Sinful Tendencies
Chapter 2: Grooming the Plant
Meizu rushed Naruto with Gozu trailing behind. Meizu threw a right hook and Naruto's eyes widened as a barbed chain shot out of the gauntlet towards him. Naruto slid across the ground under the chain and popped up driving his knee into Meizu's chin. Before he could land another strike he was sent backwards from a straight left by Gozu. Naruto came to a rolling stop and came up on his feet.
"Oi, cant believe you let a runt get you like that." Gozu told his brother. Meizu rubbed his chin.
"Son of a bitch is faster and stronger than I expected." He replied. He recalled his chain and handed Gozu the other end. Gozu snapped it onto the gauntlet on his left hand. The two took off towards Naruto and banked away from eachother extending the chain. Naruto did a Kawarimi as the wrapped him in the chain and pulled it tight. Their smirks of satisfaction disappeared when they saw pieces of log hit the ground. Gozu was sent skipping across the ground from a kick to the temple while Meizu was suplexed from behind. Gozu got to his feet and reeled the chain in pulling his brother to him as a foot slammed into the ground where Meizu's head previously was. He helped his brother to his feet and the two looked and saw three Naruto's standing across from them.
"Thought I had you there." one of the Naruto's said.
"You think three of you is going to make this any difference?" Meizu asked. "It will take an army of you to take us down." The three Naruto's smirked as people started walking into the area from the trees. The brothers eyes widened as they were all of a sudden surrounded by over one hundred Naruto's.
"You just had to say shit didn't you?" Gozu asked. The Naruto's all yelled in unison as they rushed the brothers. Zabuza watched on humorously as the fight deteriated into a giant brawl. All semblance of strategy disappeared as punches, kicks, and weapons were thrown haphazardly. A couple of times Zabuza and Haku had to dodge or block a stray weapon that came out of the melee. This continued for a couple minutes until the brothers and the real Naruto were all that was left. "You're...in...for...it...now." Gozu wheezed out.
"Ha, says...you." Naruto replied. The three were cut and bruised all over from the fight.
"Alright that's enough." Zabuza said stopping the three from lunging at eachother. The three looked over at the man, "Gozu, Meizu; why dont you two go get some rest." The two breathed a sigh of relief as Meizu recalled the chain.
"Kid's a fucking beast." Meizu said to his brother as they walked away. Naruto fell onto his butt dead tired.
"Normally I would send you on your way now because of how that fight went." Zabuza held up a hand to silence Naruto before he could protest. "However, you did use strategy effectively in the beginning and held your own against two veteran chuunin; so I'm not to surprised the fight turned out like that. With that being said," Zabuza walked over to Naruto and helped him up. "Welcome to our little group." Naruto smiled in satisfaction. "We will train four days a week taking Wednesday and the weekend off. On Saturdays you will spar either myself, Haku, or the brothers again. Now than," Zabuza said rubbing his hands together. "I have held up my end of the bargain; it's your turn." Naruto looked confused for a brief second before he realized what Zabuza meant.
"Right," he replied unsealing the scroll from his hand. He sat down on the ground and unrolled it. "So the scroll has a bunch of forbidden jutsu, and it's also seperated by rank and element. It has fuinjutsu and medic jutsu as well." The last one caught Haku's attention.
"Let me see what S-rank Suiton jutsu you have." Zabuza told him. Naruto unsealed the S-rank jutsu and twenty scrolls popped out. Zabuza looked through them and picked one out."Kurāken no kurasshu, that's a jutsu that hasnt been seen in a long time." He opened the scroll and looked over it giving out a slight whistle. "No wonder this is S-rank." He rolled it up and slid it into his pocket. "How long was it you wanted to be trained by me?" Zabuza asked Naruto.
"Well, I was hoping that you would train me as long as you have something to teach me." He replied. Zabuza thought for a while.
"Alright I got it. I will train you in three month intervals." He told the boy. "At the end of the three month time span we will see where you are at and what I can teach you next. At any time during your training you will be allowed to leave our group. Should you decide to do that though, you will no longer receive any training from myself."
