Chapter Sequence Two, Battle Born
"Talking." 'Thoughts.'
XX
The Anchors Stop, Neo Providence, Outer Territories of the Neo Caribbean.
A small group of sailors who were also know as notorious pirates to the Land of Water set around a table in the local pub known as the Anchors Stop having a few drinks and discussing their next move, at the head of the table set a beautiful woman in her late 20s to early 30s nursing a shot of rum and contemplating if the decision she was about to make was the right one for not only herself but her crew.
One of the young men who set at the table then turned to her and spoke, "Thinking about going home again Capt.?"
She turned her head to look at him and spoke in return, "I'm doing more than thinking about it, but I don't know if it would be worth it in the long run?"
The young man nodded his head in understanding as they all had similar thoughts and then one of them spoke his mind, "I know what you mean but it's been a couple of years now and they do believe that we are for the lack of a better word Capt. Dead thankfully, but then if we go back that illusion of us being dead and gone will be gone instead and they'll just start hunting us down again."
A another member of the crew who was sitting at the table then spoke his mind, "Maybe and I'm just saying... Maybe we should start hunting them instead, after all that's what he would not let us do in the first place when he sold us out to those bastards!"
They all remembered that particular day all too well as they had watched so many of their friends being cut down trying to escape, the woman who was called the Captain quickly downed her shot of rum and was about to speak to them when a young member of the crew came running in and handed her a newspaper with a smile upon his face, "Capt. Morgan, Capt. Morgan you have got to read this!"
Morgan took the newspaper from him and began to read the headline, every single member of her crew watched her eyes widen as she put it flat on the table for them all to read.
Land of Snow liberated renamed Land of Spring by rightful ruler.
Everyone was in shock at reading this, the young man who'd spoken earlier then said, "By Neptune's beard she's alive, and she had help killing that son of the bitch."
Another member of the crew then read the article for himself and then said, "It says here he was killed by some young kid named Naruto Uzumaki of the Hidden Leaf Village of Konoha in Fire Country."
Another member of the crew at the table then said, "Wait are you saying he's an Uzumaki, but I thought they had been all wiped out by the Water government thanks to The Purge... Do you think he's related to her?"
Morgan was also now very curious about this young man, "I don't know gentleman but if we do meet him out there, I want to thank him personal!"
All of the young man at the table felt a bit of jealousy towards this young man but also a strong sense of respect towards him as well.
Morgan then let out a sigh of joy realizing that her young niece was very much alive and had help in taking down her corrupt uncle freeing their homeland from this oppression, she then looked at her crew and spoke, "How long will it take to prepare the Frozen Queen for sailing?"
The young man who had spoken first who went by the name of Ken then began thinking over what he knew of the ship's condition and what it still needed and then spoke to his captain, "She still needs some minor hole repairs to be totally seaworthy and ready for combat just in case so I would say about 2 to 3 days and then we can sail Capt."
Morgan smiled and then said, "Good that give us enough time to get the ship truly ready for this and check everything, I want to be absolutely sure that we make it back home in one piece, but I also agree that we need to be able to fight as well, now get started."
Everyone nodded their heads and got to work immediately, Morgan could only smile as she then thought to herself, 'I'll see you again soon my little niece and if these bloody Water bastards get in my way I'll show them just how powerful the Snow Lord of the sea really is!'
XX
Cherry Blossom restaurant Hidden Leaf Village of Konoka, Land of Fire.
Akima the daughter of the Fourth Hokage was still trying to come to grips with what she had learned a few days ago about the person her aunt had told her to stay away from and who had in fact been her half brother all this time, and because of her own actions she had quite possibly just made him her enemy for life because of the corrupted view she had been fed her entire short life about him.
She also had to come to grips with the fact that her grandfather the legendary Toad Sage himself had had a hand in his suffering as well and was now very curious to learn everything she could about him, to this end she was shocked to see her brother's former pink haired teammate walking into the restaurant she had been eating at this day.
The two of them instantly locked eyes almost immediately as Sakura walked over to her table and set down right beside her and asked, "How are you doing Akima?"
Akima found it hard to respond to her but ultimately found the courage and resolve to do just that, "How do I feel, that is a good question you asked me Sakura... Because I honestly do not know the answer to that one, not after what I have done."
"So what did you do?" She asked of her old friend both out of curiosity and concern.
Akima could only let out a laugh as she then said, "I was the one who led the charge and eventual banishment of your teammate Naruto after he woke up from his coma, but I did not know what I have done!"
Sakura was now truly surprised by this statement, "But I thought he ran away?"
"No Sakura, he ran because of the banishment order." She said with a bit of sorrow in her voice.
