Alright guys here's the second chapter. As I'm sure tthose who are familiar with 'Raised a Criminal' that these earlier chapters have a lot in common. The only changes I'm making at the moment are for Hidan and Naruto. Menma and Haru's story is pretty much the same. For the time being anyways. Mine branches off completely eventually. Anyways enjoy!
Edited 9/22/16 for grammar issues
* Eight Years Later: Land of Tea *
The streets were paved in bright colors and everyone was out having fun for the festival. Kids played in the streets, wearing plastic ANBU masks. Countless carnival stalls were open with prizes of all shapes and sizes to entice people to come and play. Yes everyone was having fun at the festival, everyone except two people walking through the crowd, completely disinterested in the festival that was going on around them.
One was very short, 4'2'' the average height for a child his age, while the other was a taller man who stood at 5'8''. The taller man was wearing black shinobi pants, a leather jacket he left open, a silver pendant around his neck along with his slashed headband. On his shoulder rested a huge tri-bladed scythe.
The child however wore a plain white t-shirt, black shinobi pants, and also sported a silver pendant, along with black shinobi sandals to finish him off. The child's eyes were a cerulean blue, but the man had violet eyes .
The taller man told his younger companion, "Yo, squirt you remember what you're suppose to do right?"
The boy nodded in response looking at the taller man, "Don't worry tou-san I remember." Naruto stopped and waited as his dad continued walking forward.
Hidan walked down an alleyway to a door that lead to a brothel. Once inside he saw that this place was more of an underground cave than a building, unlike the ones famous in other countries. He was greeted by a woman wearing a blue kimono that showed off her massive cleavage, obviously standing there to warm up new customers. "Hello there master. What can I interest you in?" She asked breathily. Hidan Looked at the woman's cleavage for a few seconds before forcing his eyes away. 'Business first, fun later.' Hidan reminded himself. Depending on how everything went down perhaps he'd come down to pay her a visit.
But Hidan asked the woman, "Has a fat guy happen to come in here? He's a good buddy of mine and I have important message for him."
The woman sighed that he wasn't there for a good time, but showed him through a few hallways. Hidan could hear pants, moans, and screams coming from many of the closed doors, but ignored them completely. Soon they reached room '21'. She held her hand to the door saying, "He's in here." Hidan immediately looked at her and widened his eyes. She inhaled once sharply before passing out under his genjutsu. He caught her and placed her sitting up on the wall. 'Sorry big titted woman, but duty calls.' He turned his attention back to the door. He could hear a few screams coming from in the room, but he kicked a hole through the door big enough for him to stick his face through. "Here's Hidan!" he yelled into the room.
The occupants of the room froze when a chunk of the door flew past. The man got off from on top of the woman he paid and tried to get dressed, cursing and screaming at Hidan all the while. Hidan ignored all his rants and screams, and gave a little laugh at the scene unfolding in front of him. Finally the man was able to get a shirt and his pants on asking, "Who the fuck are you!"
Hidan moved a few steps toward him and drew his scythe from his back as he said, "Your death asshole!" Kaijiro immediately grabbed the prostitute and tossed her at him. Hidan didn't give a shit and kicked the woman, knocking her into the wall, unconscious.
Kaijiro was already running from the room, thinking he got a good head start from his hit man. But that's what Hidan allowed. Hidan left the room and began walking, following leisurely behind the man. Hidan gave a large bloodthirsty smile and thought 'like you could ever outrun me fatass.' Kaijiro busted through a door leading into the building, knocking a kid over as he ran into the alleyway. He took off down the alley, running through so many different twists and turns that he lost track of where he was. He started hitting a few dead ends, forcing him to backtrack. But soon the dead ends became more frequent. He kept running frantically from dead end to dead end until he turned one corner and came to a stop facing a wall. He turned around to back track only to find that the way he came through was gone and he was trapped. He began to pound on the walls and search for a way out, but to no success. Atop the roofs sat Naruto watching the man panic in a crowded street.
Hidan appeared next to Naruto saying, "It seems you've improved in your genjutsu at least. Though I suggest you don't use 'em when fighting someone who isn't a complete dumbass." Naruto agreed and was amazed that he casted such an easy genjutsu on a man like him. An academy student would be able to sense this type of genjutsu.
Naruto replied, "You should catch him now before the samurai in the area try and arrest him tou-san."
Hidan watched a little while longer as the man continued to run into people, knocking a few of them over, thinking he was trapped. "Hehe, shit sure is funny though. It's like watching a retarded walrus have a panic attack!". Naruto gave a little smile at his dad's antics, It made him happy when Hidan enjoyed his work. Six samurais soon came over to check out the commotion and saw a fat man going crazy in the middle of this happy festival. The leader of the samurai squad shouted, "Cease and desist! You are under arrest!"
