I don't own Halo or Naruto.
Bold-My Own Words
"Bold"-Demon Speaking
'Bold'-Demon/Dark Thoughts
Bold & Italic-Locations, Time & Calendar
Normal-Narrative
"Normal"-Person Speaking
'Normal'-Thoughts
"Italic"-Foreign Language
'Italic'-Radio Chatter
/Italic\-AI/Computer typing
Shinsei Seasons:
Spring: April 25 - August 4
Summer: August 5 - October 11
Fall: October 12 -January 6
Winter: January 7 - April 24
Note: The mapping of the Elemental Nations in this Fic is based on 'Elemental Nations Political Map' by xShadowRebirthx on Deviantart. (There's a geography map version, too.)
!WARNING!
This story contains content not suited for younger readers, such as Violence, Blood and Gore, Language, and Explicit Sexual Content. This Chapter's Rating will be placed at M-Rated. Future Chapters may, and most likely will switch back and forth between the T and M ratings.
Regardless, Reader Discretion for this Chapter is advised.
-There are no easy answers, but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.
Ronald Reagan
-Politics is too serious a matter to be left to the Politicians.
Charles de Gaulle
-The worst feeling is not having done something when you had the chance.
Unknown
Arc 1
Episode 2
-River Ride/Old Wounds-
0619 AM
October 24, 2563
United Dominion Territory
Timur Island
New Tripoli
Griffin Heights
Penthouse Suite (Top Floor; Floor 88)
He looked up at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts. He had only been awake for maybe five minutes, but he already felt like he'd been laying there for ages. He hated reminiscing, yet for some reason, he had been doing more of that over the past few years. Maybe after finally reaching 50, physically, he was just reflecting on everything he had done and on all the regrets and fuck ups he had, wondering if he could have fixed them or be forgiven for them.
'No... We both know some things can't be forgiven.'
He laid there for a few more moments, glancing over at the motionless figure sleeping next to him. Her breath was slow and steady. In complete bliss and without a care in the world. Good. At least one of them slept easily at night. He had too many secrets and demons for that.
Unlike him, she had today off and got to sleep in a little bit, until it was time to take kiddo to school. And her alarm was set accordingly, but since he was already up, he'd just take her himself. Reaching over to the alarm clock, he reset the time from 0730 AM all the way to 1000 AM. Let her sleep in a bit since it was her day off.
He then gently stroke her short black hair, now finally starting to grey as she approached her mid-40s, physically, swaying slightly as he stroke it. With a gentle kiss on the top of Rebecca's head, Leonard Joshua Michael Barnes got out of bed, throwing on some pajama pants to cover up before making his way to the bathroom. He glanced out the windows to the massive sprawling city below him that was New Tripoli. The largest city on the planet, with 7 million people from all sorts of backgrounds calling it home. In the distance, the massive New Tripoli Space Elevator, one of three on the planet, could be seen shooting up into the heavens, receiving and delivering cargo almost nonstop. After admiring the view for a little longer, he grabbed his datapad and walked up to the mirror in his bathroom to take a good look at himself.
While he was still a physically fit man, more than capable of fighting and killing if needed, it was obvious that the years had finally caught up to him. His old scars and injuries looked faded to him, many of which happened a lifetime ago, on a world far from here. He turned around slightly, showing a small swirling seal on the back of his neck, with four kanji symbols in the corners of the seal, and a massive tattoo on his upper back. A bald eagle, shrieking ferociously as it descended, claws spread out and ready to use. The tattoo had seen better days. It was faded now, with a burn injury covering the upper left part of the wing, and a trio of claw marks trailed down his back through the bottom part of the tattoo. Below the eagle's talons were six words:
~101st Airborne~
~Feet First Into Hell~
Another memory from a life long gone. A life long before any of this. One he was certain now that he would never be able to return to.
With the penthouse of Griffin Heights basically covering the entire floor, every room in the house was pretty big. The kitchen was no exception. A bar wrapped around the 'actual' kitchen area, with glass and silverware being stored in the cabinets behind the bar counter. In the kitchen, there were two refrigerators, a freezer, and a large cooking station with an oven. Outside of it, there was a roundtable large enough to seat 10 and with a television built into the wall for watching.
Barnes, having finished up in the bathroom and put on some actual office attire, suit jacket and all, walked into the kitchen and grabbed himself a bottle of whiskey and a small glass. He winced slightly as he looked at the bottle, hesitating for a second before giving in to his temptation. Over the years, he had gotten better with his drinking habits, thanks largely to support from Rebecca and his friends, but he still wasn't able to let go entirely. Some nights, the memories of the past were simply too much for him to handle.
He did mentally applaud himself for pouring the glass only a quarter full. Hey, take your victories where you can get them.
Putting the bottle back up, he walked over to the refrigerator and made himself a small sandwich, then walked over into the living room with his small breakfast and took a seat in front of a small table with a computer set up on it. Switching it on, he quickly accesses the Dominion Intelligence Service Website, logging in his credentials before getting to work, eating as he worked. Normally, he didn't like to work at home, but when you were the Director of Dominion Intelligence for the Yōsai System, you got as much work done as you could now so you weren't having to do it later. Unofficially, of course, as the Director's identity was meant to be kept a secret, hence why he was only known as 'Delta-7' or 'D-7' within the DIS. Only the other 'Deltas' and the President of the Dominion knew his identity. He hadn't been keen on becoming a spook, but he wouldn't deny he had a knack for it, and since he was made Director back in 2556, the DIS had expanded quite a bit and turned into quite the intelligence gathering service, with his methods and efficiency being implemented with the other divisions throughout the systems of the Dominion, though with restrictions. No one within the Dominion was wanting another ONI being formed, and he wasn't interested in becoming another Margaret Parangosky.
Today's business, however, was a bit more personal to him. He tapped away on his datapad for a minute, then set it down and got to work as it began playing music. It wasn't loud enough to wake up the other inhabitants of his home.
(Play song 'Killing Me Softly' by Perry Como.)
Entering the restricted parts of the DIS's databanks reserved for high-tier employees only, he began searching up an old case. One that had, officially, been closed for years, now, largely thanks to a lack of physical evidence linking the culprit and political pressuring. Fucking politicians never bother to come to help you when you need it but expect you to bend over backward for them when election season comes around. Assholes. But regardless, for him, he had continued looking into the case and trying to solve it.
He owes it to the family at least try to solve it. And he had been trying, despite all the handicaps and obstacles being thrown at him over the years. Ah, there it was. The Rossburg Family Murder.
