Hey Guys! I'm back with an update. First of all, I would like to say a prayer for all the people affected by the Hurricane Sandy in the US. Be safe and Have courage.
I'm uploading the third chapter. Please enjoy!
I was so amazed by the number of reviews I got. It was the first time I got so many. All of you made me a very happy author. :-) Thank You. I normally respond via reply but this time there were so many that I'm replying here, before the story. Although I am sad to say no one got the name of Sparrow right. I hoped the Violet hair might have been a int. The Answer is TADA: Uzuki Yuugao.
So now, on with my replies to all of you who took the time to review.
Simgr101: Thank you. Your words mean a lot. I am trying really hard to write a good story, something that is , non repetetive. Your encouragement makes me want to work hard. I have wondered a lot of times why Sarutobi put up with the council at all. As far as Nagato and Obito are concerned, I haven't thought that far yet, so I can't say anything.
Darkhuntressxir: Heh heh, I know, right?
Darkryus: Unfortunately, no. Thank you for trying though.
Knoteach: I agree with you. When I think of villages like sound, Iwa and Mist, I think the council is pretty lucky to have even a minor role. Sarutobi should just have disbanded the council long ago.
Cloudy Momochi, fanficreader71, Freedomsglowing hand: Thank You. I hope you keep liking my story.
pmiranda13: Thank you. The Hokage face was an inspiration that came when I was trying to imagine the hokage monument in the rain.
fco ala: Unfortunately No. I find it a bit ironic that your profile picture is of the right answer, i.e Yuugao.
TigrezzTail, Shadow Kross: Thank you. Sarutobi will take a stronger stance throughout my story. We will get to see him not allowing any crap from anyone. And about Kakashi, well in the series we can see many times that when it comes to non combat situations, he isn't very smart. I mean anyone could see that Naruto needed more attention than the others on team 7 as his basics weren't as strong in canon. Yet he kept focussing on Sasuke. Imagine if Naruto got similar attention as Lee gets from Guy, what a powerful ninja he could have become. The tragedy with Naruto has been that until Jiraiya, he never got proper attention and even then, Jiraiya must have been doing research for a lot of the time he was with Naruto.
Shadow The Ranger: Thank you for your support.
Maybe2Morrow: Well good for you that I'll spend ample time on Naruto's growth as a ninja. :-)
Well then, let's get on with it then... Enjoy!
Chapter 3: The Chase Begins
The ninja academy used many different ways to teach the younger generations. Some of the lessons were taught in the class, some were more practical based and were taught outside. Today, the ninja academy 2nd year students had their practical class. They were waiting for their instructor on the mountain behind the village. From their spot they had a clear view of the village. The sudden increase in shinobi movement had not gone unnoticed by some. A black haired boy wearing a large coat and sunglasses spoke to no one in particular.
"It seems some event is afoot."
Most of the children around him paid no attention to his observation, but a raven haired boy with mismatched lengths of eyebrows, courtesy of a certain blonde's explosive notes, looked at him. It had been what the boy had been thinking. He looked back at the figures of ninja making their way towards the Hokage tower.
"A lot of ninja are going to the Hokage tower." He agreed with the sunglasses boy. Many girls giggled at hearing the boy speak. Sasuke didn't bother hiding his disgust as he shook his head. A blonde girl used this chance to enter into a conversation with her crush.
"Yeah! My dad is on the council and he was summoned too, when I was leaving for the academy. Meetings aren't called this early unless something big happens." She said smiling sweetly.
Sasuke weighed his options. To acknowledge the girl as a part of the conversation would only be inviting problems, but he was curious and the girl seemed to know something. He finally turned to the girl and asked, "So, do you know what's going on?"
The girl almost screamed in happiness, but she shook her head as she replied, "No, I left soon after he left." Ino was about to speak further but Sasuke turned away and went to talk to the sunglasses boy, his name was Shino, if she remembered correctly. She frowned and went to join the boys. Sasuke frowned as he sensed the girl following him. He had been afraid of this. Now, the girl would stick to him.
"But my friend might know." Ino said as she reached them. This made Sasuke and Shino turn to her with raised eyebrows. Ino felt encouraged and she turned and screamed at her friend who was lying on the grass, under a tree.
"OYE SHIKAMARU! GET YOUR ASS HERE!" Shino and Sasuke shared a look and moved a little away from the loud girl. The ponytailed boy sighed and got up. If he hadn't, he knew the girl would have stomped up to him and disturbed him anyways. To add to his woes, she would have ranted on for quite some time. It was better to fulfill her wishes and then return to his cloud gazing.