Naruto dropped the genjutsu at that moment and Kaijiro looked around and saw he was surrounded by samurais and a few onlookers. He didn't understand what was going on. He froze however when he heard a voice behind him, "Got ya asshole…" He turned around and saw Hidan who snatched him up quick. The samurai's saw a man appear behind the one they were arresting, but before they could act both men disappeared. The samurai's started to search the area for the two people they thought they had cornered.
* A few miles away from the festival *
Hidan tossed the unconscious fat man into a tree as Naruto landed next to him, a bit slower than his father but still able to keep up. Hidan took his scythe off his back and the stopped, thinking for a few seconds. In a flash he flipped his weapon upside down with the handle pointing towards the blue sky. "Naruto..." Hidan said in a sorta distant voice. "yes tou-san?" Naruto answered. "Here as a reward for the good work earlier I'll let you use my scythe." Naruto nodded quickly and smiled at his father, carefully taking the heavy weapon from the older man's hands. It was always an honor to use his scythe, it was heavy for the young boy. But, he was getting better at holding it. "We need the fat mans head. We're gonna have to take it back to the client as proof." Naruto took a second to make sure it was positioned correctly before slamming it down, slicing the man's head clean off. Naruto then reached into his left pocket and pulled out a small sealing scroll and handed it to Hidan. "Thanks small-fry." He said taking the scroll out of his hand. Naruto took a couple of steps back as Hidan took a knee and grabbed the man's head then sealed it.
Hidan stood back up and stepped in the man's blood. He started then to move his leg dragging the blood with him until he formed a circle. Then he started again, this time making a upside down triangle, making the same symbol that hung around their necks "Come boy it's time to pray." Hidan said calmly, "Hai tou-san" Naruto replied. Hidan along with Naruto dropped to their knees, Hidan took his pendant in hand, while Naruto put both of his hands together.
Both men didn't speak any words aloud. However in their heads they were both praying feverishly, thanking Jashin for the kill he'd bestowed to them. Hidan broke the silence by speaking "I detest killing in the name of personal wealth, instead of in the name our Lord. However some exceptions need to be made in order for us to be well off…" Hidan picked up the scroll but continue speaking "...Come boy we need to get going, or the head will rot." Naruto quickly finished praying and stood, following Hidan. Both leaving the body to rot in the forest. "What's the plan after we turn in this assignment?" Naruto asked, no emotion in his voice.
"We got one more after this, little place called Hoshigakure in the land of Bears. I'll explain it more later, but it's a interesting mission I didn't want to pass up." Hidan said as he continued to walk in the direction of their checkpoint. "Understood" was Naruto's reply.
Hidan looked down at Naruto and was amazed at his progress thus far. Naruto had stopped showing emotion early on and was almost impossible to catch off guard. He knows that Naruto is motivated when it comes to impressing him. The kid doesn't show facial expressions to anyone but Hidan; and the only one he makes is a smile that he gives Hidan when he's praised. All in all Naruto was an ANBU in terms of emotions, but he still had a long way to go in his training. He took Naruto out and let him kill his first human to get him ready for both the life of a shinobi and loyal Jashinist.
He had killed a wandering merchant, the bastard had been scamming poor families into buying fake cures. The perfect candidate to receive Jashin's divine justice. Naruto took the man by surprise and had stabbed him through his throat, then performed his first sacrifice to Jashin. When Hidan told him he did a good job, Naruto smiled happily at Hidan's praise. Any other time however he just looks like he's uninterested. But that was because he believes he only needed to impress and be active around Hidan, the man whom he's taken to calling father.
* Konohagakure *
Konoha remained a happy, peaceful village even after the Kyuubi attack eight years ago. When word spread around the village that the Sandaime Hokage, Hiruzen Sarutobi, sacrificed himself to seal the monster inside the Yondaime Hokage's daughter in order to protect their village. Some looked at Haru Namikaze as the savior of Konoha, while others saw her as demon. However the respect and awe the villagers felt for the Yondaime Hokage and his sealing abilities soon overrode that fear. A statue of the third kage when he was in his prime was made and set up in the center of Konoha's park. A place everyone visited to pay their respects to their old kage.
At the Academy, students were just being released out of their classes, running around with the excitement that comes with getting out of school. One little girl named Haru came out of the building. She had long blonde hair the color of beaten gold tied into a braid, whisker birthmarks on her cheeks, and cerulean blue eyes that look as pure and clear as a cloudless sky. She wore a blue shirt and long shorts that almost went past her knees . The little girl rushed out of the door and stopped, waiting for her friends to come out. She didn't wait long as three girls ran out of the Academy building heading straight for her.