"I understand." Naruto said. "But there is one part of our deal you haven't completed yet."
"What would that be?"
"You were going to tell me why you aren't part of a village."
"Fair enough." Zabuza replied. He walked over to the table and took a seat with Naruto taking the seat across from him. "Incase you can't tell from my headband here," Zabuza pointed at his turned headband. "I used to be a member of Kirigakure. When I was in the academy Kiri had a practice of pitting the graduating students against eachother in a death match. It was their way of ensuring the strongest graduated and there weren't any genin who weren't worthy. When I was in my second year of the academy I killed the entire graduating class of over one hundred students. This got me an early graduation and my nickname, the Demon of the Bloody Mist. I quickly rose through the ranks until I was given the opportunity to show my abilities for a special group. I passed and became a member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist, we were a group of the best shinobi swordsmen in the nations. We were the elite of the elite in the village and only the Mizukage was ranked above us. The report you will widely hear about me is that myself, the demon brothers, and a select few other people attempted a coup against the Mizukage, and when that failed we escaped the village and have been on the run since."
"I take it that's not true?"
"Parts of it are true. I did try to kill the Mizukage, but not because I wanted to over throw him. I tried to kill him because he came after me and I was defending myself." Zabuza said. "The part of the story you wont hear from Kiri, is that the Mizukage was bat-shit crazy. A short time prior to this event, another member name Kisame killed the leader of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist for giving away village secrets. After he did so he left the village. Now, the Mizukage being a paranoid freak decided that the Seven Swordsman could no longer be trusted; so he came after us. Myself, Kurosuki Raiga, and Kisame are the only swordsman from our generation that are alive. Since that day I have made it a goal of mine to see the current Mizukage burn."
"So you also know what it's like to be betrayed by your village." Naruto said. Zabuza merely nodded his head. Naruto sat there in thought for a while. "If you ever decide to go back to Kiri, I would like to assist you."
"Why is that runt?"
"Well, you have been kind enough to help me with my village betraying me; I figure I would like to repay the favor." Zabuza smirked underneath his bandages.
"Thanks kid, I'm still a ways off from being strong enough to take on the Mizukage. Maybe the techniques in your scroll will help though." Zabuza told him.
"So what do I do now?" Naruto asked.
"Whatever you want to." Zabuza replied. "Relax, train on your own if you want, it doesnt matter to me. You have the rest of the day off from me."
"I guess I'll keep reading one of the strategy books." Naruto said. He went and sat down under a tree pulling out one of the books he read earlier in the week.
"I noticed you didnt mention your encounter with me in your story." Haku said from behind the man.
"That's not important to the reason I left." Zabuza replied as he rolled the jutsu scroll open and started studying it. "That's more important to your history anyways; that's for you to tell him when you're ready." Zabuza furrowed his eyebrows together looking at the scroll. "I'm going to need your help with understanding this technique Haku." Haku smiled at the man and took a seat next to him reading the scroll.
-(Konoha)-
Shikamaru groaned as he sat down at his kitchen table. "Boy, you look like hell son." Shikaku said.
"Asuma-sensei has been working us to the bone this week." Shikamaru replied. "He got tasked with getting us ready to capture Naruto." Shikamaru put his head on the table. "I have never been this sore in my entire life." Shikaku chuckled at his son.
"I remember the joys of having a Jounin instructor." He said taking a drink of some coffee. "So what kind of things is he training you in to go after Naruto?"
"Right now, just a whole lot of conditioning, chakra exercises, and sparring. That reminds me," Shikamaru handed a piece of paper to his father. "this is an official order from the Hokage to step up my clan training."
"Son of a bitch." Shikaku said reading the paper. "Just when I was starting to enjoy my weekends. Get a little bit of rest Shikamaru, we are going to start training this afternoon." He finished his coffee and stood up from the table.
"Where are you going dear?" His wife asked walking into the room.
