Chapter 2

Hakase Shinonome was indeed childish and rather strange despite being an obvious genius. The girl had taken an instant liking to Naruto and was willing to help him, however, she demanded that he bring snacks every time he wanted something; her work wasn't free apparently. Though she made an exception this time. Naruto's jacket had been scrapped along with his pants, Hakase hadn't liked them apparently. The blonde now wore a form fitting white and blue hooded jacket, but with special additions. Hakase made it so that it wouldn't rip or tear. Then there were the fingerless gloves, they added more concentration to the blonde's powers. Finally, there were his navy-blue pants, they had the same properties as the jacket. All in all, the little girl had been very giving. Now however, Naruto was on a rooftop staring at his target. A squad of Konoha shinobi; there were eight on the island and he'd already taken one out. 'Alright, time to work.' he said seeing his ten targets. Jumping onto the ground, he went in as silently as he could. The kunoichi he was behind turned around only for Naruto to quickly put her in a head lock while covering her mouth. A quick jolt put her out, and the blonde continued. Jolt after jolt, he knocked the shinobi out one by one. Trapping them to the ground as he continued. 'That's all of them.' The shinobi on the island still didn't know who was doing this, all they knew was that it was a single person. Going through what files he found, he saw that Konoha planned on occupying the island for good. But first they were going to make sure that there would be no resistance from the civilians or anyone.

The Next Day - Empire City - Home/Base

"Fifty." Temujin said reading the file. "They're going to publicly execute fifty people just to show that they can, this is insane!" he looked to Naruto. "Your Hokage, she-"

"Might not even know about this, for all we know she could've been replaced after what happened; we don't know if she ordered this for sure." He stated. "I have faith that she at least doesn't know about this, but if she does then she really did send me to die." the thought of Tsunade doing such a thing to him was what gave him nightmares; if she really became his enemy then the other rookies would be his enemies as well. "Anyway, with that many shinobi, I won't be able to take them all on by myself; I need help." Temujin wasn't a fighter anymore, Hakase was still a child, and Nano wasn't really designed to fight. The sound of someone knocking on the door made them freeze. Naruto could see a single blue humanoid figure, but there were what looked like gold veins inside of the person. Just like with Hakase, the girl was just like him; this person might be the same as well. Going to the door ready to defend himself and Temujin if needed, he slowly opened it to see a young man of average height with green eyes and medium length brown hair with a cowlick that falls with its weight. He adorned a ruined black cloak. On his back, he carries his weapon's key, a short sword with a chain link tassel at the hilt, in its sheath. "Hi." The blonde greeted.

"Hi." The young man said awkwardly. "Are you, Naruto Uzumaki, the one who's trying to push the shinobi out of Empire City; right?"

"Who wants to know?"

"My name is Tatsumi, and I want to help." He stated.

"Why?"

"Because, I've seen this kid of thing before and I can't just sit back and watch it." He stated. "And, we have something in common; the blast brought something out that was inside of us, I can smell it just like you can see it." Naruto was surprised to hear this. "If you need proof, then let me accompany you to one of your—"

"Stay here for the night, tomorrow I'll see your worth." He said with a smirk, the blonde was excited to see what Tatsumi could do.

The Next Day – Empire City – Warren District

They were all being held in a large pin like animals, crowded together with onlookers shouting for their loved ones; children were going to be executed as well. "So, we free the hostages and then take on the shinobi?" Tatsumi asked wanting to confirm the plan.

"It's all I could come up with since it's just the two of us." he stated. "Now..."

"People of Empire City, today we are pleased to announce that Konoha will officially be occupying all of Empire City!" the man exclaimed with a cruel smirk.

"On my mark." the blonde activated his E.E.C while Tatsumi readied himself to jump, Naruto had told him that he needed to avoid killing them. The blonde had no experience in killing much to Tatsumi's surprise. The man continued to speak.

"And so, we will show you all our conviction!"

"Now!" the blonde exclaimed prompting Tatsumi to jump forward, moments later the man was smashed into the ground by Tatsumi's fist. The attack was followed up by Naruto jumping at the pin that held the hostages. He was attacked instantly. Dodging the first attack, he grabbed the man and threw him into his comrade. More came at him only to be electrocuted while Naruto ran to the pin and reeled his right arm back and punched the pin wall upon getting close enough. The cinderblock wall crumbled moments later, revealing the hostages.