"Why would you do that to him Akima, I mean I know he's a bit obnoxious at times?" Sakura said.
"Because, I thought I was avenging my father... Only to discover I had banished my own half brother in the process and didn't even know what he had gone through until it was all over." she said.
It was at this moment that Sakura's eyes went wide with realization about what she had seen that day when her former teammate had assaulted their sensei, "It can't be true? Sensei would never knowingly let someone die,"
"Are you talking about Kakashi Hatake?" Akima asked her old friend with a bit of curiosity now.
"Yeah that's him all right, why do you ask?"
"Sakura, he is the only survivor from my father's team."
Sakura was still trying to process everything she had learned and felt she needed more information, "Are you sure that Naruto is your half-brother? Because this all just seems a little too coincidental if you ask me."
"He is my half brother Sakura, and I heard it right from my grandfather when Lady Tsunade confronted him about the memory seal on my brothers back and what other implications this would have on all of us... And that's not all Sakura, both my brother and grandfather admitted that his mother had been murdered by someone either inside the village or from outside it's very walls with someone conspiring against the village and that no one has done anything about it."
Upon hearing this Sakura's eyes went wide realizing what she had heard her old teammate say, "Akima the day he confronted our Sensei and left he accused Kakashi Sensei of letting it happened in the first place and from the look on Kakashi's face it wasn't a lie at all."
"We need to talk to him and find out what the hell is really going on, I'm going to get my brother back somehow I just hope that he will forgive me for what I have done."
XX
Long Day Dock near the Great Naruto Bridge, Land of Wave.
Naruto felt not only good but totally free walking off the deck of the Blue Sea and onto the dock itself knowing that the ship would be in Port for at least 2 to 3 days as the cargo was both unloaded and a new cargo loaded for its next destination after this which he would be in the Land of Spring, but for the moment he would enjoy his sure leave and use this opportunity to test out his weapons gear and armor that he had made when he was in the Sanctuary Cave.
He walked through the village admiring its beauty as it had clearly recovered from its time with Gato trying to bleed this land dry for his own purposes and was very happy that the old Templer bastard had been killed by Zabuza, but he eventually found the old church had a rather high bell tower with a perch at the top and decided to go climbing as he could get a rather good view of the village and surrounding area of the island much like his ancestors had done during their time.
After taking a leap of faith into a nearby hey been he then took this time to test out his Hidden Blade and Hook Blade to see how well they functioned once more and was delighted with his progress so far.
After a few minutes of testing he then sealed away all the rest of his equipment and weaponry except the Hook and Wrist Blade as to travel lightly and not attract too much attention at the time, after a little while he eventually came up on the old bridge builders home and smiled, but before he could even make a move towards the house he felt a sharp object poke him in the back.
Despite being at the point of a weapon Naruto could only smile as he then said, "It's been a long time Inari."
The young boy in question instantly recognize the voice of this young man, "Naruto?"
Naruto then turned around and pulled down his hood giving the young boy a good look at his face, "Been some time Inari, how have you been?"
The young boy in question dropped his weapon and ran up to the young Assassin and embracing him in a big hug and was very happy to see the young man before him once more, the two of them then heard laughter as they saw an old man with a bottle of alcohol in his hand walking up to them which Naruto could not help but comment on, "You do know it's kind of early to start drinking?"
The older gentleman just shook his head and muttered something about no respect and then respondent, "I'm an old man kid I can do what I want up to a point, besides this is the really good stuff."
The old bridge builder then noticed them both were rolling their eyes at him as he spoke once more and, "Didn't expect to see you here anytime soon with what I heard happened to you all some time ago?"
Naruto then put his hood back on and then turned to face the old drunk and spoke, "Trust me a lot has happened to me recently that you all need to know about, but before I tell you all what happened to me I need to know where she is?"
Tazuna instantly knew that something bad had happened to their young hero and then turned to his grandson, "Go tell your mother to have a good size lunch ready for not only us but two guests as well."
Inari nodded his head and ran off to let his mother know about what was going on and saw his grandfather turned back to the hero and speak, "She's not far from here she set up her own home not too far from the graves and that field of herbs that she gets a good deal of her medicine from."
Naruto nodded his head to the older man and walked off to find her, "Thanks old man I will see you soon."
The old bridge builder could only ponder what was going to be told to them and let his curiosity get the better of him, "What the hell happened to you kid?"
Naruto stopped in his tracks and turned back to look the old man in the eyes and said, "Too much old man, too much... I'll tell you everything over the meal."
XX
Hokage's Tower, Hidden Leaf Village of Konoha, Fire Country.