/Case File: Rossburg Family Murder\
/Date of Incident: October 22, 2559.\
/Location: Hidden Leaf Village (AKA Konohagakure), Fire Country\
/Crime Committed: Eight Accounts of Homicide, First-Degree, Including Murder of a Minor; Breaking and Entering; Attempted Murder of a Minor, First-Degree\
/STATUS: Investigation Dismissed/Discontinued\
/Incident Report:
On October 22, 2559, at approx 2138 PM, an unknown individual (Believed to be Female, also believed to be either a currently serving or a former Shinobi due to evidence provided. See Additional Notes.) infiltrated the Rossburg Residence grounds, quietly dispatching all five of the Dominion Marine Guards (SGT. Jepsen, Poul; CPL. Evans, Isabella; CPL Mason, Aaron; CPL Nikov, Lazar; CPL Zhihao, Chen;) posted on guard duty to the Residency via Lacerations to the neck within approximately 15 minutes, and then proceeded to break into the house, and murder the entire Rossburg Family, save for one Uzumaki Naruto (Born 10/10/2551; Age at time of Incident: 8), the only survivor of the incident.
Evidence gathered at the crime scene suggests that Ambassador Harrison Rossburg (4/2/2516-10/22/2559; Age: 43; Ambassador to Konoha 5/17/2552-10/22/2559) was the first of the three murder, murdered in his sleep inside the bedroom of the Rossburg Couple. There appeared to be a minimal sign of struggle, further supporting that Harrison was killed in his sleep. The window within the couple's room displayed signs of tampering, indicating that this was where the intruder broke into the house.
HARRISON ROSSBURG-CAUSE OF DEATH: Decapitation. Forensics team concluded a 95% Probability laceration was caused by a Shinobi bladed weapon, likely a 'tanto,' but have not ruled out a Shinobi 'Jutsu'.
The second murder was of Harrison's wife, Juliana, (9/9/2519-10/22/2559; Age: 40) who was found sprawled on the floor of the kitchen, table knocked over beside her, with a kitchen knife sticking out of her chest. There appeared to have been a struggle, with a small cut being present on her neck implying someone was holding her at knifepoint. This indicates that either A) The intruder attempted to extract information from the murder victim before killing her, or B) Juliana attempted to fight back to protect her daughter from the killer.
JULIANA ROSSBURG-CAUSE OF DEATH: Laceration of both the Pulmonary Artery and Pulmonary Vein approximately 3 inches from the heart via a Kitchen Knife.
The third victim, Riley Rossburg (5/14/2552-10/22/2559; Age: 7), Juliana and Harrison's Daughter, was found alive at the scene of the crime by the Marine Embassy Guards along with one Uzumaki Naruto but expired while being transport to the hospital. The two were found in Riley's room, with Riley suffering from a laceration to the throat that had partially severed the jugular vein. Attempts were made to save, then resuscitate, but at 2240, Riley Rossburg was pronounced dead upon arrival to the Konoha Hospital.
RILEY ROSSBURG-CAUSE OF DEATH: Blood Loss from a partial laceration of the throat by a Shinobi 'kunai'.
The last victim of the murders is also the only one of the people involved to have survived the whole ordeal and is believed by the investigation team to have been the actual target of this murder. Uzumaki Naruto, the adopted son of the Rossburgs (Adopted 7/19/2557; Age at time of Adoption: 5), had arrived home late after spending time at the Yamanaka Residence, coming home at approximately 2202 PM. (Please note that due to the trauma the boy suffered from the entire ordeal, this information had to be extracted with help from the Yamanaka Clan's Mind Walk Technique.) When none of the guards came to the front gate to greet him, he was confused and went into the house via the front door to ask Juliana who he knew would still be up. This was when he stumbled upon her corpse at approximately 2205 PM. Horror entered the boy's mind, confused and terrified as to what was going as he ran over and attempted to 'wake up' Juliana (Who was deceased by this point.). Moments later, Naruto heard a scream coming upstairs from Riley's room and ran up to protect his sibling. The killer appeared to have been waiting for him to show up, holding Riley hostage by her hair. Naruto, scared for his sister's safety, boldly charged the killer, only for the intruder to kick him into the wall, then pinned him there by stabbing a katana sword through his abdomen. For the next couple of minutes, the killer torments Naruto and Riley, telling Naruto that he *REDACTED/INFORMATION RESTRICTED*, much to the shock, confusion, and horror of the boy. Approximately 1 minute before the Marines breach the room, the killer begins pressing the blade deeper into Naruto's abdomen, then holds a kunai up to Riley's throat, continuing to mock and torment Naruto as the intruder prepares to murder Riley in front of him, promising that he would be next. At this moment, the Marines breach the room, driving away the killer and rescuing the two children as several fires mysteriously broke out in the building. Naruto and Riley are both rushed to the hospital for their injuries, and while Naruto recovers physically within a week, the child suffered extreme psychological trauma and PTSD from the entire ordeal. Riley was pronounced dead on arrival to the hospital.
During the entire incident, a fire mysteriously broke out in Riley Rossburg's room and in several other locations within the house, forcing the Marines to vacate the house, grabbing the corpses of both Juliana and Harrison Rossburg as they evacuated. The fires took approximately 2 hours to put out, to which by then the house had largely burnt to the ground, leaving little in the way of evidence to pinpoint a potential suspect. (See 'Additional Notes') With a lack of concrete evidence and political pressure from both the Dominion Presidency (Who were in the middle of trying to maintain their office for the 11/10/2559 Presidential Election.) and from within the Hidden Leaf itself, (See 'Additional Notes') the Dominion's assistance on the ongoing investigation into the murder was ceased on 11/25/2559, being turned over fully to the Konoha investigative team, who promptly had the case dismissed/discontinued on 11/29/2559 due to a 'lack of incriminating evidence'.\
/Additional Notes:
1. An autopsy of Riley Rossburg revealed that unlike Harrison Rossburg, whose laceration to the neck was largely clean and straight through, Riley's laceration was more haphazard and rushed. Marine AARs (After-Action-Reports) state that the Marines, after seeing the corpse of Juliana Rossburg and hearing a scream coming from the upstairs, immediately rushed up to the room and breached in rapid succession. This action likely caused the killer to panic and do a 'rushed job' laceration, as, within 3 seconds of entering the room (Via video-cam footage received from the Marines' Helmet Cams.), the Marines opened fire on the killer with continuous single shot rifle fire, hoping to stop the killer before they finished their goal. One SPC González, Claudia, swore in her AAR that she struck the killer in the lower torso as they attempted to flee out the room window, but disappeared from all the smoke generated in the room from both the gunfire and from a fire that was started in the room. (See Attached Notes) Video-cam footage from SPC González's Helmet Cam supports this claim, as the video shows the individual appears for one moment, then disappears a second later after a 7.62x51mm Round fired from SPC González's MA5C Rifle appears to go through the individual, indicating that said individual was nothing more than a shinobi clone of some sort.
