Reviews
Biginferno: Thank you, and maybe she will be paired with him, maybe not, it's one of my favourite Naruto shippings, that's for sure.
Kuro02: Thanks, and don't worry you don't have to be a big oc fan or do the whole oc thing, it's just so that I don't have to give life to ten different characters.
LtFuzzleButt: What a name XD! Thank you, I've never had someone call my writing a unique gem, but no, it won't be a harem, the group just has more females than males, it's not hinting a harem or anything. If you can think of a way to avoid making it seem like a dumpster fire from the outside I'd love to hear it.
Thank you to the people who favourited the story, followed it and reviewed it, hope you enjoy this chapter. Just so you know beforehand, some ages in this story won't coincide with some of the ages of those in the actual anime or manga. I hope you enjoy.
XXX
WASTELANDS
Chapter Two: Oumagatoki
XXX
October, 09.
"Why do we even need to have separate bases, un? I thought the whole point of being in a group was to be together all the time, un!" a young blonde man cried as six black figures motioned up a sandy dune in exhaustingly hot and moist black coats. The man turned to his partner. A shorter rounded man with a bandana over his nose and mouth.
"I'm with the kid, I was promised sacrifices! Do you want to know how many people I've sacrificed to my Lord and Saviour Jashin-sama?!" the silver-haired man roared.
"No! Tell me and I'll kill you," the masked man grumbled.
"ZERO!"
"You're a nuisance," Kakuzu walked diagonally to avoid being in his partner's personal space for any longer.
"Who's Jashin?" Shinji asked.
Kakuzu re-entered the picture to swipe Hidan's scythe from him before he could swing it around like a maniac. The immortal psychopath cracked his neck as he turned. Shinji didn't react fast enough to dodge what would've been a death sentence of a scythe swing. Hidan laughed maniacally, "Jashin-sama is a divine being who rids people of the fear of death."
"How?" he bothered to ask.
"By killing them. If you're devoted enough and trust in His power, you can be reborn with the Curse Jutsu: Death Possession Blood," he ran his tongue along a spare knife he kept under his cloak.
"Stop being so weird," Kakuzu pleaded.
"Hurry the fuck up, or I'll kill all of you!" Hiruko exclaimed.
Kisame stretched his arms up high and groaned, "What is with all of you and killing people?"
"That's the whole point of the job," Deidara smirked.
"Says the only member who hasn't actually got a confirmed kill," Sasori reached the dune's summit first and slithered over to the two cloaked individuals standing over a pile of ten or so dead bodies. "Kanemaru, you fucking killed all of them?" Hiruko growled.
"They fought back," the older man explained removing his hoodie to reveal an elderly face with deep wrinkles and heavy scars running like crevasses on the grey-haired man's face. The ocean-blue-eyed man smiled to reveal a set of four sharpened canines, "So, I get to feed on them."
"Did he even try to interrogate them?" Kisame asked as the elderly man took a knee to suckle on his victim's juices.
The second man removed his hoodie too and gave the group a cocky smirk, "Of course not, we both know Kanemaru doesn't know what interrogation even means," his huge lavender eyes darted down to the crouched man. The much older man lifted his face to reveal a slightly less scarred and much younger face with freshened up brown hair.
"Shut up, Neji!"
The Hyuuga continued to smirk, "But judging from their fighting style I'd say Nara Clan grunts. They were probably being sent out to die anyway," he folded his arms.
"Kinda like you?" the ever-so arrogant Hidan cackled.
"… My eyes alone have more strength in them than your Jashin-sama," Neji stepped over the line.
"I'll fucking end you," Kakuzu had already snatched the scythe from the maniac's back. Hidan stared Neji down.
"Hmph," Neji turned and began walking around the campsite, "Do any of you believe we can use some of their equipment to form a base of operations?"
The elderly man, finished feeding, jumped to his feet as a twelve-year-old brown-haired young boy with a baggy black cloak wearing him, "Of course we can, you butt!" the pre-pubescent scoundrel yelled.
"Quieten down, you brat!" Neji shouted.
"We've been yelling this entire time! Why must I keep quiet?!"
"Because something's coming," Neji's Byakugan automatically activated. He raised his hood back over his head and rotated his head just in case whatever was approaching was in his blind spot.