Jiraiya had just entered the Hokage's office with a bit of trepidation, at his side was none other than the former Sensei of Team Seven Kakashi Hatake who had been able to return to active duty despite his surprising injuries at his former student's hands.
The two of them were uncertain as to what would happen now as they needed the Hokage's assistance in trying to track down young Naruto, the two of them sat in the lobby clearly wondering what was going to happen as the banishment order had been rescinded and a retrieval order had been issued by the Fire Daimyo himself.
Jiraiya was by this time now very concerned and nervous about the coming meeting and looked over to Hatake to gauge his condition only to see him reading one of the old perverts books, but despite this he could still see a slight bit of concern on the younger man's face despite his attempts to hide it.
Kakashi let out a sigh and then put a way his book and into it's pouch and then turned his head to the Toad Sage and spoke, "What do you think is going to happen now?"
Jiraiya had been secretly wondering that himself as his plans to uncover who had murdered Kushina in the first place, all though he had gone along with the orders to seal away Naruto's memories of not only that event but of his mother as well had been his plan and was put into action but now he realizing just how messed up everything had been thanks to his Sensei not trusting him in the first place.
The only question that Jiraiya now had to ask himself was what was going to happen?"
XX
Secret Sound Base 21, Land of Rice.
Orochimaru set down in his throne observing his latest project and progress of his new student one Sasuke Uchiha who was currently practicing his latest moves with a determined streak about him, as the Snake Sage watched his new student's progress he was surprised to see one of his special informants walking into the room to deliver a report.
Orochimaru motioned for Sasuke to stop what he was doing and come over as he motioned for the young ninja be to give his report, "Lord Orochimaru, as you ordered I have been keeping my spies busy in the Hidden Leaf ever since the retrieval mission failed for them... However as you requested I have kept a special eye on the Nine Tails host and it is not a good one my Lord."
This caught both Sasuke's and the Snake Sage's attention almost immediately, "What has happened?"
"Upon being returned to the village my Lord he was left in some kind of coma like state for well over a month now my Lord, however five days ago my Lord he finally woke up."
Orochimaru had to admit that he was quite surprised to be sure and motioned for his ninja to continue, "However upon waking he was immediately brought to a Council meeting where he was forcibly banished from the village due to his failure to bring in master Uchiha here."
Sasuke was honestly surprised by his old villages actions in all honesty, Orochimaru was also surprised by what he had recently found out and listened even more intently than before as his ninja continued to speak, "However it was during this time that everyone learned there was some kind of memory seal on the young man's back sealing up his memories and also covering up the fact that his mother had been murdered when he was six years old... He also confronted that your former sensei master Uchiha knew about this issue and managed to break the man's arm as well as his nose in the process and accused him of letting her die, he then after this disappeared from the village and has not been seen since... That was five days ago my Lord."
Everything the informant had just told them was a serious shock to them as it brought up more questions, Orochimaru looked the man in the eyes and said in a serious tone, "Tell your informants that I want all the information regarding these events as soon as they can safely bring it to my attention... Is that understood?"
"Yes my lord as you command!" The man then bowed his head and left the room to carry out his mission as soon as possible.
Sasuke still could not believe what he had just learned as he turned to his new teacher with a look of shock upon his face, the Snake Sage simply looked him in the eyes and spoke, "It would appear that your former teammate has a dark past very similar to yours my apprentice, and yet I wonder why he had a memory seal upon him and you did not?"
Sasuke was was thinking about the same thing but was wondering what else was being kept from them all and why the loser seem to have such a tendency to attract trouble and yet was growing curious as to what was really going on as he still viewed the blonde as his friend.
XX
Hokage's Tower, The Hidden Leaf Village of Konoha, Fire Country.
Jiraiya had to admit that he was extremely nervous at this time waiting to see his old teammate who was now the Hokage of the village and was in overall command of the operation he had been ordered to oversee, the operation or mission itself was to retrieve Naruto Uzumaki who had been banished not by the Council but also by his granddaughter Akima who had set everything in motion in the first place.
The Fire Lord had made it clear that this young man's retrieval was of the highest priority to not only himself but the country as a whole and its potential allies, another priority handed down from the Fire Lord had been to discover the conspiracy that had taken the life of the young man's mother and also resulted in the order to place the seal on him in the first place as it had not been authorized by the Fire Daimyo.
All he knew for sure is that Tsunade have fought tooth and nail to protect Naruto from the banishment in the first place and was even more shocked by the realization of his mother's death, besides punching him into a wall he knew to tread lightly with his former teammate in this case.