One of the girls had shoulder length pink hair that was tied in a red ribbon and emerald green eyes. She was wearing a darker shade of blue for a shirt and light tan shorts. The second girl had platinum blonde hair that was shoulder length, blue eyes, two ring necklaces, a peach colored shirt, and black pants. Finally the third girl had dark blue hair in a hime-cut style, with chin-length strands framing her face. Her eyes were pupils, the irises nearly as white as the sclera, with a slight tinge of lavender. Unlike the other three girls she wore an expensive beige color kimono.
The three girls caught up with their blonde friend, following her away from the school grounds. The little pink haired girl asked her friends, "You guys wanna come over to my house?" First to respond was the platinum blonde haired girl, "Sorry Sakura, but my mother wants me to help around the shop a little more."
Haru nodded in reply, "Sorry I can't come over either. My brother is suppose to be returning from a mission today and I wanted to go see him."
The white eyed girl told Sakura, "I'll come over. Tou-san is away on a business trip with my uncle and they won't be back for some time."
"Thanks Hinata." Sakura said, smiling.
Ino sighed "Man.. Haru, Hinata, and Sasuke-kun all have siblings. It'd be nice if I had a little sister." she pouted.
Haru told Ino, "It's good I guess, but onii-san doesn't have time to hang out. When he is home and not on missions he's always training at the Hokage's training grounds."
Hinata nodded, adding, "Hanabi is still too young to really say anything yet. She's only three years old right now."
Sakura said, "Still, I agree with Ino, it would be nice to have a little brother or sister." The four continued walking, talking with each other for awhile before they split up to go their separate ways.
Haru started running to the Hokage tower to go see her dad. Hopefully her brother Menma would be there as well. She made the final turn around the corner and she ran into someone. She fell back with a grunt and quickly looked up to apologize, "I'm so sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going-" She stopped when she realized she ran into Sasuke Uchiha.
Sasuke had raven black hair that spiked out in the back, black eyes, a long sleeve blue shirt with a fan symbol on the back, and white pants. The youngest son of Fugaku and Mikoto Uchiha, he was Itachi Uchiha's little brother. It was known around the village that Menma Namikaze and Itachi Uchiha were rivals ever since they graduated from the Academy the same year, both of them being only seven years old. but Itachi came out as number one, something her brother didn't' bother to worry about. Both got promoted to Chunin at ten years old; the only difference between the two was Itachi accepted his promotion to ANBU captain at thirteen, whereas her brother chose to become a Jounin instead. The two remained as close friends and rivals. Even after Itachi became ANBU he always sought out Menma to have a battle with.
Itachi had dark grey eyes along with black hair that hung near his cheeks to frame his face. He wore his hair in a long ponytail because his hair had a softer flow to it, lacking the spiky style at the back. His skin was also slightly darker. Though, Itachi's most distinguishing characteristics were the long pronounced creases under his eyes. Currently he was wearing his casual clothes which were a black shirt, with the Uchiha symbol embroidered on the back, and black pants.
Sasuke picked himself up and shouted, "Watch where you're going!"
Haru stood up and stared him down shouting back, "Big talk for a shorty like you!" Anime style lighting shot out of their eyes connecting as the two continued to argue with one another. Sasuke stopped arguing when he felt someone place a hand on his shoulder.
He turned around and saw his older brother Itachi smiling at him saying, "Sasuke-kun that's no way to talk to a friend is it." Sasuke looked down and Itachi looked at Haru, "Sorry for my little brother. Where are you off to Haru-chan?"
Haru blushed a deep shade of red before answering him with a worse stutter than Hinata, "W-W-W-Well I-I'm g-g-going t-to my d-d-dad's office to s-s-s-see m-my brother."
Itachi chuckled at the little girl, knowing full well that the Hokage's daughter had a crush on him. "Mind if I join?" He asked Haru, "It's been awhile since I last saw Menma." Haru was still fashioning a blush, but nodded quickly. Itachi looked at his little brother asking him, "Do you want to tag along too Sasuke-kun?"
Sasuke looked at his brother nodding meekly. The three walked to the Hokage's tower with Haru and Itachi talking the whole time. When they reached the Hokage's secretary's desk Haru told her that she was there to see her father. Haru, Itachi, and Sasuke reached the Hokage's office and Haru opened the door without knocking, something her father was used to. She dashed inside and stopped as soon as she opened the door and saw her father at his desk wearing his cloak that she's almost always seen him in. Her eyes glanced to the only other in the room who had long wild spiky blonde hair with some of it kept in a low ponytail, he was wearing the traditional ninja vest and the blue ninja clothes.