"I am meeting up with Inoichi and Chouza for a while. Once I get back me and Shikamaru here have some training to do."
"Have fun, tell those two hello for me. We need to get our families together for another barbeque some time."
"You got it honey." Shikaku gave his wife a kiss good-bye and walked out the door. He walked into the heart of the restaurant district and arrived at a restaurant called The Big Boned Club. He walked inside and the host greeted him.
"Shikaku-san, welcome back! Chouza-sama is waiting for you in his office with Inoichi-san." He nodded in acknowledgement and walked through the restaurant to the back. He knocked on a large steel door and an enormous man opened it.
"Shikaku!" He bellowed out. "Welcome my friend! Inoichi and myself were just about to open up the good sake without you! Come in, come in." Chouza ushered his friend into the room where Inoichi was sitting on a couch by a table. On the table sat three cups and a jug of sake. Shikaku took a seat in a chair next to the table and Inoichi opened the sake pouring it into the glasses.
"How have things been since the Hokage's announcement concerning Naruto?" Inoichi asked.
"Nothing has really changed. I still go over political documents, treaties, and still decide what Jounin the high level missions go to." Shikaku replied drinking his glass. "But I must admit, my work hasn't been its best the past couple of days."
"Why not?" Chouza asked taking a seat on the couch next to Inoichi.
"The whole thing with Natuto leaving the village is distracting me." Shikaku replied.
"What about it exactly is distracting you?" Inoichi asked refilling the man's glass. "I mean, the kid betrayed the village by killing two chuunin and stealing the scroll."
"I don't know, a lot of the facts don't make a whole lot of sense to me."
"What facts are you talking about friend?" Chouza asked downing his glass. Shikaku signaled to the door and Chouza nodded his head. He activated a seal on the wall besides himself and the lights dimmed.
"Most of the facts involving it actually. First off, the fact that Naruto was able to steal the scroll. The Forbidden Scroll of Sealing is located in the Hokage's vault in the tower. It's a vault that only the Hokage himself can open, and not only that it is under constant surveillance 24/7 by three ANBU. So Naruto would have needed to have figured out a way to bypass multiple seals that respond to one individual while also doing so while ANBU were there." Shikaku replied sipping on his sake. "Second, I have read the reports on Naruto from the academy. There is no way that he would have been able to have taken out two Chuunin at the same time."
"What if he was being influenced by the Kyuubi this whole time and he was pretending to be a terrible ninja?" Inoichi asked.
"I thought about that question." Shikaku said pulling out a scroll. He opened the scroll and pulled out a file handing it to Inoichi. He gave him a moment to look at the information and then he handed it to Chouza. "The only thing in the village under tighter watch than the Scroll was Naruto. The Hokage had bugs in Naruto's apartment, all the places that he frequented, and he was under the watch of over a dozen ANBU at all times. Hell, the father and daughter that owned the ramen stand were both ANBU members."
"That explains why they inexplicably closed down after Naruto left." Chouza replied placing the file down. "Shame to, they made some damn good ramen."
"Every report that they gave to the Hokage indicated the same thing; Naruto was a terrible shinobi. Downright piss-poor as some of them stated."
"Why go through so much effort to watch one boy?" Inoichi asked. "Was it all because of the Kyuubi?"
"I believe so." Shikaku said. "Either the Hokage wanted to see in there was a risk of the Kyuubi influencing him or if he was going to be a good shinobi." Shikaku unsealed another file. "This is a report that Jiraiya turned into the Hokage about three months ago. It states that over the course of Naruto's life the seal containing the Kyuubi has never showed signs of deterioration. So there is no way the Kyuubi was influencing Naruto." Inoichi put the files down and slowly took a drink from the glass. "There is one more fact as well. Why were our children chosen to capture Naruto?"
"Because of their familiarity with the boy." Chouza said. "A friendly face would cause him to let his guard down so that they could capture him."
