Naruto loses the trail as he hunts the army
Chapter I – Defeat Hidden in Victory
"'ere, who's the stranger?" one of the regulars at the bar asked another, gesturing to the man sitting in a shadowy corner.
"Some mercenary," whispered back his friend. "Looks the part an' all, all 'em scars."
Naruto calmly sipped his drink, ignoring the whispers. From experience, he could tell that the regulars were fast losing their interest in him, and it was only a matter of moments before they started recounting their more...interesting gossip.
For a week he had been tracking down the army that destroyed his village. The enemy was skilled at hiding their presence- obviously, considering their surprise attack had wiped out most the village, and when the Konoha-nin fought back, it was too late already- and had a great head start.
Yet Naruto had stuck doggedly to his path. The army had passed through many villages and towns on their way, most likely to keep the army well-fed, after all, victory can only keep morale up for a soldier for so long, but Naruto had closed the gap of three days to a single day, when he had lost their trail altogether.
And here he was- the hunter that had lost his prey, at a remote village near the country's border.
From what Naruto had seen so far, fortunately the country was not destroyed yet. The Daimyo's son had not attended Konoha the same day as his father, meaning a new Daimyo had already been crowned.
Naruto's conclusion was that the samurai and private shinobi at the Daimyo's castle would keep him safe. But it would be decades before the Land of Fire turned into the military power it once was.
Naruto had heard rumours all the way from the other Hidden Villages. None of them were interested in trying to seize the Land of Fire, in fear that the army that destroyed Konoha would destroy them as well.
These rumours implied that whoever the troops were, they were not of a specific Hidden Village. On the other hand, they could be nothing more than mere rumours...
Naruto of course, was simply continuing his task of revenge. Perhaps, if by some miracle he was alive at the end, he would offer his services to the Daimyo. But until then-
"So, just who d'ya reckon were those weird shinobi we saw the other day?"
Naruto's ears pricked up, just as another villager cast a suspicious glance at Naruto.
Slowly, Naruto placed his hand into a pocket. The villagers continued watching Naruto, as he withdrew his hand, revealing a cigar, a lighter and a small knife.
The villagers continued talking as Naruto carefully cut his cigar and lit it.
"What did that crazy nin call himself? The one with the weird dagger?"
"Kuroi, weren't it?"
"Yeah...creepy bastard."
"Where were those ninja headin'?"
"Didn't say, did they?"
"Nah, wasn't there something about them heading north?"
The villagers were silent for a few moments, before one glanced around the bar. "Hey, where did that mercenary go to?"
Naruto had already left the village. And now, he was truly beginning to realise what the army was doing. It seemed they had split up, but seeing as Naruto had not followed all the paths, he could not say for certain whether they were heading the same way.
It didn't matter, he decided. He was on the trail of the main legion that consisted of the commander, and his mysterious clothed bodyguards.
The Rokudaime surveyed the forest. This was the quickest way the troops could have taken. The branches of the trees were too weak to allow traversing in the forest canopy, so the shinobi had obviously gone on the ground.
And even though they were fast, they were exceedingly good at covering their tracks.
No, not covering their tracks, Naruto thought. They were merely moving fast in a way that ensured they did little to disrupt their surroundings.
If the troops had not destroyed Konoha, Naruto would have even applauded. These were certainly some of the finest shinobi he had seen in years. Well-versed with using every tool available, be it the environment, the element of surprise, or the weather. Hardly reliant on flashy jutsu, incredible teamwork...as much as Naruto loathed admitting it, these soldiers were the true embodiment of ninja.
Naruto drew some more cigar smoke into his mouth, keeping it there for a few moments, and exhaling.
He had hardly been a fan of smoking of any kind before, but Jiraiya hadn't been too adverse to the idea of a cigar once in a while. Usually at special occasions though. Probably came from passive smoking, having to smell the Sandaime smoke his pipe all the time.
And to Naruto, the smell still made him think his old mentor was still with him, even if for a few moments. But those few moments gave him comfort in these dark days.
His small number of possessions was full of mementos. Jiraiya's cigars, Tsunade's necklace, the red cloth tied around his arm had once been part of Sakura's headband, the gloves he wore had adorned the hands of Kakashi- he had taken those as they were the only part of the man not coated in blood-
A cold smile formed on Naruto's face. He had found the trail.