"Are you picking anything u-?"
"Shut up," Neji interrupted Kisame.
There was silence. Shinji looked back to the crumbling temple in curiosity. It was falling apart even faster now. The roof caved in on itself. Kisame noticed this too, but he assumed it was because the structure was already on the verge of collapse anyway. Hidan looked over to Kakuzu to try and understand the general emotion of the crowd. He wasn't sure whether he should be worried or not, but then again, whatever it was, it wasn't going to kill him. Kakuzu stood patiently. Hiruko, for once, waited unwearyingly. Deidara was already thinking about what attack to use next.
.
.
.
Kakuzu and Neji reacted first, "It's under us!"
The faintest mumble could be heard, "Summoning Jutsu!"
The sand exploded as a giant creature erupted from the earth and wreaked havoc on the surrounding tents and devices. Shinji, surprisingly, was already a hundred metres away. Neji finally landed. Kakuzu landed. Kisame landed. Hiruko landed. Kanemaru landed. Deidara landed.
"Where is this kid?" Kakuzu asked.
"HAHAHA! Jashin-sama, watch over me as I slay this unholy beast!" Hidan was trying to ride the massive creature like a show pony, but it was a lot more than that. Mercenaries with Summoning Jutsu contracts were extremely rare, Summoned Beasts were usually a sign that the battle was already over, so when someone used it to start off a battle it meant they wanted to make quick work of you.
The Summoning was a large and deadly mixture of an elephant with the body of some sort of killer quadruped. As the beast leapt out of its pit it tossed tons of sand into the air, creating a blinding rain of granular droplets. To add to the danger, the beast was modified, so metallic armour was fused to its skin to increase its defensive capabilities. Hidan's scythe wasn't going to break it any time soon. The silver-haired man hopped off as the creature was re-entering the earth, and rolled away before the tail come knock him down.
"It's a setup!" Hiruko noticed the bands of mercenaries exiting small sinkholes within the desert sand at the base of the dune to surround the group, "It's the Nara Clan," he spotted the complex wavy pattern trapped in a circle sitting on their backs. The men came out dressed in dusty red one-pieces that made them as close to invisible as they could get on the arid plains. The gang still had to make their way up the sandy mountain, but that would take them less than thirty seconds, and if they got there whilst the Oumagatoki were looking out for the Death Beast, they would've been at a disadvantage.
"When did the Nara Clan get a hold of a Summoning?" Shinji asked.
"And why on earth is it an elephant? Didn't they tend to the deer before the war?" Deidara asked.
"No time for conversation! Someone come up with something," Kisame grasped Samehada with both hands.
"There's thirty of them," Kakuzu used mental math to get a rough estimate, "I'll take ten, Kisame will take ten, Sasori will take ten-."
"I go by Hiruko in this form."
"Just take ten! The others can worry about the creature!"
The mercenaries were halfway up the dunes.
The man-to-man fights were quick fights and proved that the three members all deserved to be members of Oumagatoki's ranks. Hiruko's lower jaw dislocated from the upper jaw to reveal a mini-cannon. Ten shots. Ten direct hits. If the initial hit didn't kill them. The extremely potent neurotoxic venom did. They collapsed.
"Pathetic," he commented.
Kakuzu brushed them aside by trapping them in their own separate rooms made of four mud walls. He then placed a fifth slab on top of the little room. Solidified the floor. Then just crushed them in their new rock tombs. Kisame, too lazy, to expend too much chakra, blasted nine of them with Water Bomb Jutsu. They drowned as the sand beneath them sucked them in and soaked up some of the water. The last brave soul made it to the top of the hill only to be ground faceless by Samehada.
"These poor fools didn't even deserve to be out in the Wastelands," Kakuzu turned around.
"Watch out!" Shinji was trying to grab on to the monster's armour as it wriggled into the sand again. The young man leapt off. Deidara hovered above the mobile sand as the beast burrowed underneath, blowing apart dunes as it moved.
"The summoner must still be underground," Neji deactivated his Byakugan.
"Well then, let me flush them out!" Deidara dropped a couple of white balls of clay on the battlefield, regardless of who they fell on. Kakuzu quickly slapped one away. Neji dodged a ball as it stuck to the dry grass below and expanded. Hidan caught one and celebrated.