As the two men continued to ponder their current situations one of the many secretaries opened the door and motioned with two men to enter the office, much to their surprise they saw not only the Hokage sitting behind her desk but also one of the village elders who had been the rival of Jiraiya's teacher who went by the name of Danzo and was also known as the leader of the Foundation or as it was more commonly known as the Root division of ANBU special forces.
Danzo then turned his head to look at them with his one good eye sizing them up for the coming debate, Jiraiya and Kakashi had to admit that having to face the older ninja now one of the three main advisors to the Hokage was a bit intimidating to say the least.
Danzo turned his attention back to the Hokage as she then began to start this meeting and began to speak to them, "Good now that you are all here we can begin the meeting... Now as all of you know the Fire Lord has rescinded the banishment order and issued an immediate recall for Naruto, now with that said this operation is of the most importance to not only the villages security but also that of the Land of Fire's!"
Everyone else nodded their heads as she then continued, "Now Jiraiya as you know I am in overall command of this operation and will be able to give you the much needed support either upon request or if it is absolutely needed, and as such you are the primary field commander... Now who is your first choice for your team leader?"
Jiraiya turned to Kakashi, "I've chosen Kakashi here to be the primary squad leader, his knowledge and experience with our target will be invaluable."
Jiraiya could just make out the looks of doubt upon the rooms earlier inhabitants, despite this he then continued to speak, "I would also like to assign when possible your new apprentice to this team as well since she also has a connection with Naruto."
Tsunade nodded her head at this statement then and spoke, "I can understand that however who else would you choose for this team?"
"There are many other candidates that I must consider at this time, anyone who would be sent on this detail must be aware of just who they are going after."
Danzo who had been mostly quiet during the meeting then decided to speak, "And from the way you are talking you have an intimate knowledge of the target do you?"
Jiraiya and Kakashi were both surprised by the statement, "Of coarse I understand him, I made him my apprentice after all."
Danzo rose from his chair to his full height and looked them dead in the eyes as he then spoke in a deadly tone, "And that is where you are wrong, Toad Sage!"
Tsunade then opened a drawer on her desk and pulled out a rather large file with the name of Naruto Uzumaki upon it, the thickness of this file was compared to at least two encyclopedias... The big ones!
Tsunade then put her hand on the file and spoke to them in very simple words so that they would understand her perfectly, "This is Naruto's real personnel file and it contains all of his medical records and his real education information from his time in the Academy as well as working and being taught by you Kakashi, it also contains information about the alterations that the old man made to seal as well as his continued training of the boy up until the date of his death... It also lists what little information there is on the Uzumaki bloodline codenamed Animus and its unique abilities."
The revelations hit the two of them like a ton of bricks, "What does it exactly say in there about his potential level?"
"That he is clearly above the rank of Chunin maybe even low-level Jonin for all we know, one thing is for certain now."
"And that is?" Kakashi asked the older man.
Danzo turned to the copycat and spoke with out any form of respect to him as if he was an insect who could not keep his word let alone his own ideology, "The boy is now an unknown which makes him incredibly dangerous, especially for you two!"
The both of them felt quite insulted by his choice of words, "We still know him better than anyone, and he will not be a danger to us."
Danzo actually smiled at them and let out a sinister like laugh as he then said, "Is that so and do tell me do you really know him at all or do you know the boy the seal created? Because I can tell you they are two completely different animals."
The two of them were at a loss of words as Danzo then continued, "First of all the boy knows that you Jiraiya are responsible for putting the seal on him in the first place despite whatever plan you intend to put into action or for that matter if you were going to use him in some way which if I was him I would be thinking about it very seriously."
Kakashi just know that the old war hawk was right about this and had a very good point about their current target's mindset, but Kakashi also knew that the bad news was just going to keep on coming this day.
And his mental prediction was proven correct as the Hokage then spoke to them once more, "It is because of these reasons that I and Danzo have decided to assign your remaining team member positions, one of them has been drafted into service under the Emergency Personnel Protocol Act which is part of the villages charter to deal with situations of war or a political situation such as this."
The E.P.P.A. had only been used a couple of times and that had been during the last wars that the Leaf had been to fight in, the old pervert let his curiosity get the better of him and asked, "And just who are you going to recruit into the ninja services?"
The look on her face instantly send a concerned feeling to him as she then spoke, "Your granddaughter!"
Both Kakashi and Jiraiya were in absolute shock at what she had just said to them, Jiraiya still could not believe what he had just heard his former teammate say to him, "Please tell me that's a joke Princess?"
She looked him dead in the eyes and spoke, "I'm not joking with you pervert, she is responsible for setting all of this in motion in the first."
"But she is not a trained shinobi Tsunade."