Instantly, he sprang into action, following the traces his prey had left behind.
Everything he could use to track, he did. Utilising every sense he had, watching for every bent blade of grass, any imprint in the ground, any unusual smells, any disturbances in the environment that could suggest someone had passed.
It was difficult, and his opponent is clever, he acknowledged to himself.
But Naruto was on their trail, and once he had found it, he was fast to follow it.
And originally, it had seemed the troops had been headed towards Otogakure, Orochimaru's- or more correctly, the late Orochimaru's old hideaway. Now it seemed they were heading towards Kumo or Iwa.
Naruto highly doubted the men were part of a village. If that were the case, the village they belonged to would be singing of their glorious victory over Konoha. No, these men, whoever they were, were of no village he could think of.
Naruto continued along his way for many hours, and as his speed increased, he began to realise that the tracks were very, very new. He grinned. He was most likely only a day behind.
And then the trail vanished.
The one-eyed man cursed to himself. It would take him- suddenly, he caught the scent of smoke. He looked to the horizon, and sure enough, smoke was rising, not too far away.
"Was Konoha not their only target?" Naruto mused, before quashing the thought. The smoke in the air was far too small a quantity to be of a village.
Most likely, just a single house. If that was the case, it was likely the residents had seen anyone who had passed.
Content in that thought, Naruto approached the area. He was correct in thinking it was a single house, but there was no sign of inhabitants.
"Strange," he murmured. "It is not evening for several hours...and the house has definitely been lived in recently, at least."
The smoke came from an unattended bonfire outside the house, and Naruto began putting things together in his head from his shelter in the shadows of the forest.
The first answer he came to was that the people had been killed by the troops- but he could not think why. The army had passed through many villages and towns, and to Naruto's knowledge, had not killed anyone since they massacred the citizens of Konoha.
The second was that the people were hiding, or for all he knew, it was a trap.
Resolving to himself to find the answer, Naruto left the trees, advancing towards the house. He drew the knife from his shoulder holster, and approached the door.
Unsurprisingly, it was locked.
A kick fixed that, and Naruto stepped into the house, his eyes swiftly contrasting from the bright sunlight outside to the gloom inside the residence.
Tentatively, he inhaled the air, but could not find any scent of blood or flesh.
He took another step in, constantly rotating to examine his surroundings. Naruto came to a stop, and began walking in-
"Hands up."
The glint of metal suddenly appeared in the darkness, and Naruto span to face his ambusher, knife readied.
"Who are you?" said Naruto.
There was shuffling in the darkness, but his ambusher's blade was not lowered.
"You've got some nerve, mate. Kicking down my door and wandering in here with a knife, and then asking me who I am?"
"You're the resident here?" asked Naruto.
"Who'd ya think I was? Drop the knife."
"An army has recently passed this way. Have you seen where they went?"
There was a silence, tension slowly filling the air between the two.
"Drop the knife," repeated the ambusher.
"Tell me. Have you seen which way they went?" demanded Naruto, poising his knife to throw it if necessary.
Once again, there was silence, and once again, the ambusher broke it.
"...Do you intend...to harm them?"
"I do not intend to harm them," stated Naruto. "I am going to kill them."
The ambusher looked keenly at Naruto, surveying him. "You look like a mercenary, stranger. But no mercenary would hunt down an army on his own. Who are you really?"
"I did ask you first," replied Naruto. "Who are you?"
"...My name is Kuhai." The man suddenly scoffed. "Former ninja of Konoha, for what that means."
The lights came on, and Naruto was suddenly face to face with Kuhai, and now, Naruto was able to recognise the katana Kuhai held- the kind issued to the ANBU of Konoha.
Kuhai limped over, and Naruto also noticed that Kuhai was missing his right leg, which had been replaced with a peg leg.
"So, who are you?"
"...Uzumaki Naruto."
"Uzumaki Naruto is dead," said Kuhai, raising his katana in his right hand, his left hand pulling a kunai from his belt. "Don't mock me, stranger."
"Uzumaki Naruto is dead?" said Naruto. "What did he die off?"