"You idiot!" everyone jumped away, excluding the immortal one.
"ART IS A BANG! KATSU!" the sand was lit up a barrage of clay going off, causing decimation that forced even the elite mercenaries of Oumagatoki to take a knee. Deidara landed as the sand exploded around him, "Who said I couldn't get a confirmed ki-!"
Someone grabbed Deidara's neck and lifted him into the air.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" Deidara groaned as he clawed at the air.
"Danzo! I am a reformer. This war has taken too much from my people," the wrinkly old man commented. Deidara looked down at the bandaged elder. He was wearing a white tattered Nara Clan robe with thick bandages covering his right eye and coiled around his right arm. Deidara's eyes rolled into the back of his head.
"I don't care, un!" his hands latched onto the sides of Danzo's face. He kicked away leaving a trail of white clay, "KATSU!" the sand erupted around them. Deidara flipped a few times before landing on his feet with his back to the explosion. He turned to his left. The elephant creature opened its massive mouth and began to inhale.
"Even when you get a kill you can't get a kill!" Hiruko dug his tail into the sand. Hidan planted his scythe into the earth. Kakuzu's feet turned to earth. Kisame grabbed Shinji as he stuck Samehada into the ground. Kanemaru grabbed onto Neji who focused chakra into his feet to stay up. The suction overwhelmed all of them. They were lifted into the air.
Danzo appeared from the sandy crater to attack Deidara just as his feet rose off the hot sand.
"How are you not dead?" the brat cried. Danzo lunged. Deidara slapped him away. The blonde kicked out. The blonde disappeared as a tarpaulin swept him away and into the mouth of the vicious beast.
"KATSU!"
The explosions forced the monster to spit the man out along with a plume of smoke. A panicked Deidara landed on his feet. Hiruko flipped over in mid-air and shot at the man. A poison dart to the shoulder knocked him to his knees. The summoning vanished in a cloud of smoke. The shell of a man landed on its side as Danzo collapsed. Hidan landed on top of Kakuzu, who threw him off instantly. Kisame caught Shinji before he could hit the floor. Kanemaru was still grabbing on to Neji's leg. The irritated Hyuuga rebel kicked the kid off.
"And you yelled at me for killing someone without interrogating them!" Kanemaru whined. Hiruko rolled onto his stomach. He slid over to Danzo's side and grumbled.
"There's a difference between dead and incapacitated. Deidara, carry this idiot so we can interrogate him later!" Sasori commanded. Too exhausted to argue, the blonde lifted the old man onto a clay bird and continued to search the vast desert for any signs of sanctum.
XXX
October, 10.
"So, I'm guessing since we're escorting the two most valuable people in the world, then we've all got to be special in some way. Why don't we go around introducing ourselves, how we got here and what our goals are?" the ever-so-energetic Fuu was trying to start a group discussion between the ten enigmatic figures, "I'll go first because you guys are now in the presence of a Tailed Beast Host! The name's Fuu from the Land of Waterfalls! Seven Tails! And I want to be the greatest female mercenary the Wastelands have ever seen!" she lifted seven fingers up to the skies as she roared.
Her youthfulness was greeted by reactions that covered the entire emotional spectrum. Sakura smirked before blushing. Sasuke rolled his eyes. Hoshiko and Asuna shrugged. Itachi didn't care. Naruto kinda liked her energy. In return, Tayuya knew she was going to hate Fuu. Ino and Kin chuckled as they were introduced to someone who could potentially match Naruto's intensity.
"I guess I might as well go next then. Well… my name is Sakura, and I guess unlike most of you I'm from a clan, but not a fighting clan. I'm from the Haruno Clan based in the Land of Fire. I'm guessing I was called up for this job because I spent my whole life practicing and perfecting my medical ninjutsu, to the point where I earned the title of Best Medic South of Central Sanction. My goal is to keep my family alive through the wars because… twelve years ago, prior to us moving to a Sanction, our clan was raided and every male was slaughtered… the females had to take up odd jobs here and there to find us some food, but I want to bring home this money so I can keep my family fed until this huge war ends."