Haru immediately ran to him shouting, "Menma-oniichan! Your home!" She grabbed onto him hugging him tightly.
Minato laughed at the scene in front of him. Menma kneeled down to look his sister in the eyes and said, "It's good to see you Haru-hime." Haru laughed every time he called her that. Menma looked up and saw Itachi and Sasuke walk into the room. He greeted both, "Hello there Itachi-san, Sasuke-kun." Minato also greeted them all as well.
Itachi bowed to them saying, "Good evening, Menma-san, Hokage-sama." Sasuke mimicked his brother, greeting both Minato and Menma exactly the same way Itachi did.
"Haru sweetie do you mind taking Sasuke out into the lobby?" Minato asked his daughter. "Daddy has to talk with Menma for a moment." Haru was about to pout, but Menma said to her, "Don't worry aniki will be here when you get back."
Haru sadly agreed and walked out of the room. Itachi nudged Sasuke. prompting him to follow her. Like Haru Sasuke walked out dejectedly, wanting to hang out with his brother longer. Itachi closed the door after they left and walked over to his rival, standing next to him as Minato went over his son's mission report. He leaned back in his chair after reading his son's report and said, "Another lead that turned out to be a dead end."
Menma looked down apologetically, "I thought that this would be the one to, but it turns out the last time anyone saw the kid was two years ago. It's possible that it was Naruto, but I just don't know. Sorry dad."
Minato immediately said to his son, "Don't apologize for this. If this child really was Naruto then there is a chance that he's still out there." They didn't mind talking about this in front of Itachi, since this kind of information was common. Naruto's kidnapping was common knowledge to everyone in Konoha. There were rumors everywhere that some would see a spiky red haired boy whenever someone left the village for a vacation or something else. Itachi had pitched in and when he finished his missions early he would ask around looking for the Namikaze's missing child.
Minato put the paperwork in his desk, "We're getting close though," He told his son "I feel it. For now, though, go home and get some rest. Tell your mother I'll be home later and that I don't have to work late tonight."
Itachi and Menma both bowed politely to the Hokage as they left his office. Itachi walked beside his rival before he asked, "Eight years huh?"
Menma nodded, "Yeah… Eight years since my baby brother was kidnapped from Konoha's hospital." He replied, "My mother blames herself because she said she left the room he was in for a moment to go see if Haru was okay and the nurses said they'd watch him." Menma stopped walking and Itachi stopped as well and looked at him as he continued, "When mom and dad got back to the room to see Naruto, the nurses had been killed and Naruto was nowhere to be seen. Mom keeps saying had she stayed in the room she would've been able to fight off whoever it was who took Naruto."
Itachi didn't really know what to do to really comfort someone, so the only thing he could say was, "Don't worry Menma, you'll find him." Though Menma didn't feel any better, he put on a brave face and went to fetch his sister so they could head home.
* Hokage Mansion *
Haru burst through the kage mansion heading straight for the kitchen followed by her brother. Haru reached the kitchen and saw her mother chopping up some vegetables for dinner, "Hi kaa-san!" said Haru excitedly. Kushina turned around and saw her daughter. Putting the knife down, she kneeled to give her daughter a hug.
"How was your classes today?" Kushina asked.
Haru gave her mother a great big smile telling her, "I did great! Our teacher is Iruka Umino and he's teaching us what to look for in the field to eat when we run out of supplies."
Kushina said, "That's great, I can't believe you're already at the Academy. Before long you'll be a Konoha ninja just like your brother."
Haru blushed and smiled at her mother's remark. Menma sat down at the kitchen table and decided to tease his little sister. "That's the second time you blushed today isn't it Haru-hime?"
Haru turned to look at her brother shouting, "Nuh uh!"
"So Itachi was lying when he saw you blush earlier?" Menma asked. Kushina started to laugh that her daughter already had a crush and it was the future clan head of the Uchiha Clan.
Kushina told her daughter, "Haru-chan why don't you go upstairs and go wash up." Haru didn't' argue and darted off up to her room leaving Kushina and her oldest child.
Menma knew what was coming. Every time he went on a mission that had to do with Naruto she just needed to know. Kushina sat down at the table next to her son, no longer carrying her smile , and asked him, "What did you find?".
Menma tapped his fingers on the table while telling his mother, "Nothing. Turns out whoever that village saw who resembled Naruto was two years ago. There is a chance it was him, but there is another chance it is a kid who looks like Naruto. However a kid with Uzumaki hair is uncommon. Which installs some hope that he passed by." He hated to give his mother bad news, but it was better than getting her hopes too high up. Menma got up to leave, but told his mom, "I'm gonna find him. I'm not gonna stop till I find him." He started to walk away saying one last thing, "Dad doesn't have to work late tonight and he said he'll be home when he can."
