simply shook their heads.
Once inside, Sakura was surprised to see so many people. So many who glared at them and immediately not liked their presence. "Well, so much for a welcome." Anko mumbled beside her.
"I trust Jiraiya to have spilled the beans to you." Kanpeki let out, earning two nods.
Karite frowned behind his mask, but no one saw. "That old man did, huh? I should kill him for that, if he-" He cut himself short. "Never mind. This one's worth a lot, Shusaisha-oji-san."
Suddenly, a bounty hunter walked up to Karite and tapped him on the shoulder. "Yo, Sanshuu-sama! Welcome back! I wonder who's got the bigger one today!"
Karite's black mask turned towards the hunter and it was simply eerie to see a mask like that turning towards someone. "I'm sure no one will outdo me today. This guy even carried that huge sword from Momochi Zabuza." Another scroll and summoning later and the large sword was on the ground before him. "That should be worth a lot of money as well!"
Sakura recognised the sword immediately.
"Ah, so it's true." Kanpeki suddenly spoke up. "You witnessed Momochi Zabuza's death."
Anko glared. "How come you people know so much?"
Kanpeki simply shrugged. "This place is a gathering for both Bounty Hunters and Information Gatherers. Jiraiya had founded the previous bar and he was by far the best Information Gatherer I know. He told us a lot about Konoha."
"He betrayed us?" Sakura let out.
"Don't answer that." Karite responded. "Just give me the damn money already."
"Patience, damn it!" Kanpeki yelled. "No, he never betrayed the Leaf. We will always be neutral. We're not even a Country, so what's there to fear?"
"Apparently," Anko began. "This guy just killed an S-ranked Criminal, which means he's stronger than that! If the other two Legendary Hunters are as strong as him, this little organisation is pretty dangerous to me."
Kanpeki and Karite and... the entire bar chuckled. "My, my, looks like we're being underestimated." Karite let out. "I killed this pathetic guy in seconds. We're Hunters for a reason. We don't play, we kill and get a lot of money for it. We have to be strong if we want the big money."
Sakura swallowed nervously. 'If what he says is true, me and Anko are no match for him. Please, Anko... realise this much!!'
Anko simply grinned at the confident black wearing hunter before her. "That so? Then tell me why there are still so many criminals left out there?"
Karite shrugged. "That's easy. Without criminals, we don't make money. What's the fun in eradicating them all?"
Anko didn't have a response to that one. 'Damn, he's right on that one...'
Suddenly, the entrance door opened to reveal two new Hunters. One dressed in complete white, with a complete white mask, similar to Karite's mask, and the other was dressed in complete dark red, also with the same mask as Karite, only in dark red.
"Whoa, that's that Water User Suigetsu, huh, Karite-dono?" The white one said, after taking a look at the body on the ground. "You did well, today." The female did the same as Karite did before and summoned a dead body from a scroll. "This one's Danzou... A weak old man. But I'd still say you beat me with yours." She noticed something else on the ground. "Damn, you even have that sword of his!"
Karite simply chuckled. "Nice try, Keiyo-dono."
Anko's eyes widened at the dead corpse in front of her. 'This woman killed Danzou!! I thought that old man would never be found after running from Konoha! These guys are good... real good.'
The red-cloaked man kept silent as he stared at the two Kunoichis from Konoha. "Who are they?" Sakura and Anko could both tell he was the youngest from the tone of his voice. "Shusaisha-oji-san, you let Konoha Shinobis in?"
Sakura and Anko both saw sudden fear appear on the Chairman's face. "Ah, they can be trusted, I can tell!"
The youngest of the Legendary Three, shook his head. Sakura now knew the black one was Karite Sanshuu, the white one was Keiyo Jinkou, so if this red one was also one of the Legendary Three, he had to be Shikei Hanketsu. "I suppose that's true." Shikei let out.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" Karite suddenly yelled towards Shikei. "Shikei-dono!"
Sakura and Anko watched as Shikei pulled his mask off. "These two can be trusted, Karite-dono, Keiyo-dono. Although I have no idea what the hell they are doing here..."
Sakura and Anko were speechless as they saw the true appearance of Shikei Hanketsu.
Kanpeki chuckled, while Keiyo and Karite dropped their heads and shook them.
"N-Naruto...?" Sakura uttered. Anko simply nodded her head dumbly.
There, with long blonde bangs hovering above his eyes, shadowing them and making his azure eyes stand out more, and long blonde locks of hair running down his neck, stood Uzumaki Naruto, dressed in complete dark red. "Man... I never imagined seeing you here." he said as he ruffled his own hair.
---
"Naruto!!" Sakura, finally released from her stupor, hugger the blonde Shinobi. All the bounty hunters looked at Naruto, while Naruto tried not to look embarrassed by being hugged in front of so many people.