"Who slaughtered your clan?" Kin wanted to know.
Sakura paused, "The Uchiha Clan."
Neither Itachi nor Sasuke flinched upon hearing that their clan was responsible for the pink-haired girl's family's massacre. No clan in the Land of Fire, other than the Senju Clan, was safe from the wave of red and white fans that would invade clans and cut down their male population. If the Uchiha brothers apologised every time they heard a sob story like that, they would have turned into a pair of depressed pushovers a year ago.
"But I don't like to dwell on sombre things like that," Sakura tried to smile, before turning to the next person in line.
"My name is Ino Yamanaka, but you can call me Ino-hime. As I mentioned before I'm from the best clan in the Land of Fire, the Yamanaka Clan, and an expert at using the Family Jutsu, which is probably why my daddy was able to organise me to join this group. Well, I wouldn't really say I have any goals, everything I have my family can hand to me on a silver platter," she giggled, "So do I really need any goals?"
Tayuya rolled her eyes at the platinum blonde's sear arrogance. Naruto shrugged. Sasuke looked back with a raised eyebrow. Ino passed the baton to the young man walking ahead of her.
"Well… my name is Hoshiko. I was born to a noble family in the Land of Frost, but my family wasn't able to hide my great wind manipulation abilities from the world. The Land of Fire got to us first, they stole me from my family and placed me in their Learning Facility until the Hyuuga Clan offered the Facility a sum of money for their two best prospects, hence, I'm here," there were six Learning Facilities, five since Tayuya and Kin destroyed the Land of Sound's Test Tube Facility. The Land of Fire's Facility was the least known because the Uchiha Clan and Senju Clan wiped out most clans before they could breed powerful prospects, but a few had managed to slip through the cracks, and Hoshiko was one of those few. Instinctually, the brown-haired man passed the conversation to his black-haired partner.
"Mmh? Oh, my name is Asuna," the woman brushed aside her bangs to reveal a set of onyx eyes. "My story is… roughly similar. Family used to tend to the animals in forests. The sudden distribution of chakra fused with our system and gave two or three of us a Kekkei Genkai. My family sold me for money to help them tend to the forests. The Land of Fire's Facility said they were going to let one person out for the Hyuuga Escort Mission and since Hoshiko refused to leave the Facility without me… here I am."
"Are you two…?" Ino asked.
"Related?" Hoshiko asked.
"Dating," Ino corrected him.
"No," she bluntly denied.
"Asuna and I just go way back!" Hoshiko grinned.
Asuna looked over her shoulder at Tayuya and expected her to introduce herself next.
"My name is Tayuya, and I'm a fucking badass in every sense of the word. I was born in the Land of Sound, sold to the Facility, and broken out by Naruto. Another interesting fact about me is that I'm the Five Tails Host," Tayuya folded her arms as if that made her the strongest member of the group.
"Same here, just substitute Five Tails with Three Tails," Kin didn't want to say too much.
"WELL! My name is Naruto from the Leaf Sanction, dattebayo! I am the Nine Tails Host and I'm a scavenger turned mercenary-," Naruto began.
"Birthday Boy," Tayuya muttered.
Naruto continued, "The reason I was probably invited to this mission, dattebayo, was because of my limitless chakra reserves and the Shadow Clone Jutsu which I discovered whilst raiding Sarutobi Clan Ruins north of the Leaf Sanction-."
"Birthday Boy."
"My goal is to become part of a clan and the only way I can do that is by discovering a very destructive jutsu. When my clan finds out that I've become a great and powerful mercenary maybe then they'll accept me and I can die alongside my parents, dattebayo!"
"BIRTHDAY BOY!" Tayuya jumped on the blonde's back, interrupting the group's strides. Six of the mercenaries, along with Hinata and Hanabi, stopped to giggle as Tayuya straddled the angry blonde. Sasuke was fully willing to walk alone to the Land of Lightning, but Itachi grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.
After the chuckles, Hinata introduced herself as the bride-to-be who was simply doing everything because the Hyuuga Clan's reputation was on the line, and Hanabi introduced herself as the young lady who was fully ready to break every Hyuuga Main Family rule on their trip across the world.