Kushina watched him leave. Over the years she still holds the thought that Naruto is alive and well somewhere out in the world. That thought kept her from doing anything drastic and life risking. She got up from the table and continued making dinner for her family occasionally looking out of the kitchen window watching the sunset, "Naruto... Where are you my son?"
* Somewhere in Fire Country *
Naruto was sitting outside a big building in a town as he waited for Hidan to conclude his business with the men inside. He watched as people walked past him, some alone, some holding the hands of young children. For some reason the ones with the children seemed happier. Naruto didn't understand what could make someone so happy to hold their kids hand like that when they see them every day.
Hidan would occasionally buy him scrolls and books to have him read a lot as part of his training. He said it was so he would be smarter than most ninjas, and had even given Naruto ones on human emotions. Yet even after reading them he still didn't understand. He didn't get what love was, friendship, or many other emotions people express to one another. He only truly understood acceptance, like he accepted the fact he's a trained killer, he's accepted that he's killed, but he likes when Hidan accepts him for who he is and expresses gratitude toward him. Or when he did right by Jashin-sama, knowing that even when he did something socially unacceptable. That he was doing right by God, and that would save him a place in Jashin's realm.
That was all Naruto knew and that was all he cared to know. Well...except his hair of course. It stuck out like a fucking sore thumb. Another thing he noticed when in a large group of people. In his short life never once did he see someone else with his color hair. And he began to wonder if it meant something, perhaps he was apart of those clans he read and heard about. Maybe he had the potential to be an even better weapon for Hidan and Jashin-sama. "I'll ask Tou-san when the Time is right." He said to himself.
Hidan was currently counting a case of money, payment for 'taking care' of Kajiro. The man's head was currently sitting on the center of the table for the clients to see. One of the men asked Hidan, "Thank you for your services, but might we ask you for a tiny favor?" Hidan finished counting the money in the case, closing it he looked at the man asking for a favor. "Is it too much trouble… Or could you please dispose of this thing?" He asked referring to the man's head.
Hidan headed for the door saying, "Do I look like the fucking garbage man to ya? What, you want a handy while I'm at it? Dispose of the damn thing yourself." and left the room. As he exited the building he saw Naruto sitting right where he'd left him. Walking up behind Naruto he lightly tapped him with his foot. Naruto looked up and saw hidan was ready to hit the road. He quickly stood up and followed him.
As they walked out of the village Hidan told Naruto, "When we get farther into the woodlands we will improve your taijutsu and pain tolerance. When we get to the one-on-one you'll attack with the intention to kill, or your skills won't improve."
"Hai tou-san." Naruto replied.
* One Hour & Thirty Minutes Later *
Both men had found a good sized clearing, and Hidan had ordered Naruto to pick a tree and attack it. Naruto took the proper stance that Hidan had taught him and began to punch the tree. First he did so slowly, working on rhythm. Then he started to pick up his speed, and when he built both rhythm and speed he started combos. Soon the sound of fists roughly smacking into a tree could be heard throughout the small clearing.
Hidan watched for a moment to make sure Naruto was doing everything correctly. When he was sure Naruto was doing as instructed, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out a small orange book. He walked over to a another tree that was directly behind his apprentice and sat down, resting his back on it. Glancing one more time at Naruto, then started to read.
After about an hour Hidan noticed it was starting to get dark. He stood up and placed his book back into his pocket. 'I should start wrapping this up.' He did a couple of stretches then walked over towards Naruto. He stopped a foot behind the boy and looked at his work.
The tree had noticeable dents from where Naruto's fists had impacted, blood could also be seen on the tree as well. Looking at Naruto's hands he saw tears in the skin from the constant hard contact with the hard tree. Blood was leaking from them albeit not a lot, but noticeable. He could hear the redheaded boy give out the occasional grunt, and his breathing was a little heavy. Quite impressive considering that kids in the academy (at least from his experience) hadn't even started this kind of training. Yet Naruto showed no signs of stopping anytime soon. To say Hidan wasn't impressed would be a lie.
"Alright ya little shit. Time for some sparing. Remember that if you land a hit you get to chow on a cup of ramen got 10 minutes."