"What? It is too troublesome to have you yelling at me like that." Shikamaru arrived with his friend, the Akimichi in tow.
"What do you know about all this?" Ino waved her hand towards the village. Shikamaru sighed as he understood what she was asking. He turned to the boys and moved towards them, to look over the railings at the village.
"It has been really busy from the morning. My dad was walking with me and Chouji to the academy when those white masked ninja came and whispered something to him. He said he had to go and jumped up and went to the Tower. When we were entering the academy, I saw him coming back. He did not look happy. In fact he was frowning, and let me tell you, my dad never frowns. The worst I have seen him is him narrowing his eyes and look bored." Shikamaru said as the others hung on to his words. Shino nodded and added his opinion.
"That means whatever is happening is very serious."
"Do you think there is a war?" a new voice asked. They turned to see a pink haired girl had come up to the group and was standing next to Ino. Ino put an arm around her and introduced her.
"This is my friend, Sakura."
The boys gave her a nod as she blushed, looking at Sasuke.
"I think that is highly improbable." Shino answered the girl's question. "A war is usually preceded by a tense environment for some time period. We have not heard of any such thing in the past few days."
Sasuke nodded and added, "If it was war, they would also make an announcement to the civilians and there would be an increase in the village defense."
Another boy walked up to them, with a white dog resting on his head. "What are you guys talking about?" He asked.
"Were just trying to guess what is up with the village today." Chouji replied between bites.
"Yeah, I was wondering about that. Almost all Inuzuka clan ninja have been called. Even the Genins. Also, the dogs whose partners aren't available have been called anyways." Kiba said.
The others digested this new information. Shino glanced down to the village.
"I also saw many of my clan members going to the tower." He said.
"Ano- many Hyuuga branch family members have also been summoned. Even those who are not officially registered as Konoha ninja." A voice came from behind the tree near them. The children turned to see the young Hyuuga heiress peeking from behind the tree. Ino signaled the girl to join them and the girl slowly made her way to the group.
Shikamaru sighed as he looked up at the clouds. "I think I know what is happening." He said slowly, thinking.
"What?" Sasuke asked. Even the girls looked at him.
"It seems they are going to search for someone or something." Shino answered. Shikamaru nodded.
"How can you say so?" Sakura asked.
"They are calling Hyuuga, Aburame and Inuzuka clans. Even those who are on leave. These clans are usually part of Tracking units." Shikamaru answered the girl.
"Is someone dangerous on the loose?" Ino asked. Sakura looked a little scared at the thought. Sasuke's thoughts went to the man who had killed his clan. His eyes narrowed.
"I don't think so." Shikamaru shook his head.
"Why?" the Hyuuga heiress asked.
Shino answered, "Because even genin teams are being deployed. If it was someone dangerous, genin would not be part of the mission."
"Probably some High profile civilian got lost or some kid from a big family ran away." Shikamaru yawned. He really wanted to take a nap.
The children were still talking when Iruka-sensei arrived. Shikamaru raised his eyebrows.
"Weren't you on leave, sensei? Did they bring you out of leave too?" he asked.
Iruka looked at the Nara surprised. He was even more surprised when Shino asked, "Who is the search for?"
"How do you know all this?" Iruka asked his students.
"So there is a search?" Sasuke smirked.
Iruka realized that he had been played. He looked at Shikamaru and the ponytailed boy shrugged.
"Wasn't hard to figure out, with all the tracking ninja being called."
Iruka understood and felt his chest swell with pride at his students. However, he couldn't tell them their classmate had run away after their teacher tried to kill him. They would find out later, but Iruka wasn't going to be the one to tell them.
"Never mind that." He said. " Just know that you can go home, academy is cancelled for today."
The children tried to argue but thought better of it as he glared at them. Iruka looked towards the Tower. Please find him safe and sound, he thought .
Sarutobi stood on the roof of his tower as he gazed at the hundred odd ninja standing before him. Only Jounin and the Chuunin team captains, along with nine squad of his ANBU. This was going to be the largest manhunt organized by Konoha . He walked to the stone dais created by his ANBU general's jutsu to stand a little higher.
"As most of you know by now, you have been called for a search and retrieve mission. What you do not know is your target. I am going to tell you now. Your target is Uzumaki Naruto." He began.