Everyone turned to Sasuke and Itachi. The younger Uchiha wanted to stomp away again but a firm hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"It would only be formal, and beneficial to the chemistry of this group, for us to introduce ourselves too," Itachi whispered, "Some of you probably already know us as the Uchiha Outcast Brothers. My name is Itachi Uchiha, he is Sasuke of the same clan. Our only goal is to exist post-exile… nothing more."
Fuu extended her hand out to greet the brooding duo, "Welcome to the team."
Itachi looked down at the hand, then looked up into her orange eyes. The older gentleman shook the hand and forced his younger brother to do the same.
Fuu led the way, "So we have two deadly Uchiha Clan members, a medic, two prospects, someone with family in high places and four Tailed Beasts Hosts! I dare the universe to send us an obstacle we can't conquer!"
XXX
"They'll be travelling from the Land of Fire, through the Lands of Grass, Waterfall, Stone, Hot Water and Frost on their way to the Land of Lightning. They're just a bunch of youngsters who don't even know a thing about the Wastelands," Danzo squealed as Kakuzu's whip arm receded into his shoulder socket. The elder's attire, aside from his bandages, had been ripped off leaving space for Kakuzu to ruthlessly torture him. After three or four good lashes it had become apparent that Danzo neither served the Nara Clan nor had any real affiliations to any organisations. If anything, he was just a really manipulative person.
The crew had found a little rundown village about thirty kilometres from the border between Wind Country and Rain Country. The spot was perfect. There was no record of any battle, even between the Senju and the Uchiha, that spanned a radius of thirty kilometres, and they were close enough to the Sand Sanction to grab a few bonds if need be. Hiruko slid in closer to attack the man with more questions, "If these children are really escorting these Hyuuga Princesses, then why were you out here, in the Land of Wind, and not hunting them down?"
"Because of people like you," Danzo said.
Hidan entered the room and leaned his scythe against the wall, "What did he say?"
"Shut up," Kakuzu extended his arm to stop his partner.
"People like us?"
"Factions! Mercenaries who had abandoned their clans and their lands to fight for a different cause. You're a burden to these Wastelands, and as a reformer, it is my job to rid this sacred land of your presence."
"Deidara," Hiruko looked back.
"Mmm?"
"Take him outside and deal with him," Sasori commanded.
"Go with him, make sure he doesn't fuck up," Kakuzu forced his silver-haired partner to follow the blonde man and his bandaged prisoner.
"You might as well go with them, let the grown-ups talk," Kisame urged Shinji to get up and exit the room, leaving Hiruko, Kakuzu, Kanemaru, Neji and Kisame in the dusty wooden room, "So…"
Hiruko turned.
"Are we stopping this whole escort mission?" he mumbled.
"We'd be stupid not to, think about the monetary stipulations!" said Kakuzu.
"The what?" Neji asked.
"The rewards, you dumbass."
"Call me a dumbass again and I'll have no choice but to kill you!"
"There you go again, dropping the 'k-bomb', what happened to talking it out?" Kisame complained.
"Okay, how are we going to do this, slow and painful or quick and even more painful," Deidara dropped the bundle of flesh and blood onto the painfully hot desert sand, "I'm a bit of an artist myself, so if you'd like I could take you out with a bang."
"I think I slow and painful sacrifice to Lord Jashin would be more appropriate, at least you'd die knowing you served a better cause!" Hidan swung his scythe.
"How about we let him go?" Shinji asked.
"What, and I cannot stress this last part enough, the fuck, are you talking about?" Hidan raised an eyebrow.
"I mean, Kisame-sama came from a land of death and merciless killing, so he always tells me about how pointless killing can be sometimes-."
"Oops! I already shoved a bomb down his throat," Deidara kicked the man away before leaping back, "KATSU!" Shinji fell to the sand and scurried away in fear. Hidan stretched his arms out and embraced the blast as it shook the nearby building, brought a section of it down and sent a cloud of sand and smoke into the air.
"AH!" Shinji curled into a ball as the explosion, lifted him, stripped him of his black trenchcoat and dropped him a couple of yards back. Deidara was already on a clay bird manoeuvring away from the shockwave. The force of the blast cause Hidan to backflip into the building which carried him a few metres before dumping him into a sandy hill. Deidara laughed at the sight of his first Oumagatoki kill only to see the bandaged man running through the barren landscape, away from the blonde.