"Some tracker of that army if you don't know that. The army have been boasting far and wide of their great victory at Konoha. Uzumaki's death was also advertised. Stab wound in the throat, lost his left eye, and then had a burning building dropped on him. Numerous other wounds."
"Stab wound in the throat? Like this one?" Naruto tugged off his scarf, revealing a nasty scar on his neck. "Lost a left eye? Like this one?" He pointed to his eyepatch.
Kuhai scoffed again. "It takes more proof then that, stranger."
"Then fine, forget it," said Naruto impatiently. "Just tell me where this army was heading."
Kuhai contemplated Naruto's words, before responding. "The army had split up. That's why we were hiding- in case the rest of them came along."
"We?"
"My family," replied Kuhai.
"I was already aware the army had split," Naruto continued. "I'll ask you a last time. Where were they headed?"
"..North I've heard they're going to make a deal with a kage. Obviously, either Raikage or Tsuchikage."
Naruto nodded. The best explanation for this was that the kage, fearing his village would meet Konoha's fate, wished to make a deal.
Konoha had never been on friendly terms with Kumo or Iwa but Naruto knew even they did not deserve such an end. He'd have to speed up.
"Many thanks, Kuhai," said Naruto, turning away and heading towards the door. Once he reached the door, he stopped, and faced the man a last time. "By the way. If you and your family were hiding- why did you light a bonfire?"
"...What bonfire?"
Naruto then suddenly noticed that the windows in the room did not show the bonfire- it was on the other side of the house. It appeared Kuhai genuinely didn't know about the bonfire, but then-
"If you didn't light the fire-" Naruto's previous theory about the smoke being a trap suddenly came back to him, and he quickly pushed open the door, hurryingly covering his head with his black scarf.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Kuhai followed Naruto outside, but even though the fire was not visible from that side of the house, he could both see and smell the smoke. "Who the hell lit that?"
"Kuhai. Get back inside. Keep your sword close."
"Look-"
Naruto suddenly pushed the former ninja backwards into the house, and a moment later, several shuriken had shot through the air where Kuhai had been, all landing in the door.
"Show yourselves!" roared Naruto.
"Very good, mercenary-san." A blue-clad shinobi appeared, and several other soldiers appeared around him. "The boss had already realised that we were being followed. So, we have come back for you."
Good, Naruto thought. They didn't know who he really was.
"Who are you?!" he demanded.
"Me?" The blue-clad shinobi laughed. "I am the greatest thing humanity has to offer, and the lowest! I am Aoiro!"
"Fucking little clown," growled Naruto. "You think I'm scared of you?"
"I don't want your fear, mercenary-san. I want your head. Now!"
Fortunately, this time, Naruto knew how the army worked.
He quickly turned to his left, his knife parrying a katana. In a fluid motion, he grabbed the sword hand of his enemy, pulling him in and slicing his throat.
With his knife in his left hand, Naruto grabbed the dead man's sword in his right as the rest of the troops moved in.
Naruto had stopped using ninjutsu, and most of his ninja skills.
At first, when he was burying his citizen's bodies, he first intended to use one of his signature jutsus, the Kage Bunshin, or as some called it, Shadow Clone.
But it felt...wrong. Not just wrong to know he would have been using a shortcut so he could merely speed up a ceremony that he should not be looking for shortcuts in, but chakra...felt foreign to him.
He had stopped using it. Demonic chakra, human chakra, even the nature chakra.
He'd noticed many other things. He found it harder to sense Kyuubi's presence. His accelerated healing had slowed. But it wasn't down to these things as to why he stopped using chakra, it was because it merely felt wrong to him.
And it made sense. He was a ninja killer now, not a ninja. He could never be called a shinobi of Konoha again, when Konoha had been destroyed.
Naruto slammed an enemy to the ground, quickly impaling the hapless shinobi on the ground. He then rolled to the side, neatly avoiding another strike.
His new fighting style was merely...revisions of what he had seen. Some could consider it a cross between that of a brawler and some unknown martial art.
Naruto continued his fight, arms moving incredibly fast, parrying, striking, countering. His enemies used a very complex and efficient fighting style, but Naruto had seen enough of it to have analysed it- and thus, gained the knowledge to counter it.
And he was doing just that, as he battled his way, knife in one hand, sword in the other, both bloodied.