Naruto turned immediately and got back into position, and the bloodthirsty nature that Hidan had begun to install into him took over. He then tried to knee Hidan in the head, but the Nuke-nin grabbed his knee to block. While he was holding Naruto in the air Naruto tried to punch Hidan in the head, but Hidan easily tossed Naruto to the ground. Quick to recover Naruto pulled out a kunai and tried to slash Hidan. Naruto was ambidextrous, able to switch his kunai from hand to hand with little loss of skill. Hidan taught him this to better his weapon handling skills, tossed hot coals at his feet to teach him footwork, and kept him training at high altitudes for his stamina and endurance. Naruto was extremely resilient and never gave up so far. Something that Impressed Hidan so much that he could say he was proud of the young blonde.
The little ninja held the kunai in his right hand and tried to stab Hidan, but the masked ninja grabbed Naruto's wrist, stopping him. Immediately Naruto dropped the kunai and caught it with his left hand, slashing at Hidan again. Hidan was quicker, releasing him, and Naruto missed Hidan's arm. Letting out a hiss of annoyance, Naruto kept attacking, switching up his tactics.
He was suddenly stopped when Hidan's hand landed on his head; and he rustled it. time was up. Hidan pointed to the forest saying, "Alright you know the drill." Naruto nodded and headed into the forest to hunt for his dinner tonight. He watched the little eight year old head off into the forest kunai in hand.
Hidan sat down next to a tree where he set down his briefcase full of money and scythe, starting a campfire so they would be ready to eat dinner later. He Picked up his canteen and poured some water into the little cup and pushed chakra into his hand. He felt the cup heat up. When he felt the water boiling (the pain felt a little good) and when he was sure it was finished, he gave a small prayer and began eating. He sucked it down at a decent pace and, when he finished he leaned back and patiently waited for Naruto to return. He frequently used the ramen trick when training Naruto. Ever since he treated Naruto to some a while back and learned of the boy's near addiction to the stuff. Also it was funny to eat it in his face when Naruto was given a task he obviously couldn't achieve. Man it felt good being an asshole.
About an hour later Naruto returned carrying two dead rabbits and a few berries he found in the woods. Naruto began to skin the rabbits carving a few sticks clean to spit the skinned rabbits over the fire for cooking.
Naruto placed them next to the fire and kept an eye on them so they didn't burn. After they were done he grabbed one of the rabbits and gave it to Hidan. After he gave Hidan his food Naruto grabbed his and both men said a prayer to Jashinist for the meal. Then dug in.
Hidan took a big bite out of his rabbit and chewed it quickly, before quickly taking his next bit. "As I said earlier we're heading to the Land of Bears to a little ninja village called Hoshigakure. Some asshole from that village named Akahoshi wants me to help him kill their weak-ass Sandaime Hoshikage." Naruto was a little shocked that Hidan would accept a mission that caliber.
He could see the red heads concern. "Though I wouldn't normally accept such a mission. And sure as hell wouldn't had it been any of the other dick-bag kage's. But, I never heard of no fucking Hoshikage." Hidan told him, "Truth is no one fucking has. The other five great countries do not see this village worthy enough for anyone take the name kage nor a great nation, but they still decided to call the village leader kage instead of chief. Guess they feel confident in the assholes ability. I don't know any ninja from that village that would even be worthy of the title kage. It's a fucking joke really."
"So if this is an assassination mission from that village then...wouldn't that cast suspicion on the ones responsible as well?" asked Naruto.
Hidan started waving his hand around while continuing to explain to Naruto, "Ya, that's where you come in. You'll set up explosive tags around the base of the kage's tower and bury the fucker once I'm done. I'll give you the exploding tags and tell you where to place them accordingly."
Naruto agreed and pulled out his canteen to take a drink of water, and took a big swig. After that the only sound that could be heard was the fire crackling. Naruto looked up to see Hidan resting against a tree, with his eyes cracked open and peering into the fire.
"Tou-san…" Naruto asked quietly, but still devoid of any emotion. "Ya, what the fuck do you want?" was his response. "Why is my hair different from everyone else's?" He figured it was good a time as any to ask. If Hidan didn't know he'd stop thinking about it, no reason to waste time on such trivial matters.
Hidan looked from the fire and to his apprentice, then back to the fire. "It's something Uzumaki's inherent from what I gather. I don't know a whole lot shit about them, when I was young it was close to their downfall anyways. Bastards wanted to keep out of the 2nd Great War, signed their own deaths by doing so. If you want peace you need to fight for it, not sit down like a pussy. They were some good fighters though, outnumbered and they still kicked the shit of Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri."