"Run!" he exclaimed. They wasted no time in escaping. The shinobi that were about to attack were sent to the ground by Naruto's fists and axe kicks. The blonde could see the many shinobi that were coming at them. "41 left." he said, their many enemies were now clearly visible. "And they look really pissed." he said getting into his fighting stance once more. Tatsumi took a breath and closed his eyes for a few moments before opening them to reveal his slit pupils. The duo charged forward; the shinobi did the same. Pillars of electricity erupted everywhere, while the ground was smashed. The two were an unstoppable force at this point. Any sort of jutsu that as sent their way was blocked or blown away and touching them was nearly impossible. The massive battle calmed down after nearly thirty minutes of fighting. The two teens were standing among their downed enemies, it really was amazing how they managed to keep themselves restrained as to not kill anyone. "What happens now?" the white-haired teen inquired.

"Well, this was a pretty big operation they just tried to pull and with this much effort; their main base on the island must've taken a pretty big hit along with their supply of reinforcements." He looked around. "That's fifty less shinobi to deal with, we need to restrain them before we leave." He stated. "You did pretty good." He stated. As he helped restrain the fallen shinobi, Tatsumi couldn't help but think about what was going to happen next; this was a major win. But what would the fallout be for something like this, they didn't know what Konoha would do after they found out about this, and what about the other islands? The shinobi there were likely going to be prepared for them, but for now they would have to worry about this island and freeing it from Konoha. "These shinobi, they truly are evil." The blonde stated.

"What could drive someone to follow these orders, hell, who gives these orders and why?" he sighed. "So much pointless killing." He said. But, he knew what kind of person could give such an order without a second thought; that person made him sick to his stomach.

A Week Later – Empire City – Nighttime

It was his turn to patrol in order to make sure there were no shinobi near their base/home; though they agreed that they needed to move somewhere bigger. "I haven't seen anyone in hours, but they are still in a bit of a panic after what happened; not to mention what Tatsumi did to that ship." Tatsumi's power was Dragon Physiology which explained why his skin was so hard to pierce, not to mention he could breath fire along with a few other elements. "It's nice to have someone like me around." He said only to stop, the smell of blood caught his attention; looking to his left, his eyes widened upon seeing his friend; Hinata Hyuga. Jumping down, he ran over to her; still there was nobody around. "Hinata." The girl looked to him with a smile only to wince in pain; she was holding her bleeding stomach.

"Naruto-kun, I-I finally found you." She smiled. "I-I knew you were alive—" she coughed up a bit of blood. Looking down at the wound, the blonde saw that she'd been cut deep by something; a sword or a kunai most likely.

"W-what happened to you, what are you even doing here?" he asked carefully moving her hand. "Hold still, I'll heal you." His hands crackled with electricity. "Hold still." The electricity began to flow through Hinata's wound and body. The girl flinched as the healing process did sting a bit as her wound closed up. After a few more moments, the wound was completely healed.

"Thank you." She breathed out; the fatigue was getting to her.

"No problem, now please tell me what you're doing here."

"I needed to find you, they said that you were killed in the explosion." She stated. "Naruto, things have gotten bad out there, and it's not just Konoha; the Land of Fire has been starting fights with the other Hidden Villages. They're killing civilians in smaller villages and towns as examples." She said. "They're even killing their own shinobi who don't agree with the methods or refuse to fight…" she began to shake in fear. "Naruto-kun, our friends are dead." She said much to Naruto's shock. "Sakura was the first when she tried to leave to try and find you; she refused to believe you were dead. And they…" tears began to stream down her eyes. Naruto held her close to his chest. Hinata had almost died trying to get here, and she was lucky that he found her before she could bleed out; yet the big question remained unanswered.

'What the hell is going on?' whatever it was it was big, and there had to be a reason behind it.

The Next Day – Empire City – Warren District – Home/Base

Hinata was pleased to meet Tatsumi and Temujin; granted they were very surprised to see that Naruto had brought a beautiful girl in last night without their knowing. However, the information she provided now shed light into what was going on outside Empire City; things were going straight to hell. "That's why, you're going with Nano." Naruto said looking to the android.

"But, I want to stay with you!" she exclaimed. "I didn't nearly get myself killed in order to find you, and then just get sent away; I won't accept it!" she exclaimed.

"I'm only doing this to keep you safe until the three of us find a bigger home/base, it's pretty cramped in here with three guys, and only two rooms." He stated. "Not to mention, something tells me that our little group here is going to get bigger." He hadn't checked before, but now was the best time to examine Hinata. The blonde could see the blue outline that everyone had, and much to his relief; her veins were gold. 'Wait, why is it concentrated only in her chest.' All of his, Tatsumi, and Hakase's veins were completely gold. 'Maybe, her powers haven't been activated, but why?' he could only guess that it had something to do with the blast; it must've been what activated their powers. However, Hinata wasn't anywhere near the blast so it would explain why she couldn't use her powers. 'Maybe, there's a way to activate her powers without a city destroying explosion.' The blonde couldn't help, but think about what Hinata's power might be; it was such an exciting thought. The blonde didn't know it yet, but their group was going to get a bit bigger very soon; along with various complications between them.

Chapter 2 End