"How?" Deidara asked as he landed. Too stunned to even chase the man down.
Hidan brushed the wooden planks away to sit up, "Are you really that useless, Deidara-chan," the immortal psycho mocked.
"I should blow you up too for that comment, un!"
"You act like that would kill me," Hidan got in Deidara's face. Shinji removed what was left of his black cloak to reveal a fishnet shirt with a black pair of baggy pants and black sandals.
"I will kill you and your immortality!"
"You're such a fucking genius that you don't understand how immortality works! The only way you could kill me is by starving me!"
"You're starting to give me ideas, un!" Deidara growled.
"Silence!" Sasori crawled into the conversation, "You had one job, and one job only. Kill Danzo! So, where's Danzo?"
"He got away!" Hidan roared.
"You're not exempted from this," Kakuzu growled, "You can't tell me that three world-class Oumagatoki mercenaries couldn't kill one old man."
"I shoved a bomb down his throat, what more do you want, un?" Deidara kicked some sand before running into another building that was behind the pile of rubble, they'd once called a hideout.
"I don't have time for his pussy moments, Kisame, go deal with him," Sasori slid into another building to check if it had the makings of a new hideout.
Kisame closed the door as he entered Deidara's building.
XXX
"You had to say something, didn't you!" Sakura mumbled in Fuu's direction as she sat tied down to a tree in a section of the forest where the canopy was so dense, only little streams of light made it to the grassy terrain. A few minutes after Fuu's comment about their crew being unstoppable, a group of bandits ambushed the gang with smoke bombs and sleep powder, no one could react in time as more than twenty men in black jumped down from the trees.
"Shut up, ssu!" Fuu struggled with the chakra threads holding her back. Usually, she would just use brute strength and overwhelm the chakra threads, but the combined chakra of twenty adult bandits was greater than her output without the Seven Tails, "How was I supposed to know that the universe was going to send us an obstacle we couldn't conquer?"
One of the bandits picked up an unconscious Hinata and laid her on a stretcher before tying her down with twenty chakra threads, one from each mercenary. Hanabi was dealt with in a similar manner.
"Well, trust in the Land of Fire to hire a bunch of children for a billion Ryo deal," a man chuckled. He was evidently the leader since his hoodie was beaked with a pair of red eyes, unlike the other nineteen who just had normal camo green hoods.
"Hey, what the hell's going on, dattebayo!" Naruto roused from his slumber and tried to tear the chakra threads apart with his bare hands, "Damn it!" Naruto thrashed around and kicked up some dust.
"You won't get away with this, you fucking assholes!" Tayuya, reacting to the sound of Naruto's whiny voice, awoke and starting kicking too.
"The sleep powder seems to be wearing off so, without further ado, we'll be getting out of here," four bandits lifted Hinata's stretcher off the ground, another four did the same for Hanabi. Naruto's eyes went crimson for a split second, but the anger was drained out of him. The leader returned to the young adults and began sticking paper bombs to all the nearby trees, "It's just a contingency plan, you know, after all, chakra threads eventually wear away and I wouldn't want you kids to follow us to our base or anything."
"Fucking!" Tayuya cussed.
"Choumei!" Fuu lunged.
The chakra threads absorbed her momentum and her chakra before slamming her against the damp tree trunk.
"Luckily, we heard your comment about there being four Jinchuuriki amongst you, so we took the extra measure of giving the chakra threads the ability to absorb Tailed Beast chakra," the head bandit explained as he pasted another paper bomb.
"Fuu! You really need to learn to shut up!" Sakura growled.
"You can't blame me for trying to create a sense of team bonding, ssu! Without me, you would've probably killed each other using Mysterious Brooding Jutsu or something!"
"You knew that there were four Jinchuuriki and you still had the guts to call us kids?" Naruto struggled.
"Wait… how on earth did you learn how to suppress Tailed Beast chakra? Just who are you guys?" Sakura was the only one using her brains in this conversation. Naruto, Fuu and Tayuya continued to try break the strings by feeding them the chakra they needed.