"If Naruto betrayed the village; why would a friendly face affect him?" Shikaku asked. "Iruka is dead, reportedly by Naruto's hand. The man was like an older brother to him and Naruto killed him. If he would kill someone who had a relationship like that with him, then friends would mean nothing to him. Plus, no offense to our children, they are the wrong team to be sending on a mission like this."
"What is that supposed to mean?" Inoichi snapped.
"Kakashi's team is much more suited to bring in Naruto." Shikaku replied finishing his drink. "If we are acting under the assumption that Naruto is under the influence of the Kyuubi; then he needs to be taken down by a team made for assault; not infiltration and interrogation. Sasuke is arguably the best prospect to come out of the academy since his brother. Add in the fact that Sai is enlisted in Danzou's Ne forces, the two are a very formidable force."
"What of the girl?" Chouza asked.
"The Haruno? Her file is nothing stellar, exceptional chakra control and very good at chakra theory; but no physical attributes to speak of. With Kakashi as their teacher though, that could easily be remedied. They were literally built to take down exceptional forces, which I believe that Naruto qualifies as." The group of men sat in silence as Inoichi and Chouza digested the information. Inoichi let out a deep sigh.
"As much as I wish you were wrong; in all the years I have known you, you have never been wrong when you have a hunch." Inoichi said. Chouza set his glass on the table and rested his head on his hands.
"Where do we go from here?" He asked.
"We keep playing the charade." Shikaku replied. He pulled out the piece of paper his son gave him. "We have been instructed to advance the teachings of our children in our clan arts. We will do so, and anything else the Hokage asks as usual. As Inoichi and myself have leads into classified information with our positions, I say we do some slight investigation. Nothing to draw attention to ourselves, but we are trying to find out the truth."
"What about me?" Chouza demanded. "I don't want to just sit on the sidelines." Shikaku smirked at the man.
"I'm afraid you will have to old friend. This isn't a situation we can just barrel and bulldoze our way through. This requires subtlety and precision, both things you aren't too well versed in." Shikaku stood up from the table as did his friends. "During our monthly get togethers we will go over what information we were able to gather."
"Sounds like a good plan." Inoichi said as the three walked to the door. Inoichi and Shikaku said good-bye to Chouza and left the restaurant together. "This little mission of ours has me a little worried." The two stopped at an intersection.
"I understand your concern, for whatever reason the Hokage isn't being truthful about the situation. We need to be very careful now. It will be like walking on glass. If you feel you're going to get caught or at risk of endangering yourself, get out." Inoichi nodded his head. "Go carefully friend." The two shook hands and went their separate ways.
-(Naruto-Two Weeks Later)-
Naruto dove out of the way as a shower of needles dug into the ground where he just was. He looked up in time to see a kunai strike him right between the eyes. Instead of falling to the ground he was surrounded by smoke and a log hit the ground in his place. "Good move." His opponent said. He scanned the area before his senses told him to duck. He did so as a leg went swinging over his head. His recovery was halted as a sweeping kick took him off of his feet. He was sent bouncing across the dirt as a third kick landed square in his chest. He rolled to a stop and slowly got up. He looked over to Naruto and saw three standing there. "Which one of you is the real one?" He started to do some hand seals before he was wrapped up from behind and a kunai was placed against his throat.
"None of them." Came the voice from behind. "Looks like I win this one Haku." Haku smirked as they were surrounded by mirrors of ice. Naruto looked in confusion as Haku melted into water and he appeared in all the mirrors.
"Much better Naruto." He said. "You are still a ways away from defeating me though." Naruto sighed as he put his hands up in surrender. The mirrors melted and Haku approached him with a smirk.
"I thought that I had you this time."
"You are getting much better. Your coordination with your clones is exceptional, but I fear you may rely on them too much." Haku told him. "I think you might want to start expanding your library of jutsu. That will help you get stronger and it can give you an ace up your sleeve against opponents." Naruto nodded his head as three people arrived in the area.
"How did the brat do today?" Zabuza asked.
"He did a lot better than when he first sparred the Demon Brothers, and anything other than what you did to him last week is an improvement." Naruto crossed his arms and pouted.