The ninja who knew of Naruto and the Kyuubi were shocked. Others were wondering why such measures were being taken for a single child. A troublemaker, at that. But they did notice their seniors stiffen at the name, so they stayed silent.
"Further strategy will be explained by Nara Shikaku." The Hokage said as Shikaku climbed up the steps to stand next to the Hokage.
"The detailed assignments will be given in the mission office, but I will explain the general strategy. The immediate area around the Village will be assigned to Genin teams with tracking experience. They will not be accompanied by their Jounin instructors, but by two chuunin for tactical support. They are unlikely to enter a combat situation." Shikaku explained. All the ninja present nodded.
"Genin teams will not go beyond a day's travel. The area after that will be assigned to groups of four chuunin. A team that doesn't have a tracker will be assigned one. These teams will go up to the border of the fire country. For the area outside the border, one jounin along with two trackers will be assigned for ally countries. Two man jounin teams and trackers will go into neutral countries. The ANBU teams will go into enemy countries, where stealth is of importance, and chances of combat are high." Shikaku finished as the Hokage stepped forward again.
"Remember, we are searching to retrieve, so force is not to be used when dealing with Uzumaki Naruto. He ran away because someone tried to kill him and almost succeeded. He is scared and paranoid. He believes that he will be eliminated as a nukenin. So it is highly probable that he will try to flee on contact. Try to impress upon him that you do not mean him any harm, and are under my orders to bring him back to me. Also inform him if he listens that the man who attacked him has been taken into custody and will not be bothering him ever again."
The shinobi nodded. All this was news to most of them. Somebody had tried to kill the demon brat? And he was in prison? Also, if rumors were to be believed, the council's powers had been reduced after they tried to protest. It was easy to see that the Hokage was angry. If anyone tried to harm the brat during the mission, the Hokage was sure to deal with them severely.
Sarutobi looked at his shinobi forces. He knew that none would dare to harm Naruto for quite a while now. All he could hope was that they find Naruto safe and bring him back. He nodded to Shikaku and left the stone dais. The rest could be handled by the mission office and Shikaku. Sarutobi made his way into his personal resting room next to his office and sat down in his easy chair.
It was two hours later when he observed teams beginning to leave the village. He glanced at the clock. It was already one in the afternoon. According to the report by Dog, they had left the boy after midnight. Iruka's letter showed that Naruto had spent some time in his attacker's apartment. That meant Naruto could have left any time after two in the morning. That would mean, he had an eleven hour lead. Another factor was that they weren't sure in which direction Naruto had left. By the time they managed to pinpoint the direction, Naruto would have gained another hour. Sarutobi sighed, but he knew that now it was out of his hands. He could only sit and wait for news, hopefully favourable news. I hope he isn't in any enemy territory, Sarutobi prayed as he began his wait.
Dog and his team were returning to their last checkpoint for the tenth time. He was frustrated by now. The heavy rains the night before had all but washed away the scent of their target. Even his ninken were having trouble sniffing out the boy's tracks. It was already sixteen hours into the search. He heard on the radio that other teams were not faring any better. Suddenly, a voice rang out on his head set.
"All ANBU teams within range, move to rendezvous point SX-1010."
Crane jumped up to his captain, waiting for instructions. Rendezvous point SX-1010 was an ANBU code for the narrow path leading to Kannabi Bridge. Dog stiffened. It lead to the place where the ANBU had lost his best friend. More importantly, that is the direction of Iwa, Dog thought as he nodded to his squad and they began moving towards the rendezvous point. After a while, they heard the message being repeated without the ANBU code, meant for Non-ANBU teams.
In a little while, they were joined by the other teams moving towards the destination mentioned on the radio. Out of the seven teams moving together, only two were ANBU, the rest were Jounin teams and one Chuunin team. In an hour, they reached their destination. As they skidded to a stop, Dog noticed that their group wasn't the only one that had answered the call. He could see Ferret's team along with a group of jounin teams. He beckoned Ferret as the others acknowledged their arrival. Ferret disappeared and reappeared in front of Dog. He pointed to a team with three Aburame in it.
"Their bugs made positive ID on the target's signature a little distance back. They radioed their location and followed the trail here. The scent goes into the river. That's where they lost the scent."
Dog nodded. He understood why the team had called for backup. It was confirmed that the boy had passed through here, but further path taken was unknown. He looked up to the sky. He could see black clouds in the distance into Earth country.
"It seems it has not stopped raining ahead. It will make tracking all the more difficult, but with Iwa patrols taking cover, we may be able to infiltrate faster." Ram said as he came up to stand with the other squad captains.