2. With the amount of evidence presented, the investigative team assembled had concluded with 93% certainty that the individual responsible for the murders was either A) An individual with Shinobi training or B) A Shinobi that is either currently serving within the Hidden Village or C) a retired Konoha Shinobi. SPC González's video-cam footage supports this theory with the indication that the killer cast a clone justu of some sort to swap out with the real intruder. The mysterious fires breaking out simultaneously in multiple rooms is another piece of evidence that supports the theory, indicating some kind of fire jutsu or perhaps a paper bomb of some sort. Lastly, the intruder killed all the other occupants of the house and outside rapidly, yet took their time with killing Naruto and Riley, and seemed to enjoy tormenting the both of them, particularly Naruto. This implies that Naruto was the target of this assassination.
The investigative team also has concluded with 85% certainty that the individual who committed the murders was likely female, likely between 20-40 years in age at the time. Evidence to support this is the general body type of the individual (Though the investigative team hasn't ruled out a henge disguise.), the nimble and limber nature of the individual (Human Females are much more flexible than their male counterparts.) when said individual was escaping, and lastly, the feminine vocal patterns, distorted slightly in a likely attempt to prevent identification, of the individual when they spoke. (This was gleaned from both Marine Helmet-Cam footage of the Marine Embassy Guards and of the probing of Naruto's mind by the Yamanaka's Mind Walk technique.)
3. It is unlikely that this assassination of an ambassador was the work of a foreign shinobi, such as the Hidden Sound Insurgents. While the murder of an ambassador, his entire family save for one, and five marines is a tragedy, there are far more valuable and worthwhile targets within the Hidden Leaf that could have been hit if they could have snuck in with such ease. The ambassador wasn't involved with any military projects or clandestine operations, and ambassadors can be replaced with relative ease. Prominent Konoha individuals like Lady Tsunade, Hatake Kakashi, or even Lord Hokage Sarutobi can't.
It is also believed that the murder was committed by either a current or former Konoha Shinobi, due to the amount of political pressure being sent by several influential members within both the Konoha's Civilian and Shinobi Council to end the investigation or turn it over the investigation entirely to Konoha's own assembled Investigative Team. When this was finally done on 11/25/2559 on orders from Prime Minister Graça Varejão, the Konoha Investigative Team ended their investigation just 4 days later, due to a 'lack of incriminating evidence.' This implies that someone or several people of significant influence within the two Konoha Councils either knew who was responsible or had active participation in the murders, then used their influence to have the investigation ended before any actual incriminating evidence could be found.
*NOTE FROM DELTA-7* In other words, somebody in Konoha either knew about this plot and said nothing or were fellow conspirators. And the fact that they got away with it, along with them traumatizing and trying to murder an 8-year-old boy, is what pisses me off the most. We're supposed to look after our people, and if we fail that, then at the very least we manage to give them justice by finding those responsible and make them answer for what they did. There's also one more piece of evidence we have on file but have lost the physical evidence for it.
For the past year before their death, both Harrison and Juliana Rossberg was attempting to have the necessary paperwork done to grant Naruto Uzumaki legal citizenship status within the United Dominion. Harrison was scheduled to step down as Ambassador in 2560, so it's only natural that he did this for his step-son that didn't have citizenship. However, every attempt to do so was muddled down and dragged out by Fire Country's Immigration Service (Or rather, Konoha's.), but they couldn't stonewall them forever. However, just as it seems that they were finally going to get the necessary paperwork finished and completed, the Rossbergs are suddenly murdered and when the investigative team go looking for the citizen application papers, all Konoha's Immigration Service could tell them was that the documents had 'gone missing', despite the DIS's best attempts to locate them.
Clearly, somebody in Konoha didn't want Naruto Uzumaki leaving the Hidden Leaf, and there's a multitude of reasons as to why this is. (SEE NOTE 4. WARNING! NOTE 4 HAS BEEN RESTRICTED TO TIER 1 OR HIGHER AGENTS AND DIRECTORS! YOU MUST HAVE PROPER CLEARANCE TO VIEW IT!)
4.*WARNING! THE INFORMATION YOU ARE ATTEMPTING TO ACCESS IS RESTRICTED TO TIER 1 OR HIGHER AGENTS AND DIRECTORS, ONLY!* *ACCESS GRANTED! DIRECTOR AUTHORIZATION IDENTIFIED!* Alright, so for those of you with this level of access, then that means you already know for a fact the Rossburg weren't the targets of this assassination. It's a load of shit, and anyone with half a brain can draw that conclusion. They were merely witnesses that couldn't be left alive. The real target of this attack was clear Uzumaki Naruto. Why? Because on October 10, 2551, the same day the poor kid was born, the fucking Nine-Tailed Fox attacks Konoha and damn near annihilates it off the face of Shensei. (See Records 'Uzumaki Kushina', 'The Kyuubi Attack on Konoha', and 'List of Known Jinchuuriki, Past and Present' for more details.) The only reason it didn't was that his father, the Fourth Hokage, Namikaze Minato, sealed that monster into a newborn baby. Give you three guesses as to who it was? To put it simply, Naruto Uzumaki is a Jinchuriki, not only a Jinchuriki but THE Jinchuriki of the most powerful and dangerous of the tailed beasts on this planet. And somehow, those fucking idiot villagers found out. Oh, sure the Hokage made it forbidden to talk about and all that shit, but that's about the equivalent of putting a bandaid on a severed leg. Just you make it forbidden to talk about doesn't make everyone forget about it, or get rid of that hate and resentment of knowing that the very monster who killed all your friends and loved ones is still alive and living in your home.
From what we've managed to gather, there seems to be a bit of conflicting interest regarding Naruto amongst these conspirators. My guess, and this is only a guess at the moment so take it with a grain of salt, is the one or ones who committed the murders likely wanted to kill Naruto. Why? Who knows? Maybe some of their friends or family were murdered by the Kyuubi, or perhaps they hated his parents. The other faction, primarily whoever were the ones trying to keep Naruto from gaining citizenship in the Dominion, were likely wanting to hold on to their Jinchuuriki as a weapon for their village. Otherwise, there was no other reason for them to try and deny Naruto citizenship to the Dominion, or at least another reason that was worth going through so much effort.