"Let's," the man removed his hoodie to reveal an elderly man with crazy white hair and red lines running down his cheeks, "keep that a mystery, shall we."
"Let's keep moving, you dirty old man," a woman exclaimed somewhere between the sea of black cloaks.
"Kukukuku, such a beautiful pair of eyes, and without that pesky Caged Bird Seal, these two will be perfect specimens," another man hissed as he helped carry Hinata into the forest.
"I have to be off, sorry you didn't get to see the death of the Wastelands," the white-haired man waved goodbye before forming the tiger hand sign and running into the forest for cover. The explosive tags lit up.
"Oi, you can't leave us out here like that, dattebayo!"
"Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!" Tayuya's eyes widened.
"CHOUMEI!" Fuu tried to use one last burst of Tailed Beast chakra.
"Shannaro!"
Itachi's eyes opened.
A hundred square metres of forest went up in a blaze. The force of, at minimum estimation, fifty explosive tags going off, ripped through the landscape, uprooted trees and caused woodland creatures to catch fire and evaporate. The fire roared and hissed as it barely missed the white-haired man and towered a hundred metres above him. Refusing to look back, in fear of being caught by the shockwave, the man hurried his gang of bandits into the safety of fresh foliage.
The blast, that could've even made Deidara shed a tear, finally subsided to leave behind a thick layer of smoke, a sizable crater and ten perfectly healthy young adults.
Sakura was the first to cough as air filled her lungs. The pink-haired medic looked up to the greyed sky and realised that she'd survived a death sentence. She grabbed a handful of beautiful green grass and ripped it from the soil, "How?" she asked, noticing that the grass to her right was charred, "What happened?"
Naruto stood up, free from chakra threads, to laugh at their predicament. The blonde had literally just cheated death, but, in all honesty, he didn't have time to think about it. The bandits that took Hinata couldn't have gotten too far.
"We need to get Hinata-hime back," Naruto clenched his fists.
"Hinata-hime?" Tayuya growled.
"Get up Sasuke," Itachi lifted his brother to his feet. The moody eighteen-year-old stared into the dense shrubbery before activating his most iconic ability. The Sharingan. His onyx eyes were suddenly drowned in a crimson hue. His left eye swirled to reveal two tomoes whilst the other eye revealed a single rotating tomoe, "Hunt them down!" he commanded.
Sasuke took a knee and prepared an assassination-style jutsu his beautiful eyes had copied during an epic confrontation between the enigmatic Hatake Clan and his former Uchiha Clan. He went through some hands before grasping his left hand and channelling lightning chakra through his arm.
"I call this jutsu! CHIDORI!" The lightning chirped to life as Sasuke flexed his chakra output. The level of thick energy Sasuke was unleashing upon the terrain not only scared Fuu, Tayuya, and Naruto (who had entities made solely of chakra resting within them), but it woke up Hoshiko, Ino, Asuna, and Kin, before knocking Sakura off her feet. The light grey clouds danced above the heads of mercenaries as they darkened and fell lower to earth. Sasuke looked up, "I've got them!" he tore through the earth as he disappeared into the bushes.
"Let's go," Itachi shunshined away.
The non-Uchihas, still extremely terrified, hesitantly followed the deadly duo into the dark forest. Sasuke's steps were nigh-silent as he bobbed and weaved around trees with Sharingan looked on the beak-hooded man trailing behind the convoy of princess stealers.
"Drop dead!" he gave his position away at the last second. He slipped out of the shadows, expecting the man to be a step too slow, but he was wrong. The lightning technique missed, flew past the two other figures and struck one of the bandits in the back. It bore a hole right through his chest, and gave him ample time to take notice of the fact that he was dying.
"Shit," the man succumbed to the rapid blood loss.
"How did you?" the white-haired man asked.
In an instant, a dark figure dashed around the clearing and cut down sixteen of the remaining nineteen bandits. As he came to a standstill, they all fell and he placed his kunai back in his weapons' pouch. Itachi deactivated his Sharingan.
"Does it matter?" Sasuke asked going down on one knee again.