The look on her face only hardened like steel as she stared into his eyes and said, "And I know that you are lying, I am well aware that you have trained her to defend herself and that she is easily a chunin level shinobi... All that she lacks now is the experience that many of our younger soldiers already possess."
Jiraiya actually felt like getting on his Hands and knees and begging his former teammate to reconsider but had a strong feeling that it would not work for him at all came to his mind and he decided to plead his case once more to her, "Please do not do this."
"It is already done Jiraiya, tomorrow she will be informed about my decision in this matter. Your other teammates will also be presenting themselves tomorrow as well."
She then pick up to large folders and then handed them over and spoke once more, "These are you were copies of Naruto's real personnel file however some things have still been blacked out they are still heavily classified, then get out of my sight... You two are dismissed!"
Two of them took their copies of their young targets real personnel file and left the room feeling defeated and wondering what was going to happen from this moment on.
Danzo watched the two men walked out of the room knowing that this was all over and felt a great deal of pity for his young student who would be placed on this team.
XX
The Forest of the Land of Wave.
Naruto had decided to take his time searching for Haku for several reasons, the first reason had been to clear his head after just his short conversation the old drunk realizing just how much had been done to him and his short life and just learned to clear his head a little bit.
The second reason was that in just knew that she was probably already aware of his presence here, as he walked through the woods he then remembered an old song that his mother would occasionally as to when he was younger. She was still among the living and felt that the lyrics of the beginning of the song seemed to sum it up most of his life and in a way Haku's as well.
He then let out a small laugh and shook his head as he recalled the lyrics and began to sing himself in the hopes to provide some form of relief, "Once upon a time I swore I had a heart, long before the world I know tore it all apart... Once upon a time there was apart of me I shared, years before they took away the part of me that cared."
Those last lyrics that he spoke aloud had just reminded him even more of what he had lost so long ago even more, despite the images of his mother he continued sing the next couple of verses knowing that they would despite the pain clear his mind and help him out a little bit more, "I've been a thousand places and shook a million hands, I don't know where I'm going but I know just where I've been... I've flown a million miles and I rode so many more, everyday a castaway, a vagabond... Battle Born."
After the last verse he stopped dead in his tracks and could not help but think just how accurate many of those words really were to him, the irony of it all was that he had started singing so that he would feel better but had to admit that he felt a little bit worse in the long run, but at least some things were returning to normal for him or at least as normal as he was going to get for the time being.
He then did his best to control his emotions and then wiped away tears, he was surprised that he had been crying at all and felt a bit of relief knowing that so much had been taken from him and that so much had yet to fully return to him.
Right at that moment he heard the sounds of footsteps that were directly behind him and heard the voice of a young woman speak, "You song that song with such sorrow and emotion in your voice Naruto, you also look so different from what I remember of you."
He let out a small laugh and turned to face her and then spoke, "It's good to see you too Haku."
She had to admit that this newer look fit him to a T, she then walked up to him still carrying a small basket filled with many herbs to help with healing and then spoke, "It is good to see you to Naruto, but what has happened to you?"
He then rubbed the back of his head and let out a sigh as he then looked her right in the eyes and spoke, "To tell you the truth I don't know where to even begin myself."
She could understand his statement and then notice what direction he had come from and then asked, "You went to see the old drunk first?"
He gave her a true smile and looked her in the eyes as he held out his hand and spoke with warmth and kindness in his voice that he thought would never be there again after what had been done to him, "It's been a while and I didn't know where to look for you, I also asked him to make us all a lunch so I could tell my tale of woe."
"A lunch sounds pretty good and I definitely want to hear about what the hell happened to you."
The two of them walked side by side back towards the house and gauge in simple conversation, "So, what's with the new look?"
"I made most of this stuff I just scavenge the other things here and there in a cave of all places, it's actually kind of a standard like design that my ancestors used use a lot for when they had to their missions."
Haku was curious about just who his ancestors were and why they needed to wear clothes that make them look so dangerous, "You must have some serious badass in your family line."
He just smiled at her and then said, "You have no idea Haku, hell I didn't even know who they were until a couple of days ago myself to tell you the truth."
She was surprised to hear this from him, "What do you mean?"
"When I was six years old Haku I watched my mother being murdered by seven men who had somehow infiltrated our village without detection, they had their own bodyguards to protect them and to intimidate her to doing what they wanted."
"What did she do?"
He gave a small smile then said, "She said if they so much as came within a foot of me she would tear their balls out through their ass."
Haku was quite surprised by that statement and realized that she would definitely get along with his mother, "I'm starting to like her already and I take it that he did not take her warning seriously?"