Usually, I would say to just stay out the affairs of Fire Country and the other independent Coalition Nations. I know we normally have a policy of letting them handle their own affairs and minding our own business provided it doesn't affect us in any way, but in this case, we simply can't. I'm not going into a long drawn out explanation as to why, so I'll try to keep it as brief and to the point as possible. We literally cannot afford Naruto Uzumaki dying under any circumstances. He is literally the only thing holding back an unstoppable force from rampaging across the planet once more. Preferably, I would like to have extradited him out of Fire Country and somewhere off-world, maybe to one of the more sparsely populated worlds where damage would be minimal should the Kyuubi actual break lose, but unfortunately, it's out of our hands for now. Kidnapping him will only cause a political shitstorm we can't have, especially if Konoha finds out it was us. The best we can do right now is monitor the situation inside Konoha and hope nobody tries something else. For the foreseeable future, there need to be a couple agents keeping watch over the boy in Konoha.
(NOTE: Yes, I am aware that we only have a little over a half dozen operatives inside the Hidden Leaf and diverting operatives away would put further strain on them, but it has to happen. God knows with the way the village abuses him, he's got to be a time bomb waiting to go off unless something changes. That's why I'm authorizing the reactivation of 'SHADOW WARRIOR; SQUAD 21' within Konoha. We need the best protection for him to prevent another catastrophe from happening, and they're the only SHADOW WARRIOR unit available in the area.)
It goes without saying that if the Kyuubi were to be released, we would have no way of stopping it. We already tried once before, and we paid a heavy price for it. (See Record 'The Kyuubi Attack on Konoha' for more details.) (Also, no, I'm not throwing a 12-year old into an isolated containment cell, don't even bother trying to ask me. Again.) Signed, Delta-7, Yōsai System DIS Director.\
/End Report\
Barnes had always felt responsible for what had happened, though he knew deep down not all the blame could be put solely on him. However, the death of the Rossburgs was definitely his fault. He had been the one to suggest and encourage them to adopt Naruto, hoping to both A) keep an eye on a potential danger and B) try to make things up to Kushina, god rest her soul, for not doing more to help the kid. He and the Rossburg had gone back to before the Great War, but he had also met Naruto a couple times when he visited the Hidden Leaf.
The boy would try to hide it, but Barnes could tell the kid had had it rough.
He looked over the report, again and again, going over every little detail. So far, there hadn't been any new evidence acquired relating to the murder, itself, but there had been lots of further information gathered that seemed to give Barnes pause. All of it seemed to have some sort of connection to Naruto or his parents. Former businesses that were owned by the parents suddenly changing ownership with questionable methods or outright illegal ways. Money laundering. Bribes. Clear evidence of corruption and prejudice against the Namikaze Family, with two of the biggest offenders being the Hyuuga Clan and the Uchiha Clan before it was massacred. Every bit of new info and evidence gathered suggested that this murder wasn't the isolated incident that some people thought it was. The more and more evidence they managed to collect, the more and more this murder seemed more like a conspiracy. Maybe this report wasn't entirely accurate after all.
He snorted at this. The report on the murder was accurate to their knowledge, save for just one little detail. And that was-
"Mister Barnes?"
He was snapped out of his thoughts, quickly shutting down the DIS page as he turned around to come face to face with a sleepy 11-year-old girl. She was standing in front of him in her little blue horse pajamas, holding a teddy bear in one hand and using her other hand to rub her caramel eyes as she tried to keep them open. She had never been a morning person. Her Titian-colored hair was a mess, with a nasty case of bed head, and her mildly tanned skin had a couple of sleep marks on it. She had a small orange scarf she wore wrapped, more like tied, around her neck everywhere she went.
Barnes smiled at the little girl, "Morning, sleepy head. You're up awful early." He got a tired groan as a response, which made him chuckle.
"I hate Monday."
"Along with everyone else, kiddo." Barnes half-joked, getting up from the chair as he spoke, "Come on. I'll make you some breakfast, and then you can get ready for school."
Another groan, which got a laugh out of him. It looks like somebody forgot that Monday means back to school. He walked over into the kitchen and began making the girl a bowl of cereal and some pancakes, while he grabbed himself another sandwich.
"Where's Rebecca?"
"Still asleep. I'm gonna take you to school today and let her sleep in some."
"Okay." She answered as Barnes handed over her food, before popping into a seat next to her and flipping on the TV. He flipped it over to a cartoon channel he knew she liked, but she switched it over to the news, nibbling on her food quietly as she did so. He frowned at this. She had always been quiet and a bit of an introvert, not saying much. Course, he couldn't blame her for being that way.
'In today's press conference, Prime Minister Graça Varejão announced that the Yōsai Government has finalized the terraforming contracts with the Valkyrie Corporation, who would begin terraforming operations on the Custodes moons, starting with the moon C-25 which will eventually be named Ceter. C-25 had been listed as a viable terraforming operation by surveyors back in 2543, but a lack of resources and manpower placed terraforming operations on the backburner until the Dominion's situation could stabilize. While top surveyors and researchers have predicted a total completion time of between 60-100 years, largely due to Ceter having both a weak atmosphere and all of its water frozen up at the poles, Valkyrie Corps Officials are confident that their new line of next-generation Atmospheric Processors and genetically-modified Cyanobacteria-Farms, or Cyano-Farms, will cut the process down to about 30 years, with the air breathable in just 14 years. Ceter is to be the start of a series of terraforming operations to be conducted on some of Custodes' moons, with the end goal of having 7 of these moons terraformed or partially terraformed to support life by 2600. Another world that has been considered for terraforming is Yamaki, the second planet of our system. However, both Yōsai Government and Valkyrie Corps Officials have stated that at this time there are no plans in place for a terraforming operation on Yamaki. This is Jasmin Portier, SIN, signing out. Back to you, Richard.'
'Thank you, Jasmin. In other news, with an increase of violence and the continued fighting in the Rice Country Capital Narakita and the surrounding countryside, Fire Country has increased its troop presence on the border of the former country, estimated now to have some 70,000 soldiers, plus shinobi, stationed near the border. This is a major increase from the 20,000 stationed at the border just two months prior. Fire Country's Ambassador Tanaka Hiramoro has stated this move was merely to ensure the safety of their national border and to ensure that the fighting doesn't spill over into their lands. The Ambassador went further to state that Fire Country and its 'Hidden Leaf' Shinobi Village was willing to assist the Dominion in hunting for Orochimaru and the Hidden Sound Insurgents. When asked by our correspondents, a Dominion Military Representative commented that as of now, no decision has been made on this offer, but the offer is still being considered by HIGHCOM.'
He noticed her eyes narrowing at the mention of the Hidden Leaf Village. Maybe he should cut the news off.