"We need to reevaluate our strategy." Dog spoke. The other two nodded. He turned to see that all other teams were looking at the three ANBU captains standing together and talking, waiting for further instructions, as they were the highest ranked officers in the field. Ram made a gesture with his hand, calling the jounin team captains. Dog waited as the captains arrived.
"It is now confirmed that the target passed through here. It seems that the boy is going into the Earth country." Dog informed the newcomers.
"Is he going to betray us by going into Iwa?" one team leader asked. The others pondered at this idea for a few seconds, until Dog spoke up.
"I don't think so. He is an academy student. There is no way he knows where Iwa is. Even rookie jounin aren't aware of that fact. No, if we remember Hokage-sama's words, he said that the boy expected to be pursued. He was under the impression that he will be pursued to be eliminated as a nukenin. It is only logical from his point of view to go into an area where his pursuer's movements will be hampered and he will have a natural defense in the form of enemy patrols that will delay and maybe even eliminate the threat." Dog said as he shook his head at the Jounin's question.
"Assuming he has the brains to think like that." Ram offered. "From what I've heard, he is a no good troublemaker."
Another jounin captain shook his head and sighed, typical of his Nara clan. "Oh he has brains, no doubt. His traps and pranks are really well thought out. In our clan, chuunin are taught his better traps and sometimes when a jounin discovers one without setting it off, we use it to test those chuunin."
Others looked surprised at this piece of information. The Nara shrugged, "His traps are that good." He looked at the others and continued. "The part of the brain used for planning is used for any and all planning, not for certain areas only. In this case, it is highly probable that he anticipated our actions and planned for this possibility." The others stood and digested the Nara's words.
Ram was the first to speak, "Taking this knowledge into account and adding to it the fact that the target had a twelve hour lead on us. It has been eighteen hours since the search began. A child like him would have taken nine to ten hours to reach this place."
"At least twelve." Ferret interrupted. "He would have stopped to rest at least two times. He is an academy brat, after all. It's not like he could have been running non-stop, is it?" Most of the captains chuckled ignorantly. Somewhere far away, Naruto sneezed.
"Twelve, then." Ram acquiesced. "That puts him at around a eighteen hour lead. Taking into account the planning before we move out and factoring in Iwa patrols and other variables, like losing his tracks, he moving away continuously, I estimate at least a twenty hour search before one of us finds him."
Dog nodded and spoke, "While in Earth country, if we run into patrols, try not to kill. We don't need this causing a war."
The others nodded. Now they needed to make a strategy.
Finally, after twenty minutes, the captains broke apart and moved to their teams, except for dog. Among the ANBU captains he was the most senior as he had held the captains post the longest, so he was put in charge.
"We have decided that the jounin teams will be joining the ANBU going into enemy territory. All of you are capable of handling yourselves. The chuunin team, however, will stay behind and try to call for any more teams in the vicinity. We will leave our plan with you. If any more jounin or above teams arrive, appraise them of the situation and tell them to read this." Dog threw a scroll to the chuunin team captain. "Any chuunin team that comes will go back and try to round up more jounin teams and send them here. This is going to be our base of operation from now until we return with the target." The chuunin nodded. Dog continued, "The team captains will brief the rest on the way. Move out."
In a whirlwind of leaves, only the chuunin team remained in the clearing.
Naruto tried to push the feelings of remorse back as he ran. He had cried for the first few hours as he ran, then had hiccupped for the next two. It had taken all his determination not to turn back when the sun had started to shine on his head. He had run all day and all night. The rain had been going on sporadically, on and off. Before he had the chance to dry in the sun, it would start again, drenching him again. For the last seven hours, there had been no dense forest to take cover in. There had been some trees, but not dense like the woods around the village. For the past thirty minutes, he had been running on open plains. From what he remembered of the map he had brought with him from his teacher's place, he was already in Earth country. I'm just thankful that I haven't run into any enemy.
Naruto had barely finished this thought when he saw blurs appear on both his side. He skidded to a stop. So did the blurs. These blurs turned out to be Iwa shinobi. They were wearing red flowing robe like thingies, like the Hyuuga, except these guys' robes had only one sleeve. Naruto cursed inwardly. He saw there were four shinobi. They were looking at him with frowns, all of them in defensive positions, surrounding him. Naruto did what he always did when people frowned at him. He gave them the biggest grin he could muster. This threw the ninjas off for a second before they regained their composure.