"Uh, Sakura? I... kind of have a reputation to uphold here... So could you, perhaps, not hug me?" He whispered in Sakura's right ear.
Sakura frowned, but released Naruto nonetheless. "Ah, sure, Naruto..." She let out surprised. "Mind telling me where the hell you have been all these years?!" She suddenly yelled.
Suddenly, Killer Intent oozed out of Naruto's body and froze everybody inside. "I will not tolerate anyone screaming at me..." He let out threateningly. "We will talk in private." He then grabbed Sakura and Anko by their shoulders.
"Wait, Shikei-sama!" Kanpeki spoke. "Who was it, you killed today?"
Naruto turned around and gave him a big grin. He grabbed a scroll and performed the same Jutsu Karite and Keiyo performed before. "Orochimaru's reincarnation... Yakushi Kabuto and... The apparently 'immortal' Uchiha Madara..." Kanpeki's eyes almost fell out of his head as he saw the two bodies on the ground before him.
"Damn! You're gonna be so drunk tonight!"
"Hell yeah I'm gonna be." Naruto snickered, before grabbing the two shell-shocked Kunoichi by their shoulders again and poofing out of existence..
Karite in the meantime, glared daggers at the two bodies. "Damn that Shikei-dono!! Finally I catch someone with a big name, and then he does this crap to me!!"
Keiyo simply giggled.
---
Naruto, Sakura and Anko appeared inside of an Office. "Where... are we?"
Naruto chuckled. "We're at a friend's place. Now, mind explaining to me what you were doing in the Tenbatsu? It's no place for you to be, it's too dangerous. You're lucky Kanpeki didn't explode on you two and killed you before I was there!"
"That old man?" Anko snorted.
Naruto frowned at Anko and folded his arms. "That old man fought on equal grounds with Jiraiya, you know. Age doesn't say much in the Shinobi world... well, except when you reach that certain age."
"What are you doing, Naruto?" Sakura asked in between. "I mean, I haven't seen you for years!"
Naruto sighed. "Mind answering my question first?"
"Ah! We're looking for Yakushi Kabuto, but... you already killed him, so..." Sakura didn't know what to say. "He knew something regarding Sasuke-kun's Curse Seal, and the only option left for us to find that traitor was through the Tenbatsu."
Naruto snorted. "Too bad I killed him... What's wrong with Sasuke's Curse Seal?"
"The same as with me..." Anko suddenly said. "We're inheriting Juugo's characteristics now that he's dead."
Naruto scratched the back of his head nervously. "Yeah, that was Keiyo-dono... Hehe..." He then turned serious again. "So both you and that Sharingan bastard occasionally go on Killing Sprees, huh?"
Anko nodded her head. "Unless we can get stopped. I can be stopped, but there are not many people who can stop Sasuke when he's like that."
Naruto put a finger on his chin as he considered that. "Who CAN stop that Uchiha when he's in one of those moods?"
Sakura smiled gently. "Rock Lee... Hyuga Neji, Nara Shikamaru, Aburame Shino and... apparently, Karin, before she died..."
Naruto scratched the back of his head again. "Oh... Sorry, that's my bad. So Tsunade herself can't handle Sasuke either, huh? To think Shino, Shikamaru, Lee and Neji have grown so strong..." He wondered out loud. "That Karin woman didn't even make me a lot of money either..." He mumbled to the side for no one to hear.
"You guys... You really killed a lot of people, huh?" Anko asked.
"Well... Keiyo-dono and Karite-dono really want to go after Sasuke, because there's a huge bounty on his head, you know?" Naruto tilted his head. "But I convinced them to let him be. I don't know how strong that bastard's become, so I don't know of those two can handle him... but he's finally back in Konoha, right?"
Sakura nodded her head. "Why don't YOU come back, Naruto?"
Naruto's gaze fell to the ground. "I can't... Ever since Jiraiya died... Everything I never knew about my past suddenly came to me. I respected Jiraiya, and this is what he built when he was not around. It got destroyed several years ago and I knew I had to fix it for the old man. I rounded up Keiyo-dono and Karite-dono and even had to kick their asses to convince them to try again. Those two are really strong, by the way..."
"Naruto..."
"I can't come back, Sakura. I have obligations. As long as those still exist, I can't come back..." Naruto explained. 'And besides, shouldn't you be happy your precious Sasuke-kun is back in Konoha?' He added inwardly.
Truth be told, the Uchiha's return was also one of the biggest reasons he left Konoha to start gathering bounty hunters and creating the bar Tenbatsu. Sakura would no doubt be running into the Sharingan Bastard's arms and everyone in the Village would be happy to have the prodigy back in the Village.
They had finally started noticing him, the demon child, but with Sasuke back, chances were near non-existent for him to become well-respected throughout his country.
He had to leave, to avoid disappointment. Disappointment for not becoming the greatest Hokage and... disappointment in seeing Sakura in Sasuke's arms.