"I still think that Zabuza was just having a bad day so his 'spontaneous' sparring session was just an excuse to beat the stress out. I almost wish I didn't heal so fast, that way he wouldn't choose me for that." Naruto said. The Demon Brothers chuckled as Zabuza shrugged his shoulders. He pulled out a scroll and tossed it to Naruto. "What's this?"
"Your first task to show you're not a complete idiot." Naruto glared at the man as he opened the scroll. "This scroll contains information on the missing-nin known as Yoi Sutata. He is a low-Chuunin ranked shinobi out of Shimogakure. The latest information has him in hiding in the city of Tanzaku. Your job is to capture him and collect the bounty. You can either kill him and turn it in, or turn him in alive; with this bounty it doesn't matter as they are identical. The Demon Brothers will tag along with you to see how well you do. If you fail this test, our training is over. You may want to spend the rest of the day resting and perhaps planning out your course of action. You are to leave tomorrow." Naruto took the scroll and sat down at the table pouring over the information.
"Do you really think that he is ready for this?" Haku asked.
"He was almost able to defeat the Brothers after very little training. I have only been training him for two weeks, but we have been refining everything that he knows already." Zabuza replied. "He is definitely ready for this."
"It's a little bounty of five hundred thousand ryou." The Gozu said. "Remember, we are bringing in bounties twice that price every time we go out."
"Yeah, the kid's got this." Meizu chimed in. "Plus, if anything goes wrong he has the amazing Demon Brother's to back him up."
"Alright, you guys know what your task is." Zabuza told them. "Ensure that you leave tomorrow at a proper time and make sure all of your things are packed up to move." The two men nodded at him and Zabuza looked at Haku. "Pack up all of our things to leave tonight."
"Where are we going?" Haku asked. Zabuza handed him a piece of paper.
"There is a job opportunity paying two million ryou a week. We are going to go see who it's for and what it will entail."
"Where is it at?"
"It's located in Nami no Kuni." Zabuza replied walking off. Haku sighed as he went into the cave to start packing up. Meizu wandered off into the forest leaving Gozu standing in the area alone. He shrugged his shoulders and sat down across from Naruto at the table.
"What's up?" Naruto asked not looking up from the scroll.
"I figured I would see if you need any help or advice with preparing for this." Gozu told him. Naruto looked up surprised. "Look, you are part of this group now. And I know Zabuza won't say it, but we look out for each other here. He is gruff and if push comes to shove, everyone is expendable. That's why he wants us all to pull our own weight and get stronger."
"So what advice would you have for me?" Naruto asked after sitting in silence for a couple seconds.
"First off, what does it say about the area that he is hiding out in?"
"It doesn't say too much. It says that Sutata is hiding out in the medium rate district of Tanzaku. Summer is the busiest time of year in Tanzaku as people from all over the world visit to gamble their money away."
"That's plenty of information." Naruto looked at the man confusedly. "Sutata is actually pretty smart by picking Tanzaku to hide in. He is a relatively new missing-nin, like yourself. He didn't isolate himself from the world and go into hiding though. What he is doing is hiding in plain sight. He picked the busiest city during the busiest time of the year. He can still go out in the open by staying in the crowds. And no one is going to remember a random person at any given time. You following me?" Gozu asked as he pulled the scroll to himself. He scanned over the location information. "I'm surprised this even lists the inn he is staying at. If they know his exact location, that means he is getting sloppy. The places he even goes to frequently are listed. Do you know how to watch people without looking at them?"
"What do you mean?"
"It's keeping an eye on someone without drawing attention to yourself. That means you can't actually watch them. You have to watch the surrounding around them and use your peripherals."
"Oh yeah!" Naruto exclaimed. "I can do that. I got real good at doing that when I was in Konoha and had to worry about villagers attacking me. They would act nice but then try something when I wasn't looking or paying attention. So I learned to always be aware of what's around me."
"Good, that's the best technique for bounty hunters to know to use. With your Kage Bunshin you are the perfect bounty hunter to. You can send a clone to every one of these locations while you watch the inn yourself."