"Hello! Heh…heh." Naruto said grinning as if he had known them all his life.
"Who are you?" the woman in the group asked him, not harshly.
"Naruto." Naruto replied as he puffed out his chest in a comedic fashion. The woman disappeared in a blur and he felt someone smack him into the ground. "OWWW!" He yelped as his face met the ground. "What was that for?"
The woman looked at her comrades and shook her head. "Not a henge. He is definitely a kid." The others relaxed a bit. The woman stooped down and lifted Naruto back onto his feet, using the straps of his bag pack.
"There you go kid. Sorry about that, had to check. But no harm done, right?" She asked as she dusted him off. Another shinobi came forward. This guy had an eye patch and he was still frowning. The kid looked too much like the man who still plagued his nightmares even ten years after his death for him to be comfortable.
"Who are you kid?" He asked again.
Naruto still had his head in his hands as he rubbed the sore spot. He looked up and said, "Naruto, like I said the first time."
"Full name." The man growled.
Naruto's eyes widened in understanding. He straightened as he again puffed out his chest and said with pride, "Uzumaki Naruto."
All shinobi exchanged glances. Most of them had heard about the clan. It had been their village that had destroyed them after all. Other than a few stragglers, none remained of that clan. This boy was probably not a full Uzumaki, maybe only a quarter or half as he didn't have the trademark red hair. Also, his face had weird marks on them. They were too symmetrical to be random scars. They were probably some clan markers. The woman asked, "So, Uzumaki Naruto, what are you doing here?"
Every shinobi noticed as the child's face fell. The sadness in his demeanor was apparent as his eyes watered. Naruto looked down as he replied softly, "I ran away."
The kunoichi couldn't help it and she put an arm on the boy's shoulder as she knelt in front of him. Naruto looked up to see her peering into his eyes. "Why did you run away?"
Naruto fought back tears as he replied, "Everybody hates me there."
"What about your parents? Surely they will worry?"
"I have no parents." Naruto replied, his voice breaking. The kunoichi's eyes softened and she pulled Naruto into a hug. Naruto was surprised, but he let her hug him.
"Where are you from?" the eye patch shinobi asked.
Naruto decided to lie. "A village, ten hours away from here."
The other, thin shinobi felt sorry for the boy. One asked, "What were you planning to do?"
Naruto looked up and said in a pitiable manner, "I don't know."
All the shinobi felt sorry for the boy. They had just met the kid, but they seemed to want to help him, in spite of his resemblance to a certain dead Konoha shinobi. The ninja with the eye patch growled as he said, "He looks too much like the yellow flash. I don't like it."
The thin ninja rolled his eyes as he replied. "The yellow flash has been dead for ages now. Seriously, you old geezers need to stop pissing your pants at the mention of his name. What's the big deal?"
"You little punk. You don't know what you're talking about. I saw him take out my entire platoon before the leader had time to order a retreat. I only survived because I fell down in fear and had the sense to play dead. Although sometimes I think he knew I was alive but let me go."
Naruto looked on, confused. He didn't understand anything the shinobi were talking about. (he didn't remember the moniker given to his favorite Hokage.) He didn't know any yellow guy, although he was curious as to how the yellow guy looked. Was he all yellow or just yellow eyes and face? He stopped paying attention to the talking shinobi as he tried to imagine the yellow guy. He then noticed that one guy wasn't really offering anything to the discussion. He stood differently from the others as well, with an unspoken authority about him, like the Hokage jiji stood when Naruto was sent to him after he had done something wrong.
"Worst case scenario, he is some bastard child that the yellow flash fathered in a brothel before he died. Even if he is, the boy is no yellow flash." Then the thin guy started laughing. The others gave him a questioning look. "Imagine if he became a Iwa nin and met some Konoha nin when he became older. They would shit their pants at the sight of him. They'd think we'd managed to clone the yellow flash." The others also laughed. But the woman suddenly stopped.
The woman turned to her comrades and said slowly, "Maybe we could take him back with us to Iwa."
Naruto looked up at the woman and then at her friends. Suddenly he understood what the woman was asking her friends. She wanted to take him back to her shinobi village. Naruto was thinking furiously. These guys don't seem too bad, they are even considering taking an unknown kid back to their village. He looked at the group again. But do I want to go and become an Iwa nin? If I do, I will become an enemy of Konoha. His heart became heavy at the thought. Then he remembered something else that made him sad. But they already want to kill me, so with these guys I might be safe. I guess I'll figure it out later.