Hidan shifted a little trying to get comfortable, and then closed his eyes. "I fought one a long time ago, it was a pain in my ass to dodge all those chakra chains. And his chakra reserves didn't help either, but I won of course. Ya, gotta deal out a lot more than that to take out my ass." Naruto gave him a look and started to lightly rub his chin "Chakra...chains?" He said in a questioning tone. "Ya, it's something only the fucking Uzumaki's learned how to do. Takes a lot of Yang chakra, something I don't possess enough of to do it properly. Only Uzumaki's did, with a few exceptions." He looked into Naruto's eyes and said "If you train hard enough maybe you'll crack the secret, eh? Not to mention your naturally large chakra reserves." Hidan yawned then did a few hand signs, and blew out the fire with wind chakra. "Now go to sleep, we have a busy ass day tomorrow." With that silence fell on them again.
'I'll learn how to use those chains one day. I'll become the perfect weapon tou-san.' With that he laid down and put his head on his arms. Quickly falling asleep.
* Morning *
The two ninjas woke up early around five o'clock in the morning. Hidan grabbed his briefcase and they headed out to Bear Country for the assassination assignment. They walked on a main path for a good three hours, passing a farm along the way. Hidan noticed some straw laying around and he decided they should relax there for a moment and make some straw hats incase it rained along the way. Naruto didn't know how to make one, so he watched Hidan make his. Afterwards he quickly caught on and mimicked how he made his. After they finished making their straw hats, Hidan looked to Naruto and
nodded at him to make sure Naruto was ready. When he nodded back both men got up and began their journey once more.
They continued through Fire Country at a kind of slow pace due to all the stops. Apparently there was a ninja going around coning travelers and ninjas around the area were just inspecting and talking to a few people. Thankfully Hidan and Naruto were able to avoid the ninjas, but they had to take the long ways around. Soon they found themselves the only ones on the current path. Hidan noticed ahead of them coming in their direction was a four man ninja squad from Konoha. One of the ninjas both Naruto and Hidan both recognized.
The one leading the group was wearing a jounin vest, but a tattered and torn brown vest rested on top of that one. He also wore a fishnet shirt under, black ninja pants, and black forearm guards. His appearance was somewhat intimidating, a few battle scars on his face, a small black beard, and black hair tied in a high spiky ponytail. If it was one thing Hidan taught Naruto it was to recognize ninjas from as many villages as possible and the reputations behind them.
The four man team got closer and Hidan thought, 'Shikaku Nara, clan head of the Nara. Hidan kept walking hoping to avoid confrontation with this man. Naruto was a bit nervous since Hidan had told him to avoid any and all Konoha ninja no matter what. Of course he never told him why, but Naruto didn't wish to ask. The gap between the two groups grew smaller and smaller until they passed each other, neither group saying anything to one another.
Hidan thought they were in the clear, but stopped when he heard. "Hold it right there…"
Both Naruto and Hidan stopped and turned around slowly they saw Shikaku was looking right at Hidan. Feeling uneasy Hidan started to straighten up, and made sure Naruto was behind him. Shikaku walked up to Hidan leaving a good arm distance between them, he asked Hidan, "Do you know anything about a con artist going around passing himself off as a healer? He's been scamming travelers and we've been getting a lot of reports along this area."
Hidan casually answered, "No I'm afraid I haven't. My son and I are just passing through, trying to get home after a long fishing trip and as you can see we had a stroke of bad luck." He then gave a little laugh, trying to pull himself off as a regular everyday man. "My wife is expecting the both of us home soon."
Shikaku looked and decided to comment on the fact that he had a slash going through his headband, that hung on his neck. "Usually that slash marking means for nuke-nins that they defected from their village."
Naruto moved next to Hidan and started pulling on his arm cloak. Hidan didn't look at Naruto but easily came up with something, "I received the mark when my squad was ambushed by bandits a long time ago. Back when I was a ninja. Now if you don't mind you're making my son nervous and I'd like to leave. If I was a nuke-nin I wouldn't be traveling with my only son. That would put him in danger, so if you'll excuse us we need to get my son home. If not my wife will give me an earful, as a man I'm sure you understand. "
Shikaku kept his eyes glued on the man, "Indeed i do, sorry for keeping you." Shikaku turned around and his team joined him, walking off quickly.
Hidan told Naruto, "Let's gets the fuck out of here." Naruto didn't let go of Hidan's arm and followed him.
* Konoha *
Minato was taking a stroll through the village with his wife Kushina on his arm. They usually took walks like this together in the mornings just so they could get out. Haru was at the Academy and Menma was out and about meeting up with his old teammates, even though he didn't know them very long. They walked around until Kushina said, "I'm a little hungry, how about we eat at Ichiraku's?"
Minato, being an intelligent man, wasn't one to argue when it came to her and ramen. "Okay let's go." he agreed and led her to the ramen bar. It was a small shack restaurant with only six barstools. Kushina moved the curtain's out of the way allowing her and Minato to walk through. "Hello Teuchi-san." Kushina greeted.