"That is actually a really good idea." Gozu stood up from the table.
"As far as advice goes, that's all I can really give you. You have to learn the rest and all that on your own." He told the boy. "Tonight before you sleep I recommend you packing up all of your stuff. After we are done with getting Sutata we are meeting up with Zabuza and Haku. Hopefully they will have some work for us." Naruto nodded his head. He started going over all the information in the scroll again as Gozu walked away and he didn't get up from the table until it was time to sleep. Gozu and Meizu woke Naruto up and the sky was still dark.
"What time is it?" He asked.
"Two in the morning." Meizu told him. "It will take four hours of travel to get to Tanzaku. The sooner we get there the better, you may want to hurry and clean up." Naruto rolled off of his cot and stood up cracking his back. He made two clones and had them start packing all of his stuff up while he hurried outside to the small stream by their camp. He bathed quickly in the cold water and got dressed. He looked down disdainfully at his clothes. His orange jumpsuit was in terrible shape with being covered in cuts, dirt, and blood. He arrived back at the camp and dispelled his clones as he picked up the scroll they sealed everything into. He followed the two men out of the cave and they took to the trees in silence. The four hour journey was made with no complications and they arrived in Tanzaku as the stores and restaurants started to open up.
"Alright Naruto, you're on your own now." Gozu said. "Do whatever you think you need to do in order to capture Sutata. We will be watching you from a distance and won't provide help unless it's absolutely necessary."
"You got it." Naruto replied. The two men walked away from Naruto leaving him standing there alone. He looked around and started walking through the streets. It was early but there was a large number of people walking through the city. His eyes kept darting through the crowds as he kept his eyes open for his target. He slowed and eventually stopped in front of a store. "J+B Survival Outfitters?" He walked inside and saw a multitude of different items. There was cooking equipment, tents, cots, everything you would need for a camping expedition. He walked through the aisles looking at all the things they had. He arrived in an area that was all clothing. He looked down at his clothing and sighed as he started looking through all the items. He selected a few pairs of pants and matching shirts before walking over to the footwear section. He looked through the shoes before a pair of boots caught his eyes. He picked them up and took everything over to the counter.
"That will be twenty thousand ryou." The man behind the counter told him. Naruto unsealed his wallet from his storage scroll and pulled out the allotted money. As the man was finishing the transaction Naruto looked at his left-over money and found he was almost out. The man handed him the bags of clothes and a receipt.
"Would you happen to have a dressing room I can change in?" Naruto asked. The man pointed him to a room off to the side and Naruto walked to it. Once inside he removed his old clothing and put on his new purchases. He had settled on a loose pair of black cargo pants and a long-sleeve red shirt made of thin, breathable material. He laced up his new boots and found they were very comfortable and didn't make much noise when he walked in them. He sealed the rest of his clothes into the scroll and left the store. "Alright, I need to scout of the locations in the scroll a bit." Naruto told himself as he started down the streets again. It was ten o clock by the time he finished getting a brief lay-out of the areas that Sutata liked to frequent. Naruto ducked into an alley and make six clones. "Alright, I want you guys to Henge into different people." The clones did as instructed and transformed into different people. "Clone 1, you are to go to the Golden Mirage and find a good place to watch for him. Keep an eye out for anyone acting suspicious." A black haired clone wearing nodded his head. "Clone 2, I want you to station yourself outside of the Swollen Puffer and watch everyone that walks in and out of the restaurant. Clone 3, you're location to scout is the Staggering Imp. Clones 4, 5, and 6; you all are to scout around the carnival area. Watch these locations until you see someone that matches his description. Once you see him I want you to wait until he leaves and then dispel an hour later. Keep an eye open to anyone who may be following him."
"Where are you going to go boss?" The black haired clone asked.