Naruto knew that if he didn't show any response, he would look a little suspicious. So he decided to act as if he was interested.
"Really?" He asked. The woman smiled as all the sadness suddenly evaporated as they watched the boy look at them with excitement. "Please say yes, shinobi-san." He turned to their group leader. The Iwa nin was surprised as the boy looked at him with puppy dog eyes. Must resist, he thought. But the damage was done. Also, he knew the kunoichi. She wouldn't take no for an answer.
"Fine." He said. The kunoichi smiled. The Iwa nin also noticed how the kid had automatically turned to him on instinct. No one had told him that he was the squad leader. He hadn't even spoken yet. Perhaps the kid was going to be worth the trouble. He would probably have to do something about the orange jumpsuit though. It was because of the orange outfit that they had seen the blonde from quite far.
"Yay!" The blonde jumped around, doing what they could see was a victory dance. Then he turned to him and said, "Ano se- Ano se, shinobi-san, will I be taught all the cool moves you ninja do with chatara?"
All ninja looked confused. He asked, "Chatara?"
Naruto looked at him in surprise. "You know, the stuff needed to do jutsu? The energy-ttebayo?" he asked.
"-ttebayo?" the ninja looked at him funny.
Naruto's face went red as he said, "I sometimes add that to my sentences when I'm emotional-ttebayo."
The kunoichi burst out laughing. "I think he means chakra." She laughed. Naruto looked at her with a confused expression.
"I'm pretty sure it was called chatara." He said.
This made the others start laughing too. Naruto just shrugged. This made the others laugh even more.
"What's so funny, shinobi-san?"
"You are, little fishcake." The Kunoichi chuckled as she ruffled his hair. Naruto liked how she did it. "And if you're coming with us, you're going to have to stop calling us shinobi-san. Use our names instead. My name is Iwataru Kaname. The guy with the eye patch is Douzu-san." She pointed. "The thin guy is Jenshu Riatou. Our squad leader is Iwataru Souske. He is a jounin." Naruto looked at her and then at the team leader.
"Both of you are Iwataru? Are you brother and sister? You don't look similar." He asked as the leader sputtered and the others laughed. Naruto wondered why. It was true after all. The kunoichi had light brown hair, chocolate eyes and soft features. The jounin had pitch black hair, black eyes and a pointed chin.
The kunoichi ruffled his head again as she shook her head. "No, little fishcake. There are other ways to have the same name." she smiled.
"Like what?" Naruto asked, tilting his head to the side.
"We should leave now." The jounin cut in quickly. Naruto shrugged as the other two sniggered again.
"Okay then, little fishcake. Keep up." Kaname patted the boy's shoulder. The odd little group of four shinobi and a little boy started running.
They had travelled till it was nearly dark when they decided to stay in the next town for Naruto's benefit. Energetic or not, he was a kid and was bound to get tired. The entire way had gone by with Naruto asking questions non-stop. All the shinobi were amused at the boy's thought processes. They couldn't understand how he had gone from talking about water jutsu to some place called Ichiraku. When they asked him, he replied, "When you told me about water jutsu, I thought it was awesome. So my mind asked me what else is awesome? Easy, RAMEN! The best ramen is Ichiraku's." Once again, the shinobi laughed and Naruto had no idea why. He was just happy that the others were in a good mood. It was rare to see someone laughing with genuine amusement by something he did.
Souske noticed that his wife was getting very friendly with the boy. Even he had to admit, the kid was interesting. Normally, cases like his were handled by the chuunin in charge of training foundlings or orphans. But, he could see that Kaname was not going to let that happen. He was going to get bullied into looking into the boy's adjustment into the village. He wouldn't be surprised if she offered to let him stay at their house, the way the two were behaving. What do I care? The mansion has enough rooms as it is. At least it will be interesting with him around ,he thought.
Their slow trek back, to accommodate for the speed of their new member was going fine until another team of shinobi appeared beside them. They looked a bit harried. Their leader spoke quickly.
"There are reports of sightings of multiple teams of Konoha dogs inside our borders. They are coming in quick. We have already lost contact with two border teams. We are to go and check it out."
Naruto stiffened on hearing this. Jiji sent out people after me so soon? More than one team it sounds like.
The other squad members looked at Naruto.
"Who is he?"
Souske replied, "An orphan. He wants to be a shinobi. We were taking him back home."
The other leader nodded. Events like these were uncommon, but not unheard of.