'Speaking of Narakita, Dominion Military Officials have confirmed that the Insurgents have been forced back into a small pocket within the city's southern market sector, with all avenues of escape cut off. It isn't known with certainty just how many insurgents have been surrounded, but its believed to be somewhere around 2,000 combatants. Rice Occupational Force Commander, Lieutenant General Gale Conway, was confident that the battle would conclude-'
"Okay, I think that's enough TV for you, sweetheart. Go get dressed and ready for school." Barnes told the little girl, who reluctantly got up and went back to her room.
He sat there, watching the news for a little longer as they talked about the stock market and something about a wanted kidnapper being caught. He grabbed his datapad and began playing around with it, looking to see if he's gotten any new mail or reports sent to him. Aside from a few weekly and monthly reports, which he could look at later, he went over to his photos instead. Two in particular.
The photo of his wife and two kids. Naomi, Haley, and Leonard Jr., or Michael as he was typically called.
And the one of the little girl. Susan.
The only two photos he had left of his old life.
He heard a knock on the door. He turned off the datapad, putting it away, then walked over and unlocked the door, allowing two Private Security Guards to enter. They both shook his hand and greeted him, with one of them speaking, "Sir, I have the car fueled and ready to go, we're just waiting for you and Morgan."
"Thank you, Arthur. Morgan's getting ready right now, reckon she'll be out in a second. Gabriel, how are we looking on traffic to the school?"
"Not too bad, sir." Gabriel answered, "Should take only about 15-20 minutes, depending on traffic."
Morgan came back a couple of minutes later in a little blue summer dress with grey leggings on underneath for the cool October morning and a small backpack on her back. Her orange scarf was still wrapped around her neck. One of the guards, Arthur, knelt with a smile and waved, "Morning, Morgan. Ready to go to school?"
"No."
That got a laugh out of the two guards, who slowly began filing out towards the elevator. Barnes started to follow them, but a gentle tug on his hand stopped him. He turned around back to Morgan, who was looking up at him intently.
"What's up? Something wrong?" He asked softly.
Morgan seemed to hesitate for a second as if she didn't want to say whatever it was on her mind. He had a suspicion as to what she was going to ask. After a couple of moments though, she finally spoke, "Barnes, will you..." she stopped for a moment, nervously fiddling with her backpack strips, then continued, "If you could find the time to, w-would you check on..." Barnes' gaze softened at the poor girl before him. Yeah, he knew exactly what she was going to ask. Now and then, she would make this 'request', and Barnes, being the soft-hearted fool he was, always did it for her. The kid had been through enough as it was, and it wasn't hurting anyone to indulge in her little request. It was the least he could do to make it up to her parents.
"When I get a chance today, I'll go see how your brother's doing and what all's been going on. And then, I'll let you know the moment I pick you up from school. Okay?" He offered, stroking her hair softly to help calm her. She let out a soft nod in reply, followed by a quiet "Thank you, Barnes."
"You're welcome, Riley."
With that, Leonard Barnes stood up, taking 'Morgan's' hand in his own as the two walked towards the elevator that would take them to the garage. Once he got her to school, he could get to work with all his other missions and projects, and then deal with his other 'problem child.' That is, if she hasn't already escaped the psychiatric ward... again.
Barnes sighed, 'And if I were a gambling man, I'd say she has-' As if she somehow had heard him, a big boom could be heard in the distance, followed by a big pink cloud of smoke rising up maybe five blocks away being seen through the window. Barnes could practically hear the cackling now, even if he knew that wasn't possible with the soundproof glass.
He sighed again, "Dammit, Alice." he muttered. Looks like he was going to get some unwanted running exercise.
Again.
0953 AM
Fire Country
Tributary River Hanzo
Approx. 41 miles from Nakatari Town
(Play Song - 'Morning' from Naruto OST)
He had never been on a boat ride before, even if theirs was a small little motor boat. Despite that and the bumpiness of the ride whenever they hit a swell, Naruto was having a blast riding on this boat. The river, despite being a tributary, was massive like the Mifune, being anywhere from 100 to over 300 meters wide in some places. And the scenery was so beautiful, too. With the craft going an average of 30 knots, even with the current going against them, they had made good time while traveling on the river over the past day and a half. At this rate, they would reach Nakatari Town, at the end of the Hanzo River, within a couple of hours. He was a little disappointed by this, hoping they could enjoy riding down the river a little more.
Oh well, enjoy the sights while he could.
Currently, he was wearing a new outfit, a black hoodless jacket with a green shirt underneath, and blue pants. He also had a small henge up to hide his whiskers, to keep any suspicion to a minimum. Sure there were many blonde-haired, blue-eyed people walking around in Fire Country, (Interestingly, there weren't many, outside the Yamanakas, within Konoha.) but how many people had whiskers on their face?
Still, keeping this henge up for so long over time was taxing, even for someone with such massive chakra reserves like him.
"You sure you don't want to take a break? You've been on that motor the whole time." Naruto asked, looking back at his fellow passenger, a tall, albeit slightly overweight brown-haired man who was currently piloting the boat. The boat pilot replied, "Thank you, but no. There is a small little cove about 10 miles down that we can use to stop and rest for a moment."
Naruto just shrugged, "Alright, sensei." he said, before turning back around to enjoy the feeling of the wind blowing in his hair.
The 'boat pilot' grunted as he observed the far bank, looking for anyone or anything suspicious. Even in a peaceful setting such as this, he always stayed on alert, as he had been trained to as a young warrior.
Dekar 'Nythrus wasn't a fan of surprises.
Due to the different hand structure of the Sangheili, Dekar was only capable of performing the most basic of jutsu, mostly those that require the minimal amount of handsigns like the henge or the shushin. But 90-something years of exposure to chakra had gifted him with other attributes to compensate and survive in this strange world. It seemed that chakra affects every sentient creature differently, and in the case of the former Arbiter, prolonged exposure had granted him enhanced strength, at least twice that of a regular Sangheili warrior, superior speed and reflexes, and lastly the ability to partially sense other chakra signatures. He would be known as a 'Sensor-Type' amongst the Shinobi of the planet, though it was only limited to those with a certain level of chakra reserves and only within a kilometer at best. (If it was raining, or if he was ill, the range reduced significantly.) Someone with small reserves, like a civilian, an ordinary genin (Naruto was anything but ordinary.), or a medic, could very well avoid his detection. But, a useful skill to have regardless. However, he still wasn't sure if this was the side effects for the Sangheili as a whole or if he was just a particularly special case. In his entire time on Shensei, there had been only three other Sangheili that had been trapped on this world with him to base his theory on, along with a Kig-Yar and a Mgalekgolo.