Naruto impaled a man with the sword, but did not remove the blade from the body, having not the time, as he pivoted around to quickly parry a katana with his knife.
His empty hand reached for his foe's sword arm, gripping tightly and twisting the man around, until Naruto was holding him as a human shield.
This did not daunt his other attackers, who continued, and Naruto opted not to slow himself down by continuing to hold the man, so quickly snapped his neck.
Naruto threw the body at one ninja, before placing his knife between himself and a katana. A quick flick of the wrist, and Naruto grabbed the ninja's arm, ramming his elbow into the man's face, causing him to drop the katana, before Naruto slashed his throat.
A short bit of knife-work later, and it was over. Naruto stood in the midst of his falling enemies, when he remembered-
He threw himself sideways, avoiding an explosive thrown at him, that tore the earth into a crater- albeit a small one.
Naruto quickly affixed his scarf. He'd have to get a hood, but the smoke and dust that had risen from the explosion was concealing him for the moment while he kept his identity secret.
"I am Aoira, the boss' demolition expert. And he, the commander has selected me to destroy you. And I will not fail," said Aoira, appearing in the distance.
"You are going to die," Naruto stated. "Snivelling or determination will not save you."
The Hokage Mountain had been destroyed, certainly by explosives. And this Aoira was certainly responsible for it. As well as the countless explosions he had seen during the battle.
Aoira slipped a hand into the front of his blue clothes, removing several explosive tags, placing three in each hand.
"Come...come, mercenary-san!"
The two men sprinted at each other, engaging each other in close combat, Naruto attempting to stab Aoira, whereas Aoira attempted to place a tag on Naruto.
Aoira sidestepped Naruto's attack, slapping a tag on. Naruto quickly ripped it off and hurled it away, and it exploded not too far away. Aoira moved in again, irritated how easily Naruto had dealt with his tag.
Naruto ducked under Aoira's flailing arms, kicking at the man's legs. Aoira easily avoided- being surprisingly fast- and merely attempted to place a tag on Naruto's leg.
The Rokudaime rolled to the left, and Aoira took the time to place an explosive tag on a kunai. Placing the remaining tags into his left hand, and his kunai-with-tag in the right, he launched himself forwards.
The two short blades clashed, but as Naruto pulled away, Aoira threw the kunai at Naruto's feet.
"Die!" he cackled, as he saw Naruto's surprised face, and clearly, the man would have had no time to escape.
The dust began to settle, and Aoira caught sight of a body lying in the crater. To check it was not an illusion, he threw a shuriken at it- which sank into the flesh.
"Commander, I've carried out your task!" Aoira started laughing, when suddenly he was grabbed from behind, and a knife placed at his throat.
"Surprise," growled Naruto.
"You!? But you died-!" Aoira cut himself off, noticing the corpse of one of his own ninja lying in the crater, and realised what Naruto had done.
He had escaped the blast, and used the dust and smoke as a cover so he could throw a corpse into the crater. He had then merely waited for Aoira to let his guard down, and that was it.
"I've wired my own body to my explosives!" Aoira hissed angrily. "Kill me, and we all go!"
Naruto scoffed. "Fool. Don't lie to me."
Aoira struggled feebly. Naruto had discovered his bluff.
"By the way...my name's Naruto."
"What!?" Aoira craned his neck, noticing the scarf had been loosened from the explosion. The eyepatch, the blonde hair, the scars...
And that was the last image the man ever saw, as a knife slit his throat.
Naruto released his hold on the body, letting it drop to the ground. His eye suddenly widened, and he quickly covered his face again.
"Well, well, well. So you killed Aoira."
The Rokudaime turned, his eye resting on the sight of another individual, clad in similar clothes to Aoira, but unlike Aoira's single colour scheme, this individual was clothed in several colours, all shades of grey...
And he did not wear anything to conceal his face.
"Who are you? Another one of these fools?"
"I beg to differ on the comment "fools"," replied the man.
Naruto continued watching him. The man- firstly, looked young, maybe even younger then Naruto himself. As well as that, the man carried several bladed weapons.
"Who am I? The name is Subeta. I am the blade expert of the commander's forces."
"Are all of you given a single strong point?" asked Naruto.