An old man in his early forties looked up from making ramen and saw Kushina and Minato. "Oh hello there Kushina-sama, Hokage-sama." Kushina giggled telling him, "I told you already Teuchi-san, just call me Kushina; you don't need the -sama."
Minato said to the old restaurant owner, "She wanted ramen again. So let's just have the usual salt ramen and I'll just have the beef ramen."
"Coming right up." Teuchi said with a smile.
Kushina looked around and asked, "Where's Ayume at?"
Teuchi responded while making the ramen, "Oh I sent her to the market to get some more ingredients and other groceries. She just left so she won't be back for a while."
After awhile the ramen was done and he served it to his two customers. Both Kushina and Minato said in unison, "Itadakimasu!" and they both dug in.
As they ate they noticed someone else enter the restaurant. Minato greeted him first, "Hey there Kakashi."
Kakashi was wearing the standard jounin outfit instead of his ANBU armor, "Hello sensei, Kushina-san."
Kushina also greeted Kakashi, "Good morning Kakashi. How have you been?"
Kakashi shrugged his shoulders, "I've been okay. I saw you and sensei here and thought I'd drop in to say hi."
"That's nice of you Kakashi." said Minato. The three got caught up, talking about things that happened recently, including Haru's advancement in her classes. But her only trouble was she can't get the clone technique down.
Teuchi walked in the back to put some things away leaving the three to talk. Kushina finished her ramen then just sat there looking at her empty bowl. Minato looked over at her and saw her saddened face asking, "What's wrong?"
Kushina sighed asking, "Do you think Naruto would've liked ramen?"
Minato smiled saying, "I'm sure he would, after all you, Menma, and Haru would kill someone for some ramen. Not to men he also resembles you the most."
"He's probably out there right now having himself a bowl of some ramen as we speak." Kakashi added.
Kushina brightened up and said, "Yeah. Well I'm gonna go back home and clean up a little."
Minato stood up setting the money for their meal on the counter saying to Kakashi, "I'll see you later Kakashi."
Kakashi nodded to his sensei and watched the couple leave. Minato decided to walk his wife home before he went back to his office.
* Next Day: Land of Bears *
Naruto and Hidan were waiting at the meeting point for the one hiring Hidan for this job. It was raining and both of them had on their straw hats on. Naruto had drawn a target board on a tree was throwing a few of his shurikens at the target to get his aim down, but was too lazy to stand up and get them, so he waited till they piled on.
Hidan watched as he went through his whole pack of kunais and decided to motivate him. "Oi, keep up the practice squirt."
Naruto got up quickly, ran over to the piled up weapons, and picked them all up off the ground and got serious. He stood up and started to really toss the shurikens at the tree digging them deep into its already scarred trunk. Hidan witnessed how some of his shurikens veered off course and he could see that Naruto wasn't taking the wind into calculation, another thing he'd need to teach him later. They waited for a good hour before Hidan sensed someone nearby. "Naruto wrap it up. The assholes who paid us are here." Naruto did as he was told and quickly ran over to the tree pulling out all the shurikens with all his strength since they were in pretty deep. After he got all of them he put them in his pouch and rushed over to Hidan waiting for their contact.
Hidan saw three men walking towards them. One man had ash gray colored hair tied in a high ponytail, light blue eyes, a baby blue kimono with a long indigo colored vest over that, brown gloves, shin guards, and a blue Hoshi headband. His two followers had a dark blue flak jacket and an indigo colored ninja outfit One of the men had black hair that went down while the other was a large bald man.
The three ninjas stopped across from Hidan with the leader asking, "Tell me are you Hidan the mercenary for higher?" Hidan nodded "Yeah, that's right.". The man grinned saying, "My name is Akahoshi. My two companions are Shiso…" he pointed at the man with hair "...and Yotaka." pointing at the Bald guy with his other hand.
"Okay, now what's the fucking plan?" Hidan asked.
Akahoshi told him, "Let's go to Hoshi first and I'll fill you in then. Please we don't have much time." Hidan looked at Naruto and picked him up and sat him on his shoulder and followed Akahoshi and his men.
Hope y'all enjoyed it. Chapter three is gonna take a little more time. Also I'd like to address something. In the anime Hidan was 22, pretty young guy. However as I'm sure most of you caught, in my fanfiction he's much older. Anyways please leave a review if ya like. Helps me figure out what I'm doing right and wrong. See y'all next time!
Also I'd like to thank ParasiteX12 for being such a big help! Y'all should check her out some time.