All of whom were long dead now...
Dekar quickly ceased his trip down unpleasant memories, looking back to his young ward. The boy had enjoyed the trip so far, which he was glad both at this and of being proven right in his suspicions. The boy always seemed to have a change of personality whenever he was around Dekar. Around him, Naruto seemed to be more confident in himself, more outspoken, and relaxed. Whenever he wasn't... Well, getting the boy out of the village, away from the hatred and contempt that surrounded him daily, had been the best thing for him after all. Though they had done minimal training in their traveling so far, it was to be expected. When they stop again, he would have the boy train a little, but right now, he was looking to put as much distance between them and the Hidden Leaf before they realized their Jinchuriki was gone. (Which they eventually would.) If they could get to Uzushiogakure, it's entirely possible that they could avoid any retrieval squads Konoha would send out. It would likely be one of the last places they would think to look. (He wouldn't hold any high hopes, but the possibility was there.) And even if they figured out where Naruto had gone, Uzushio Island was technically considered Dominion Territory, and Konoha had always been hesitant to send squads into their territory without explicit permission if they didn't believe they couldn't avoid detection, despite being allies. The Dominion had never been comfortable with the idea of super-powered humans near a highly populated center, and with Uzushio Island being so close to the Dominion's Planetary Capital...
At the very least, it could buy them valuable time. That all he needed. Just a little time to help the boy sort his mind and properly train him.
"Hey, Dekar."
He turned his attention back to the boy, "Yes?"
Naruto seemed a little hesitant about something but asked, "Do you... Do you think you could tell me another story about mom?"
The former Arbiter blinked, saying nothing at first. This had been going on a little more often than it had in the past. He supposed it was natural that a human boy who never knew his mother would want to know about her, but he couldn't help but wonder if there was something else to this.
"Another one? You do not typically ask for two in one day." Dekar stated.
"I-If you don't want to..."
A soft hiss escaped him. Yes, there was something else to this. Was he maybe doubting himself? Doubting the stories regarding his mother? Maybe his demons had convinced him that she never truly loved him, which he knew wasn't right. Dekar wasn't sure he had ever seen Kushina any happier than when her son came into her life, even with the death of her husband. But it was possible that whatever demons were tormenting the boy's mind had convinced him otherwise. That no one cared about him.
And none of that was true. Even if the rest of the world shuns him, as long as Dekar lived, that statement would never be true.
He entered a deep trance, thinking of a good memory to tell him about his mother. Then, one good one came to his head. Maybe not the best one to speak of, but perhaps one that would satisfy him for a while. He needed Naruto to be focused when they began training.
"Well, let us see..." He delayed, then after a few moments to gather his thoughts, he continued, "Well, there was the time I returned to Konoha and reunited with your mother following your father's death."
"Oh?"
The Sangheili paused for a moment as he reminisced, "It was a calm, tranquil day, barely a little more than a month after the Kyuubi had attacked. Konoha was still recovering from the attack, as many buildings were still nothing but ruin. The sun shone brightly, and the breeze was gently throughout the day..."
"This was during the war, right?"
Dekar nodded, "Yes, and I had just finished hunting down the last couple of Akatsuki members who had been responsible for that attack. I had not taken an active role in the war just yet. I had considered the Akatsuki a bigger threat. Plus, the Rice and Earth Country armies had been stopped far north of Konoha, and it was still uncertain if they would manage to reach Konoha, yet."
"It was... not easy, returning. I never was welcomed completely by the Hidden Leaf, even if I had never wronged it. It was merely my reputation alone that put them on edge. Plus... when it came to your mother... I had always seen my presence in her life as a liability. A danger to her own... I had always reasoned that she was safer from the Akatsuki if I was out hunting them down, continually trying to end their wretched organization, instead of staying by your mother's side and protecting them." Dekar looked off, a distant look in his eyes as he muttered, "In the end, I supposed I was right to stay away..."
Naruto was quiet as he processed this information. Dekar had always been reluctant to talk about his mother's death or the months leading up to it. Whenever he tried to ask him about it, his sensei would merely reply with either, "I failed to protect her." or "Now is not a good time."
'He killed her...'
Naruto swallowed a lump in his throat as his eyes narrowed. No. The Akatsuki killed his mother. They must have. She had been a Jinchuuriki like him, so they must have of thought she still had the Kyuubi inside her. And when they realized she didn't have it...
...
...
Dekar must blame himself for her death. He couldn't protect her when she needed it. And he couldn't bring himself to come back for so long, only until after he learned Naruto was still alive.
'He's lying to you...'
He shook his head. No. No, there had to be a reason behind it all. A good one.
"Child?"
He snapped out of his thoughts and looked at his mentor, who was staring at him with a questioning look.
He muttered out a small "Sorry." before his mentor pointed to a small cove next to the river, trees all around it and three large boulders on the right side. "We'll take a small break, there. After we eat, you will then conduct some training. We will continue this story... later."
Naruto brightened up at this. Not only that but finally, they were going to do some training. And it wasn't going to be a rushed or short lesson, like back in the Hidden Leaf. Dekar could never give out a proper training session back in Konoha, due to the fear of someone discovering him there. He was a good teacher, a bit harsh and strict, but fair and very knowledgeable on both ninjutsu and hand-to-hand combat. However, their lessons were always short and things that typically would have taken a few days, like learning how to climb a tree or a new jutsu, were often taking up to a couple weeks to finished. Still, in spite of the limited time he would have to train, he had made significant progress.
"What are we gonna train on? Some new kind of water justu? Or Earth?" He already knew almost a half dozen for the Water Affinity, along with three and two jutsus for Earth and Fire, respectively. Dekar may not be able to perform them himself, but he had a photographic memory like no other and remembered many of the handsigns for many jutsus throughout his time on Shensei. "Oh! Or is it gonna be a sparing session?"
"You will be practicing walking on water."
That deflated him pretty quickly, "Eh? But... I already know how to do that."
"Knowing how to do something, and being proficient at it are two separate things." Dekar replied bluntly, "It will improve your chakra control the more you practice with it. And one of your biggest faults is-"
"Is my control." the boy groaned, "I know."
"Then that is what we will practice on." That ended the debate right then and there.
1103 AM
They pulled into the cove and grounded the boat on the shore of the small bay, right next to the boulders. Here the shallow water was nice and clear enough to see the bottom, which was maybe four feet deep on average. If Dekar had to guess, they were now perhaps 14-15 miles from Nakatari Town now. He could occasionally hear a boat going by, though usually, most boats didn't go far from their ports of origin when it came to rivers, lest it was a cargo boat, which were becoming exceedingly rare with the introduction of aircraft and motorized vehicles designed for the same purpose.