Besides, he had Yuugao now. Or rather, Keiyo Jinkou. Kind of, anyway. Nothing had happened yet between them... But they were really close in these last few months.
He took her with him from Konoha. She was listed as a Missing-nin, which Naruto was as well. She already was a Legendary Bounty Hunter along with Karite back in the old days, but when Jiraiya died and the previous bar had been destroyed, Yuugao returned to Konoha to fulfil her role as ANBU Captain.
Naruto convinced her to try again, after he found out she was one of the Legendary Two Bounty Hunters. Back then, there were only two, Naruto had become the Third one about three years ago.
"Naruto, Tsunade-shishou misses you!! Everyone misses you! I miss you!" Sakura let out.
"She's right, brat." Anko voiced. "Konoha isn't the same without your loudness and-" She cut herself off as her eyes widened. "I ... Must ... Kill!!!"
Sakura's eyes widened as Anko was going to freak out into Kill Mode again, but was astounded to see her fall on her knees and look up at Naruto with fear in her eyes. This had never happened before...
"Wh-what did you do?" Sakura asked.
Naruto frowned and shrugged at the same time. "Nothing."
Suddenly, the door of the office opened and the trio turned to see who was coming in.
They were all greeted by a sigh. "Uzumaki, I don't have time for this... What are you doing in my office?"
"Ah, we were just about to leave, Kazekage-dono!" Naruto said with a grin as he looked at Gaara. "We'll be seeing you!" he said as he teleported Sakura and Anko towards another place.
Seconds later, they found themselves in a house. Looking outside, Sakura realized they were still in the Wind Country. Anko was still on her knees, looking at Naruto with fear.
"This has never happened before..." Sakura pondered. "When she loses control, she even gives Sasuke a hard time... But you... subdued it in less than a second."
Naruto smiled. "I guess the women just can't stand my charms, huh?"
Anko snapped out of it and rose to her feet. "Damn, you've got one serious strong presence..." She let out tiredly. "What have you done to get yourself so... powerful?"
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"When you get trapped in one of those 'Juugo-states', you can sense how powerful someone around you is..." Anko explained. "To avoid not going on a useless killing spree, I suppose. But... Hyuga Neji, who is the most powerful Jounin of the Village... is no match for you."
Sakura's eyes widened. Neji and Sasuke were close to each other, but Neji was definitely stronger than the Uchiha.
And then, Kankurou and Temari walked into the room.
"Damn it, Naruto! What are you doing here!"
So Naruto had teleported to the Sand Siblings House this time...
---
Back in the Tenbatsu.
"So, your mission has failed because of me." Naruto repeated. "But, I wouldn't let it get to you. I mean, as long as Neji or one of those others is around, it shouldn't be a real problem, right?"
Sakura and Anko both snorted. "Well, it means Sasuke can never do a solo-mission." Anko explained.
"That's just too bad for him." Naruto shrugged.
"He can never be left alone." Sakura continued.
"I don't think he is ever alone, right?" Naruto responded, casting a suspicious eye on Sakura, who seemed to act oblivious.
"I suppose, being the only Uchiha left kind of makes you surrounded by people every day. But he can lose it at any minute of the day, so he's constantly being watched." Sakura continued once again.
Naruto suddenly chuckled. "What are you talking about? He's not the only Uchiha left!"
Anko and Sakura both frowned. "What do you mean? He killed Itachi years ago! And we didn't know that there was a Uchiha Madara until you came in here with his dead body, so he's the only one left!" Anko half-yelled.
"I'm afraid, Shikei-sama's right, girls!" Karite suddenly appeared behind Naruto, putting an arm around his shoulder, showing Sakura and Anko that they were good friends. "I fought Uchiha Itachi last week and believe you me, he is anything BUT dead!" Karite was definitely starting to go from tipsy to drunk as he took another sip from his drink.
Naruto nodded his head. "He's right, Sakura, Anko... Even I have fought Itachi, less than a week, actually, but he always manages to run from us."
"But... Sasuke told us he killed Itachi!" Sakura exclaimed.
Keiyo, or Yuugao then walked up to them and held Naruto's hand in hers, which Sakura noticed. "Ah, but you know of the story in which Itachi is labelled as a genius?"
Anko glared. "Of course!"
"Well, he's more than just a genius!" Keiyo let out. "He's surpassed the legendary Uchiha Madara... By being killed by his little brother, he started a Forbidden Jutsu of Revival and Rebirth. He had a plan from the start."
Naruto turned serious and faced Sakura and Anko. "You had better inform Sasuke quickly, before one of us is gonna kill his older brother first."
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TBC
Final Note: Even though I said this was pre-read by TokehGecko and MehPhisto, those two lazy sobs probably didn't do a thing, so there! But it's okay, I'm lazy, too, so I would probably do the same thing to them...
Hope you liked it!