"Nope... They sent in their bodyguards in to do their dirty work for them, unfortunately they didn't count on the fact that my mother had been training me how to be a Assassin and a Ninja."
"So she died protecting you from them?"
"Yes and no... They came at us and I'm just let my training takeover remembering what she had told me about these kinds of situations, it was something that samurai like to use."
"What is that?"
"No mind! To put it basically do not think because if you think your going to die in the heat of battle, I killed eight of them that day and it still wasn't enough to save her in the end."
Haku understood what he was saying as it was similar to her own training, "What happened next?"
"As soon as they gave her the fatal wounds that would end her life and take her from me they began to advance upon only to be stopped by a man who was wearing a strange mask with only one eye visible." He said to her remembering every detail about that night as best as he could but secretly wished that he could forget it altogether and cursed his photographic memory.
He then began to speak again, "He so angry with them for what they have done and threatened to kill them if they did not leave the very instant, they then disappeared leaving me with her until she passed away thanks to her injuries."
"I'm sorry to hear that."
He turned to face her with a look of true sadness upon his face when she realized that there was more to the story and she had already learned, "But that's not the end Haku, the ANBU soon arrived led by my former sensei who then rendered me unconscious took me away from her... They put a memory seal on me keep everything quiet about what had happened that night, about a month ago the seal finally broke and everything came rushing back to me of what had been done to me."
But before Haku could ask any more questions they've heard the sound of screaming off in the distance, Naruto immediately activated a set of sales on his clothing unsealing all the rest of his weapons and gear and using his free running skills then ran up a nearby tree remembering what his two ancestors had done and what he had also perfected in his own time training in the cave.
Haku was surprised by just how fast he had moved and disappeared into the trees themselves, she then quickly followed in his wake hoping to somehow aid him in what ever was to come.
XX
Bridge Builders House edge of Wave Forest, Land of Waves.
Tazuna the old Bridge Builder of the Land of Wave who had helped lead the charge in freeing his country from the tyranny of Gato now lay upon the ground bleeding from a cut to his head as he watched the six men who had come to his home to take him and his family for whatever reason, he knew however, he knew from the look in their eyes that whatever this reason was it would not be pleasant for any of them.
Four of the men were standing watch over them underneath a large tree while the other two patrolled a nearby area looking for any kind of intruders, the old bridge builder knew that Naruto and the girl were still out there and had probably heard their screaming by now and would probably be coming to help them he just prayed that nothing would happen to them.
The men were all wearing heavy body armor that remind him of what higher range ninja would wear except for the fact that these ones were a dark blood red in color with a strange black cross on their backs with a red interior, Tazuna could instantly tell the these were not the run-of-the-mill mercenaries who dared to call them selves Samurais and wielded their swords like clubs.
No these men were trained in the art of death, what's worse is that one of the four men who was guarding him seemed to be searching for something or someone.
Right then and there Tazuna saw one of the two guards patrolling the outer area be literally pulled into a Bush by a figure in black, within the span of a minute the second guard was also hold in much the same way it was clear to him that they would not be a danger to his family anymore as he suspected they were no longer among the living and secretly think God for sending that crazy kid to him once more.
The four guards had failed to notice the loss of their comrades and were totally unprepared for next attack by the figure in black, without warning a strange spear like object embedded itself in his chest surprising everyone who was present, the strange object had a rope attached to it and when they all looked up to see who might be attacking them and they saw a figure dressed in black with a hood concealing his face from view then fall to the ground with the other end of the rope embedding it into the ground leaving their comrade hanging from the tree as his life ended.
The hooded figure than rushed forward with his arms extended in what appeared to be strange blades attach to his wrists embedding them in their throats, the last survivor then pulled out is set of twin crossbows and began firing at this individual only to watch as this dark Angel of death used his comrades corpse as a shield successfully blocking all of the shots until the crossbows were empty.
As soon as he could no longer fire a shot he saw the strange man dropped the body that had been protecting him not a moment earlier and then through a small throwing knife at him which then embedded itself right between his eyes killing instantly.
Naruto immediately activated one of his wrist blade and walked behind Tazuna and undid his restraints as he then said, "You know you old drunk you have a way of attracting trouble, you know that right?"
Tazuna just couldn't get a break as he then rolled his eyes and begin to help untying his family only to see Haku now running into the field were they all wore and then noticed the look of shock upon her face as she stared at the dead bodies lying around.
She quickly turned to Naruto pointing at the bodies trying to form words as he walked over to the anybody and cut it down to retrieve his weapon from the corpse and noticed the look on her face and spoke to her, "You know who they are, don't you?"