"So are we going to hunt something while we're here?"
"No," Dekar replied, dropping his henge and returning to his original form as he surveyed their surroundings. He honestly hated being in disguise like that. It always felt... weird being in a form not his own. Removing his hood revealed his faded brown skin and amber eyes scanning their site, "We still have decent provisions, but we will stock up once we reach Nakatari. It may very well be the last chance we get for some time, unless we find a port to leave from."
"We can hunt, too, if we need to. Alright well, I'm gonna go ahead and-" Naruto started making his way towards the water, but Dekar held out an arm and caught him. He looked up at the Sangheili confused, "What?"
"Strip first."
"Wait, what?!"
"Your clothes are not waterproof, and such heavy, baggy clothing will weigh you down if you happen to fall into the water." Dekar explained, "Also, you could bathe after you finish training. We will likely not get many more chances to do that, either."
Naruto wanted to protest, but the stern look from Dekar quickly told him that this wasn't up for debate. With a slump of his shoulders, he started removing his clothing and placing it inside the boat, pulling out a towel from one of the scrolls in his backpack. When he finally got down to his underwear, he turned back to Dekar and asked, "U-underwear, too?"
"I will leave that choice to you."
Naruto, thankful he was being allowed to keep some dignity, walked towards the edge of the water, awaiting his mentor's instructions.
"Channel the chakra to your feet as you normally would and walk out into the center of this cove." Dekar ordered, "I will tell you what to do after you reach it."
Naruto complied with his mentor, slowly walking out into the center of the small cove. He made sure that the chakra was evenly balanced out in the soles of his feet, lest he wanted to go either dropping into the water from too little chakra or go flying off it from too much. Thankfully, the water was calm, which made this easier to do.
"Okay, now what?"
"I want you to perform a water jutsu into the water around you. Mizurappa and Teppōdama should do just fine for our purposes."
"Shoot it into the water? Is this some kind of method to teach me control or something? Also, I thought Gunshot is more of a precision attack not an area of effect. Wouldn't that make horrible for churning water?"
"Yes, to all of your questions. The Gunshot Jutsu will be used to target objects I point out to stimulate you being in a battle over water." Dekar answered, "This body of water is easy for you to walk on because it is fairly level right now. You've had much practice in this regard, but you have always had trouble performing this when the surface is uneven or unsteady. Make no mistake, Naruto, there will be many times where you will find yourself forced to cross vast bodies of water and they will not always be calm like this is. So, by churning up the water and expelling chakra at the same time by performing jutsus..." The Sangheili let the sentence hang there for a moment, seeing if the boy would catch on.
He did. "Then my control will slowly get better because I'm getting used to doing jutsus on water and walking around on uneven water?"
Dekar nodded, earning a smile from the boy as he realized he understood what his mentor was trying to do. "So, Violent Water Wave and Gunshot?"
"Yes. They will more than enough for the purpose of this training. We will add Ice Darts into the mix, afterward."
Violent Water Wave and Gunshot were two of the stronger and more chakra taxing jutsus that Naruto knew, and they were only just C-Ranked. Who knew mid-tier jutsus could be so taxing? Still, they were both excellent for dealing with crowd control. Naruto figured he'd start with Gunshot first. Get a feel for it. "Any idea how many shots I should do for Gunshot?"
"You decide the first salvo. Then, I shall call them out."
"Okay..." Naruto said, more to himself as he tried to decide. Three. He'll start off with three. He started performing the handsigns for the jutsu, shouting, "Water Style! Gunshot!" Then kneads three balls of chakra in his mouth.
"Target the three trees to your right. The ones clustered together around that bush." Dekar commanded, nodding when Naruto pointed them out, "Yes, those. Shoot off a limb from each of those trees."
Naruto fired the three balls of water at each of the trees, knocking off a modestly sized branch from each one as the balls of chakra infused water slammed into their targets at high speed. The branches fell the ground with a crash. Naruto felt the chakra in his feet fluctuate a little, but he managed to stay above the water.
"Again. Target the two trees behind me and knock them down." Dekar ordered.
Naruto was a little hesitant, not wanting to hit his mentor by accident, but complied regardless. "Water Style! Gunshot Jutsu!" he shouted and fired two water balls at the trees at an incredible speed. These two trees were thinner than the ones from before, so the water balls managed to snap them in half with relative ease. But one of the trees, instead of falling off to the side as he planned, snapped to the front and began falling... on top of Dekar. "SENSEI-GAH!" He shouted, losing his concentration as he did so and fell into the four-foot-deep water. Despite falling into the water, he still managed to see what transpired.
There were very few times in his life where Naruto had actually seen the old Sangheili Warrior drawing his sword out. He always told him that in Sangheili society, a weapon is only drawn when blood is demanded, which meant that Dekar almost never drew his sword unless it was to fight or train. Training with swords and weapons was still... a problem for him, and the number of fights Naruto had seen Dekar in could be counted on one hand. So, needless to say, what he saw next amazed him. With but a second's glance at the falling tree, Dekar simultaneously drew a long katana out from under his rob, with a bright silver finish on the blade and a red-orange color mix on the handle, with several Kanjis on the handle. In a split-second, the Sangheili Swordsman spun around and sliced the descending tree in to, falling into a kneeling stance as the lower and upper halves of the tree harmlessly to the sides of him. With a snort, Dekar rose back up and calmly examined the blade, checking to make sure it wasn't damaged.
Naruto only knew a little about the two Katanas that Dekar carried, just that they were both supposedly blades made by the Uzumaki Clan before their demise. They both had the same color and design on them, but they had two different engravings on the blades. Ten no ryū, Heavenly Dragon, which was supposedly his blade made by his mother, had a traditional Edo dragon engraved on both sides of the blade. Bitoku no Kaze, Winds of Virtue, was his mother's blade and had a small engraving of a warrior wielding his katana as the winds seemed to dance around him. Uzumaki Swords were supposedly revered as the finest quality blades in the Elemental Nations, being nearly impossible to break or shatter and were capable of cutting into tough materials like solid rock or even titanium without the slightest chip in the blade, and this was without using their unique ability. Each Uzumaki swords had an Uzumaki seal placed on the blade that allowed the original owner to channel their chakra through the weapon, allowing them to use their elemental affinity through the sword to assist in combat. Dekar unfortunately, couldn't use that particular ability of the sword. Whether it was because he was the intended owner or because he wasn't an Uzumaki or human since it wasn't made to be used by a Sangheili, neither of the two could say for certain.