The three leftover bandits who were able to dodge both Sasuke's Chidori and Itachi's quick massacre stood together and removed their hoodies. The first man was the all-too-familiar white-haired man with red lines running down his cheeks. He had a muscular build and looked like the oldest amongst the trio. The woman in the middle was a blonde with light brown eyes and a tiny blue diamond in the centre of her forehead. She looked like a young woman in her twenties compared to the men around her, who looked like they were in their late thirties to early forties. The last man on the right was a sickly pale middle-aged man with purple streaks around his eyes, pitch black hair and a pair of piercing yellow eyes.
"Kids… how troublesome. Should I just take them both out so we can be on our way?" the pale man asked.
"You see those eyes too, Orochimaru. We're dealing an Uchiha," the white-haired man noted.
"Well they're dealing with a Senju, and not just any Senju. The Tsunade Senju, sister of the God of Mercenaries."
"Oi! You need to teach me that jutsu, dattebayo!" Naruto ripped through the bushes as he entered the clearing and joined the Mexican standoff.
"Move away, you idiot!" Sasuke warned.
"Who are you calling an idiot?" Naruto roared.
"FUCK YEAH!" Tayuya exclaimed as she made a beeline for Tsunade.
"Tsunade-hime," the white-haired man warned.
"I'll just need one finger, Jiraiya," she turned, with one hand on her hip and the other hand extended she waited until Tayuya was at arm's length. She flicked her. A crater formed as the Jinchuuriki disappeared into the earth, bloodied and bruised.
"Tayu-chan!" Naruto yelled.
"Wait, Naruto, we need a plan!" Kin emerged from the greenery.
"RAWR!" Naruto's eyes flashed red.
Jiraiya bitch-slapped him into the same crater his partner had just created.
Hoshiko jumped out of the bushes but Kin held her arm out to stop him.
"Hmm?" he stared into her eyes.
"Get back!" she told Ino, Asuna, Sakura and Fuu before they could make it through the foliage.
"CHIDORI!" Orochimaru looked back for a split second and saw that Sasuke's left hand was less than a metre from his back. He shrugged it off. The technique ripped right through his chest.
"Nice one!" Fuu cheered from the background, but neither Jiraiya nor Tsunade flinched.
Orochimaru's head spun 180 degrees so he was staring into Sasuke's eyes, "I bet it feels good to believe you've won… even if it is just for a second," the older man gripped Sasuke's arm to lock it in place, before delivering a very painful bite to the younger lad's neck. The bloodcurdling scream released by the otherwise stoic man was enough to even worry Itachi. The crow king, instead of taking on the trio, rushed to his brother.
"I think it's time to get out of here," Jiraiya realised.
"Even without the princesses?" Tsunade asked.
"A trip from here to the Land of Lightning," Jiraiya looked over his shoulder to check on Itachi. The man was on his knees making sure his clansman was okay. The duck butt-haired Uchiha gripped his neck and cried as the pain coursed through his body in an excruciating fashion, "would take these kids at least a month, I'm sure we'll get more chances," Jiraiya bargained.
"What do you think, Orochimaru?" Tsunade questioned. The sadistic man was quiet for once. His body had frozen mid-stance, "Orochimaru?" Tsunade's eyes traced Orochimaru's gaze from the older man's snake-like eyes to Itachi's blood red pair.
"Help me," he groaned. Itachi's eyes closed. Orochimaru collapsed.
Tsunade quickly picked the Snake Sage up and dashed into the woods.
"We'll be back," Jiraiya promised before vanishing into the forest.
Naruto was breathing heavily as he exited the crater with Tayuya under his arm. The blue-eyed idiot scanned his surroundings to try and understand what just happened, but when it proved futile, he asked Itachi – the only person who wasn't surprised by the demolition crew that had taken out his team.
"I-Itachi? What just happened?"
The eldest mercenary of the group sat down and stared into Sasuke's hazy eyes. He'd used Genjutsu the mercifully knock the young man out, "I don't know," Itachi admitted, "But somehow people know about our movements… I think we should rest here."
"… Agreed."
XXX
Another chapter down. As you could tell, there wasn't much attention to the characters in this chapter. It's mainly a springboard to the next few chapters and the rest of the story. Constructive criticism is welcome as long as it's reasonable, so if there's anything you think needs a bit of change then review the story or send me a PM. Favourite it and follow it. Thank you.