"But he can't come with us. It's likely that we will get into a fight."
Kaname nodded and beckoned Naruto to her side. She took out some money and passed it to the boy. "Take this, little fishcake. Go straight in the direction we were going in. There is a small town there. Get something to eat. Ramen, if you want. If it's late, rent a room and go to sleep. Get up and go outside in the morning. We will be back in a few hours. We'll pick you up from there tomorrow." She smiled gently at the boy.
Naruto knew that he couldn't afford to do that. If Konoha ninja were after him, he had to get away and fast. Even though he really liked the nice lady, he didn't really want to become an Iwa shinobi. Somehow he knew he didn't.
Naruto nodded but asked, "How will you find me in that town?" Kaname smiled and ruffled his hair one last time. "Trust me kid, I'd spot you a mile away."
Then, the Iwa shinobi rushed to their borders.
Dog chopped another Iwa nin behind his neck, and moved to the next one. This was the second patrol they had run into, or his ninken had run into. This team had dogs as well, so they had been found out. One of the dogs had managed to run away, probably to warn other teams. It was already sixteen hours since they had broken away from their base back in fire country.
Crane appeared behind him and said, "Should we take a different route? There will be others now that the dog got away."
"No. We have his scent right now, although it is faint. If it rains again, we might lose it altogether." Dog shook his head. "We need to continue on this path as fast as possible." Crane nodded. The ANBU left their opponents on the ground and raced forward.
After an hour or so of running, the small dog leading the chase stopped, causing the ANBU to halt as well. Dog looked at his summon and asked, "What happened? Did you lose the scent?"
The dog looked back as if offended. "No. The wind just brought a fresh set of scents. eight people travelling towards us and quickly. Probably two teams moving together."
Dog sighed as he thought, not again. I guess we'll just be done with it quickly. He turned to his squad and ordered.
"Crane and I will burrow underground. Raccoon, make a genjutsu to hide yourself and sparrow. We'll do it quick and easy."
"Wait a minute." The small dog said as it sniffed the air again. "I think- yes I'm sure, there is also the scent of the target mixed with their scents. It is faint, but it is there."
All four ANBU turned to look at the dog on the ground. Sparrow asked first, "You mean the boy is coming towards us with the enemy?"
The dog shook his head from side to side and replied, "No, the smell is too faint for him to be with the group. It is a second hand smell. Someone in that group had close contact with the boy."
Dog nodded and turned to his team.
"Restrain them only. We will need that one conscious to interrogate. The others nodded.
Souske was the first to notice the assault. He shoved his wife out of the way as a wood prison came out of the ground and caught three of them in it. The other team's leader was caught in a genjutsu along with his team as more wood came out of the ground and bound their hands apart, stopping them from doing seals. He saw in dismay as Kaname was attacked by an animal masked ninja. ANBU. The sight filled him with terror. There was no way his wife would survive against one of the Elite Konoha killers. Even less experienced jounin were advised to avoid engaging the Leaf village's Assassination Squad. He saw his wife slam into the ground and wood come out of the ground to bind her there.
He tried to break his bonds but they were very strong. As he struggled, another piece of wood came out and rammed into his stomach. He fell to the ground, gasping. He saw a dog sniff the air and then swiftly move next to Kaname and announce, "This is the one who knows what we need."
Souske watched with wide eyes as the wood shifted to lift Kaname into a sitting position. He felt fear like he had never felt before as he saw an ANBU move towards her. He saw her try to struggle, but it was futile. He finally found his voice.
"GET AWAY FROM HER YOU BASTARDS! FIGHT ME, LET HER GO!" he yelled. The ANBU stopped to glance at him. Yes, come at me, forget about her. He thought. But after the glance, the ANBU started to walk towards Kaname again.
"NO! ASK ME WHATEVER YOU WANT, LET HER GO! IF YOU TOUCH ONE HAIR ON HER HEAD, I SWEAR I WILL KILL YOU EVEN IF I HAVE TO FOLLOW YOU TO KONOHA. I WILL BURN YOUR VILLA-" Souske was yelling, but another wood arm came and slammed into him, but this time to his head. Kaname…. Was his last coherent thought as he fell into the darkness.
Kaname watched as her husband fell to the ground, unconscious. She turned to look at her captive with fear in her eyes. They had run into ANBU of all opponents. The torture department of the ANBU was very well known, along with the names of its skilled ninja- the Morino clan. She shook as she resolved herself not to scream. She wouldn't scream, even if she went mad with the pain. Funnily, all she could think was that Naruto would be waiting for people who would now never come.