Dekar supposedly had another blade he owned, somewhere, but Naruto had never seen it, and it wasn't a katana or short sword, from what he could gather. Dekar refused to talk about it for some reason.
"Sensei, you okay?" He shouted as he trod water, his head clear above the water with his 4'11" height.
Sheathing the sword, the Sangheili turned back to the boy, "You lost concentration."
"Wha- I thought you were about to get hurt!" Naruto protested.
"That is not an excuse to lose focus. Things will happen, but you must maintain focus."
"You could have been killed."
"If I am unable to sense or avoid a tree falling on me, then I don't think I would have lasted this long," Dekar replied, almost nonchalantly, if Sangheili could even be nonchalant. Naruto merely grunted in annoyance at him, worried sick for nothing.
"Come back, and try again. But this time, I want you to mix your attacks between Gunshot and Ice Darts. Then, when I tell you to, you will launch a Violent Water Wave next to you. Try to stay on the surface." Dekar commanded. When Naruto managed to swim ashore, Dekar simply spoke, "Begin."
45 minutes later...
"I got it! I got it! NO, CRAP-" Naruto shouted as he went into the violently spurned up water, again, breathing heavily. With each time he performed Violent Water Wave, the jutsu would end up creating waves up to five feet high in the shallow water. Dekar hadn't been joking, this wasn't easy. And he was starting to get frustrated. And tired.
'Failure, as usual...'
He popped his head above the water once more, growling out as he smacked the water in frustration, "Dammit!"
"Language, boy. Vulgarity does not suit you." His mentor said calmly, now seated in an almost meditative posture on the bank. If he was being bothered by the waves splashing onto his lap, he didn't show it. He just sat there, calmly watching Naruto attempt to master walking on the rough mini-waves. With a sigh, Naruto began swimming/wading to shore once more. He chuckled grimly as he realized something.
"What is it?"
"Nothing, just... I just realized that if some big fish decides to try and eat me, I'm screwed on account that you can't swim."
"To my knowledge, any creatures large enough to devour a grown human, let alone a boy, have long since been hunted to extinction in this river. And even if there were any left, they wouldn't come near such shallow, clear water. I think you will be fine." Dekar replied.
"Yeah, but you still can't swim. And don't we have to go over an ocean to get to Uzushiogakure?" Naruto remarked as he got out of the water.
"You appear to be forgetting that I can water walk as well, child."
Naruto just stared at his mentor in annoyance, eyes narrowed before irritably commenting, "You still can't swim." and stomped towards the water once more.
"You are getting angered and impatient over nothing, Naruto. Calm yourself. Clear your mind and just practice. You will get better at this, but these things take time. If we could master any of our training within in an hour or a day, then there would be no challenges to overcome and grow from, leaving us stagnant and lacking true improvement."
Naruto narrowed his eyes in confusion, "I-I'm not sure I follow you, sensei."
"Growth of the mind is just as important, if not more important, than the growth of the body. Your mind is what allows you to develop new ideas and methods to overcome obstacles. Having all the strength and power in the world means nothing if you are as dim as a rock. Concentration and meditation will help you to calm yourself and focus on the task at hand." Dekar explained, barely moving from his spot as he spoke. "Try to concentrate on what you are attempting to do. Focus your mind solely on the task at hand.
Naruto, despite his frustration, nevertheless listened and tried to clear his mind. His closed his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to clear his mind. Slowly, he walked back to the center of the cove, trying to focus on merely staying above the water.
'You won't get it...'
He did his best to block out the voices. Ignore them. Focus on the task.
'You're just going to fail again... You're nothing but a failure...'
Calmly, he did the handsigns. "Water Style! Violent Water Wave Jutsu!"
'A freak like you will never succeed!'
The jutsu slammed into the water once more, creating yet again a series of swells and waves that kicked up the calm waters of the cove. Naruto continued to focus, feeling himself being lifted up by one of the waves. He concentrated on the soles of his feet, feeling the chakra trying to keep his balance on the unsteady surface. There were a couple times where he was sure he was going to fall in, but somehow, through sheer perseverance and concentration, he managed not to sink in. And the next thing he knew, he wasn't being thrown about anymore. He was standing motionless on top of the water as the waves ceased. Slowly opening his eyes, he saw that he had been moved further out of the cove and onto the open river by some 40 feet, but he had done it.
He had managed to stay above the water.
"Yes!" He cheered, finally having done it. Granted, he didn't have it 'mastered,' but the fact he had managed to do it was a big first step. He looked back to his mentor, who nodded in approval. "Good."
"You see that? I nailed it like a pro!" Naruto celebrated. In his mind, he spoke, 'Screw you! You see that? I did that! I can do it!' The voice in his head was silent at his remarks, which only bolstered his confidence. "Better start watching yourself, sensei! Soon enough, I'll be surpassing you!" He gloated. Dekar merely snorted in amusement. Maybe his success was getting to his head a little too much.
"Yes. Well done, mister 'pro.' You may want to return back here, though."
"Why's that?"
"Oops. Too late." His mentor... teased? Was he teasing just then? His rarely uses humor, at least when Naruto realized he was being humorous. Why was he- That's when he heard it.
Turning around, he saw a boat passing by them in the river. A family going on a river cruise. He could see two girls in the boat, both with tanned skin, black hair, blue eyes, and about his age if not a year older. They were both laughing and blushing lightly as they pointed and waved at him, while the older woman, likely their mother, was blushing and trying to cover up her daughters' eyes. And the man piloting the boat, who he could only assume was their father, was glaring at him and shaking his head.
They couldn't see his mentor behind the boulders, but they could definitely see him. And the fact that he was in nothing but his underwear.
Naruto could only stand there, gawking at this crazy circumstance, his facing heating up rapidly with embarrassment as he tried to cover himself. His mind was a jumbled mess, mortified at the fact that he had was pretty much mooning an entire family. He needed to get his clothes back on! He needed to-
"AH!" Was all Naruto managed to yelp out as he lost concentration and dropped into the water, rapidly surfacing and coughing up the river water he accidentally swallowed, gagging at the nasty taste in his mouth. He could hear the girls still laughing as their boat sped off, along with something he wasn't used to hearing. Dekar laughing. "Well done, 'mister pro!' No doubt you will surpass me in no time!" He heard his mentor comment, laughing after he spoke.
He only had one thing to say to that as he slowly, and shamefully, swam back to shore, "UP YOURS!" It only made his mentor laugh even harder.
And that's it for this chapter. Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you thought in the reviews, and I'll see you next time.
-Azores