Subeta laughed. "Perhaps so. But that strong point is enough to crush our enemies."
"Like he did?" asked Naruto mockingly, kicking Aoira's body.
Subeta continued laughing, approaching Naruto, when he came to a sudden stop, his face deathly serious. "If you're an enemy...then die!"
The blade expert drew a katana and lunged at Naruto, who instantly blocked with the knife.
Subeta continued attacking, but Naruto continued parrying, but inwardly conceded that Subeta was skilled with the blade, but-
Naruto darted out of the katana's slice, and grabbed Subeta's shoulder, ramming his knee into Subeta's chest, and the man staggered back, dropping his sword.
Moments later, Naruto grabbed the man and slammed him to the ground.
"Fool," commented Naruto.
Subeta rolled to the side, climbing back to his feet, fury evident on his face as he unsheathed a second katana.
Naruto shot forwards, grabbing the katana's hilt, and swung it in a way, that for the second time, Subeta was sent to the ground.
The man attempted to roll away, but stopped at the sight of his katana pointed at his throat.
"Tell me. How long have you served in this army?"
"What is that supposed to mean?" hissed Subeta, eyes glaring with hatred.
"Precisely what it sounded like," replied Naruto. "How about this way? Were you part of the army when they destroyed Konoha?"
"No," said Subeta, eyes still narrowed. "Regretfully."
"Hardly," remarked Naruto, removing the katana from Subeta's throat. "It is what has saved your life. Be on your way."
Subeta climbed to his feet, still angry. "You...what was your little throw tricks?"
"No tricks. Besides, you weren't even the blade expert you claim to be. You use techniques more suited to a shorter sword, maybe even a machete. So, boy...go."
"This isn't over yet," swore Subeta, before he disappeared into thin air, leaving a small amount of dark smoke behind.
Naruto was silent for a few moments, watching the smoke settle, until he murmured : "...For your sake, hope it is over yet... boy."
The door to the house swung open, and Kuhai, followed by a woman, and a small girl that could only be his wife and daughter appeared in the doorway.
"Barely any scratches..." Kuhai came closer, while his wife and daughter remained in the doorway. "Well, I'll be. You are the legendary Rokudaime Hokage."
Naruto unwrapped the scarf from around his head, before nodding.
"I can't do much, Rokudaime. But this should at least help you." Kuhai surrendered a garment to Naruto, who eyed it.
"A hooded cloak?" was all Naruto said, as he eyed the brown cloth, unusually patterned in different shapes, and black.
Kuhai shrugged. "It'll cover your face better then that scarf. And I've found the colour and patterns aren't too bad as camouflage in the woods. I use it when I go hunting."
Naruto, in the interests of being polite, didn't ask how a one-footed man went hunting, but secured the cloak around his shoulders, first removing his scarf, which he put on over the cloak.
"Good luck, Rokudaime."
"And to you." Naruto nodded, turning away as the three people began to put out the bonfire.
As Naruto re-entered the woods, an explosion sounded behind him, and he spun around, only to see Kuhai and his family lying on the ground in a crater, bloodied.
"What the-!" Naruto hurried to the three, it appeared they were already dead.
Sadly, the Rokudaime turned away. Aoira had placed a special bomb in the bonfire, one with water sensors- in other words, to explode when the bonfire was ignited. But then...there was a cough behind Naruto.
It was Kuroi- not dead perhaps due to his ninja training- but the man was already knocking at death's door, coughing blood.
"Rokudaime..." he managed. "Draw your knife and kill me, so they can't say that the fool wearing blue killed him."
Naruto drew his knife. The old him would have protested the action, but that person had died long ago. "Rest in peace, friend." Naruto killed the man instantly, as painlessly as he could have done.
Already, he could hear Aoira's mocking laughter.
The cigars- I wanted Naruto to have a Jiraiya-ish habit, but I don't think being drunk and visiting brothels fit in with his character, so I made up a habit for Jiraiya.
There's more twists coming up in the storyline, and we learn the name of the commander...and it's some guy we don't know...but he knows Naruto...
The commander turns out to be more of a clever person then the celebrating moron we saw in the prologue.
Who can guess what fighting style Naruto's...fighting style is based on? Respond in reviews.