Dog stepped up to the woman and shifted his mask so that he could slide his hitai-ate up from his eye. Then he looked into the woman's eyes and she fell limp.
Kaname woke as she felt some one shaking her. To her relief, it was her husband, stooping over her with tears in his eyes.
"I thought you were going to die." He rasped out as he pulled her into his embrace.
"I'm- I'm fine." She managed to say as her husband tried to squeeze the life out of her with his bear hug. She patted him on the back as she asked, "What happened?"
Raitou came to stand by her and said, "Just as I thought they were gonna start the interrogation," he avoided the word torture for her sake, "Reinforcements arrived. Three teams with a dog. Those konoha bastards left you and ran. The teams gave chase. One of them broke us out of the wood thing. We came to you but you were unconscious, perhaps from the shock. Then we woke him up" he nodded to Souske. "and then you know." He finished lamely.
Kaname laughed a shaky laugh. She had been saved- no they had been saved. She tried to stand, but her knees were still shaky. Souske put his arm around her to steady her. She looked up at the sky. It had gotten dark but it still wasn't late. She turned to her husband and smiled. "I guess we should go and pick the little fishcake now" she said.
Souske nodded absent mindedly. She smiled as she saw how shaken her husband was to see her get captured. She gave him a quick kiss. He looked at her and asked, " What was that for?"
She smiled as she answered, " For loving me so much." She then laughed as he went red. She moved out of his arms and said, " C'mon, let's go."
They made good time as they made their way to the town. The other team had come with them as well. Kaname felt relieved knowing that her comrades were with her right now. The experience of almost being tortured had left her emotionally weak. She didn't show it but she would have been a little afraid if the others had wanted to join the teams giving chase to the ANBU. She looked at her husband running beside her. She would ask him for training when they got home. She would apply for a break from missions and train until she regained some confidence.
As they reached the town, she asked a passerby where the best Ramen restaurant was. She made her way to where the man had pointed her to and sure enough, orange assaulted her eyes. She smiled as she called out, "Hey, little fishcake. Over here." Naruto did not turn to look at her.
Suddenly she noticed that she couldn't hear the noise of the crowd anymore. She looked around and was scared to see that she was alone. None of her teammates or her husband was beside her. She turned towards Naruto again, but standing in front of her was the same ANBU who had been about to torture her. She felt fear creep up to her heart as she looked into the black holes for eyes in the mask. She saw something red for a moment before the dark swallowed her whole.
Kakashi lowered the cloth over his eye as he moved away from the limp woman. From what he had seen, Naruto was not a prisoner. In fact, the woman had been worried for the boy. Not worried like danger worried, but worried as a mother would worry for her child who had gone alone to the market. She had even known to find the boy at a ramen stand. What exactly was the nature of her relationship with the boy? Surely they had met only a few hours ago? Was the boy truly going to betray them to Iwa? He shook his head as he reminded himself that he needed to find Naruto first. He could play twenty questions with himself later.
"The target is in a town a couple of hours from here. Raccoon, put her in with those guys. Sparrow, make sure they don't wake up anytime in the next 24 hours. Then we move out." The ANBU nodded as they completed their orders, then with renewed vigor, the team dashed towards the town.
I hope you guys liked it...
How many of you realized that the last part was a genjutsu before you finished the chapter? I hope not many. I tried to make it as natural as possible. i was pretty pleased with how it turned out. Feel free to deflate my ego with any criticism you can make.
How about the part where the future Rookie nine make an appearance. I wanted to focus on the people noticing the disturbance.
EDIT: IMPORTANT NOTE: I've been getting many reviews where the readers are a bit confused because of the Haku and Zabuza scene at the end of chapter 1. So to explain: when Naruto collapses, that was three days after he runs away. I added that to the first chapter as a kind of a ploy to catch interest of the readers. This chapter is day two after he has run away. That event will happen later. I hope this clears any confusion you guys might have. :-)
ANOTHER QUIZ: I think Racoon's identity should be clear to everyone. So drop me a line and we'll see :-)
A/N : Naruto's literal meaning is Fishcake. It is a ingredient in the food of the Gods- Ramen. :-D
Expect the next update on/by 10th nov. EDIT: heh...heh, i wrote October by mistake initially. Thanks to Soleneus for pointing that out.
Till the next time... Remember, Reviews make happy authors and happy authors makes better stories. :-)