She nodded her head as she looked at the bodies and realized that her fear of running into things people again had come true but felt a bit better knowing that Naruto could so easily dispatched them, "I do you know who they are, they are known as The RED mercenary organization and are generally tasked hunting down Shinobi of any kind and are also known to work for the highest bidder."
Naruto nodded his head as he looked at the bodies himself and then noticed the flash of metal around one of their nicks, he reached down and pulled the object from its dead owner and immediately knew that they were in a serious amount of as he heard the old drunk than say, "So these guys hunt ninjas, that's not good for any of us."
"This is a standard retrieval team consisting of six soldiers who are at least high to mid Chunin level, there's always a sensitive operative with them so they can hunt their targets more easily... The problem is there will be a another team just like this one not too far away acting as a backup just in case something is to go wrong."
Naruto knew that his fighting this day was done as he turned to them and said, "Haku take them to the grave site and I will meet you there after I deal with the other team."
"Are you out of your mind, these are trained killers."
He turned back to look her in the eyes and then spoke, "Trust me I have no intention of dying this day."
XX
R.S.S. Warlock, Ship Yard Harbor Town of Wave, Land of Waves.
The deck of the R.S.S. Warlock was alive with activity as the ships crew moved about frantically tending to their duties as the ship was firmly anchored, on the deck at a small communication station a group of men were eagerly awaiting news of their first retrieval teams current condition.
At this same time a rather regal looking gentleman wearing instead of expensive glasses with a unique looking goatee walked forward as he heard the chatter over the radio, "Still no sign of retrieval team one we are almost at target destination."
"Be advised the targets are still priority."
A reply came over the radio in response, "Understood RED control."
The regal looking gentleman turned to the current commander of the ship and the man who was also in charge of the RED agents who were currently trying to take their target the old Bridge Builder and his family, "I take it from your tone that something has happened?"
"We have lost contact with Retrieval Team One and they are overdue that is all."
"Trust me commander it's never that simple."
Just then they could hear activity over the radio, "We have arrived at destination... It's not good sir they're all dead."
The commander had a rather surprised look upon his face as the communications continued, "Sir I have never seen injuries like this before."
"Stay on the lookout for any hostels... Wait where the hell are the two centuries."
Just then the sounds of fighting and then screaming filled the radio, "Kenny is down, I repeat Kenny is down... Who the hell is this hooded freak."
"Engaged the enemy right this AAHHHHHH."
"Holy shit he just killed the sensitive RED Control."
The commander immediately began to issue orders to the two remaining operatives, "Subdue the hostile target together and continue to give us a description and an understanding of his abilities."
"Acknowledged RED Control."
"Twin formation, let's kill this son of a bitch."
The sounds of walking through the grass could be heard and then the claim of metal upon metal sounded through the radio as one of them spoke again, "Target is wearing a long black trench coat with what appears to be a Nine Tails Fox and an Eagle upon his back and is armed to the teeth with multiple weapons upon his person."
The next sounds that came over the radio word that a blood curdling scream which turned out to be their own agent who had just been cut down and the frantic talking about their only remaining agent, "How the hell did he counter the attack... Why won't you die!"
Just then the sounds of movement also came over the radio and then were followed by the sounds of gurgling and choking as a young voice then spoke, "May you find absolution for your dark deeds in the next life, Requiescat in Pace... And as for the rest of you I will be coming you Templer bastard's!"
With those words said all the lines from the team went dead within a minute leaving the RED commander with a look of shock upon his face as the gentleman turned to him, "Did you send your weakest teams out there to do the job I hired you all for?"
"Those two teams were highly experienced Gato, the second team was low to mid Jonin level opponents equivalent to ninjas."
The fine looking gentleman now known as Gato then spoke, "What is your current plan to deal with this threat commander?"
"Well for one it would be suicide to send anymore of my men into that forest area where this individual clearly as the tactical advantage, I would recommend placing at lease two teams on the top of the warehouse that you are currently using to keep the captured villagers in until you for the money ship to sell them off to the Neo East India Company that is."
Gato nodded his head and then spoke, "I like your plan commander, but I also recommend that it might be a good idea to have the high level prisoners taken as well."
The commander nodded his head and immediately went to work knowing that he was going to need all the help he could get.
Gato then turned to the radio operator, "I would like you to put a bounty on this man."
"We still don't know who it is Sir?"
"Leave that to me just get everything ready."
XX
Cliff Graveyard, Land of Waves.
Tazuna and Haku were waiting patiently for Naruto to return to them hoping that he was all right, just then they saw a figure walking out of the woods and felt a sigh of relief as he emerged, "Just a little harder to beat then the first squad."
Haku and Tazuna as well as his family could not help but roll there eyes at him, just then they heard more noises and noticed several more people from the town of merging from the woods with several of them making like they had seen battle.
Haku immediately rushed over to them and begin treat their injuries as the leader of the group then spoke to the old bridge builder, "They came at us so fast, they killed a good number of people and are imprisoning the rest in the central warehouse."
Tazuna was surprised to hear this, he then spoke, "How did they get here?"
"After the blue sea finished docking two more ships then appeared and attacked the village with those strange mercenaries, but the man who has started all of this goes by the name of Gato."
Every one of them was surprised by this, "But he's dead."
It was Haku who then spoke, "I think I know who it is."
Everyone turned to her as she then said, "This may be his only surviving son, Gato the Third... And he makes his father look like an angel in comparison."
Naruto realized he needed to know more about this enemy, "Haku what can you tell me about them."
She realized where he was going with this but decided to ask a question of the survivor, "You said to ships came in?"
He nodded to her and then spoke once more, "Yes one of them was clearly a high-end transport ship while the other was clearly built for combat and had blood red sales."
"Well that's good at least, a standard ship will only carry six teams on board and its six men to a team and one sensitive to each team."
"36 RED operatives and now they are down to only 24, okay that's good but how do you know so much about them Haku?"
"The Land of Water set them after me and Zabuza a lot, if it wasn't for his Hidden Mist Jutsu we would be dead."
Naruto was surprised to hear this, he then thought up a plan, "it interferes with the sensitives doesn't it."
"Yes, it is how we always escaped and even took out a few of them."
He quickly turned to Tazuna and asked, "How long until nightfall?"
"About 5 to 6 hours why?"
Naruto looked her in the eyes and said, "I need you to teach me the Hidden Mist Jutsu right now."
"You can't possibly learn it in that amount of time."
"Haku I learned how to do the Shadow Clone Jutsu in about two hours and I get the memories back from my clothes when I used to take me I can literally learn things a lot faster thanks to this ability now please teach me how to do this."
XX
G.S.I. Traveler, Wave Harbor, Land of Waves.
The radio operator from the warlock walked on to the deck of the traveler and up to Gato who handed him a sheet of paper which he then read.
Name: Fox Kenway
Alias or moniker: Black Fox
Affiliation: Wanted Pirate
Crime: Murder of innocent civilians and 12 RED operatives
Bounty: 1,000, 000 dollars dead or alive.
The radio operator was surprised by what he read and then looked up to his employer and was about to ask, "these people who dare to defy us must be hunted down and I think this moniker fits him like a glove."
As the sun went down and the operator returned to his post Gato looked out upon his new territory only thinking of what would soon be his only to watch a large amount of Mist wall into the small town.
He knew right then and there that the fight was just about to begin, "Here they come."
End of Chapter Sequence Two
Character Theme Songs:
Naruto and Haku's Theme Battle Born by five finger death Punch
Akima What I've Done by Linkin Park
Story Development Diary 2.
Chapter 2 was a bit of a challenge to write right from the get-go as much of what appears in this chapter was originally planned to take place much later in the story, but as I really spend some time planning out how things were going to happen and giving the first chapter some rewrites I realized that I had to push things forward.
The first thing that I realized this chapter had to have was a great amount of development with the other characters and to even introduce a few who had. In the original story in some form that would do good by them but I also just be a quick part of the story, plus I had to work with everything that was happening back in the hidden leaf which at times was a lot more difficult than I thought it was going to be but ultimately made it much better in my opinion.
The other thing I knew I needed was to finally see him in action, I decided to pay attention to what would work best for him and to give him the message of stealth since this is one major area that the assassins have always been the most dangerous in.
But at the same time I wanted to introduce a new enemy, that is where the RED's come into here as I also introduced a new unique villain for this chapter and that he is here for revenge and unlike his father who just hired in quantity he believes in quality which makes him in some cases even more dangerous.
This chapter went through a lot of thoughts about how it was going to be and for a while I didn't even think is going to be as big as it is, but I also realized I didn't want to rush the next part of the story which is how I began to feel about the end of what was originally part of this chapter and realized I could do those special characters and moments better justice with a new chapter to work with.
I would also like to apologize to anyone who might think this took a long time to get out as I have been dealing with things in my own life and have also been playing a lot of new videogames some of which are also helping me to make new things for the story but also take a good long time to play as well, I have also interesting time been working on at least 2 to 3 other stories as well and realized that I need to focus more on one story but I do want to occasionally work on those other stories from time to time and wish to hear what you all think about this second chapter please read and review.