"I'm going to hang around the inn he is staying at and try to watch his patterns. Everyone has their locations, so roll out." The six clones each walked out of different ends of the alley and Naruto followed a couple minutes later. He put his hands in his pockets and walked until he was across the street from the Sleepy Ninja. "Wow, draw attention to the fact you're a shinobi with a place like this." Naruto said to himself. He walked around the area briefly and got an idea of all the entrances and exits. He browsed through a stand that sold various books, magazines, and newspapers. Picking up a thick black book he was surprised that it said 'Bingo Book' right across the front. "What is this book about?" Naruto asked the vendor playing dumb.
"It's a book that contains information about all the missing-nin across the nation. This version even contains criminals with large bounties on their head." The man said.
"Wow, they make this information just open to the public?"
"They have just started doing that within the last year or so. They figure that if the public can buy a book they will keep their eyes open for the criminals. If you spot one of the people in this book and you tell an attendant at a bounty station they will compensate you once the person is captured."
"That's awesome." Naruto said pulling out his wallet. "I'll take it. Maybe I can get lucky and earn some money." Naruto gave the man the money and sat on a bench opening up the book while also keeping an eye on the front of the inn. The shinobi were classified by the rank of the bounty from 'D' all the way to 'SSS'. He scanned through the D rank and saw that most of them were Genin with small bounties. The 'C' rank bounties were high-Genin and low-Chuunin. Browsing through them he found the profile of Yoi Sutata. "Let's see, left the village because he was found guilty of raping a female genin. Strongest area is in taijutsu, weakest is genjutsu. Well that's no help to me, I'm terrible with genjutsu also. Here we go, known techniques; Fuuton: Geirufosu- C rank close range wind technique that strikes opponent with force hurting and pushing them away. Suiton: Gokkan no Shokku- C rank mid range water technique that hits the opponent with a spear of freezing cold water. Bounty currently sits at five hundred thousand ryou dead or alive. He doesn't know too many techniques, but he also could have picked up a couple since he left." Naruto kept browsing through the bounties and was surprised to find that shinobi who are currently part of a village were in the A-rank and higher bounties. He found the Demon Brothers under the B-rank bounties, Zabuza was in the S-rank bounties, and Haku was nowhere to be found in them. He then moved on to the criminal portion and still found no profile for Haku. Naruto did find his own profile under the C-rank criminal profiles.
"Uzumaki Naruto is guilty of killing two Chuunin rank shinobi and stealing a high profile artifact from the Hokage. Has little training in shinobi arts and no skills to speak of. Bounty currently sits at five hundred thousand ryou alive only. No bounty will be received for dead." The picture in the book was one he took the morning of the test. "Looks like I need to get a haircut." Naruto put the book into one of his pockets and pulled a scroll out of it. The scroll was titled, "Artifacts of Konoha." He opened it up and started reading it. He read the scroll for an hour before a person walking out of the inn caught his eye. "Bright green hair, scar down his right eye, standing at roughly five foot nine inches. Has a slight limp in his left leg from a training accident when he was a genin. That's Yoi Sutata alright." Naruto kept looking at the scroll and watched as the man walked past him down the street. He waited a minute before he rolled up the scroll and put it away following the man. He never noticed the white-eyes watching him as he walked out of the area. Naruto kept a decent distance between himself and Sutata as the man approached the Golden Mirage casino. Sutata walked into the casino and Naruto walked past it. He arrived at a small ramen stand across the street from it and sat down to eat. "I would like two miso and one pork ramen please." He told the girl who took his order.
"Uzumaki." A voice came from behind him. The boy froze in his chair and slowly turned around. A person with long black hair, white eyes, and wearing a khaki shirt and blue shorts.
"How may I help you?" Naruto managed to get out.
"I am here-by placing you under arrest for the murder of Umino Iruka and Hyōjun Mizuki. Come with me willingly to my team or I will take you by force." Naruto's eyes darted around the area looking for an escape. The man in front of him smirked. "You cannot escape here, fate has determined that you will be captured by me." Naruto locked eyes with him before he smirked himself.
"I escaped countless ANBU as I left that village of lies. But do tell me, what is the name of the amazing person that is my captor?" Naruto mocked. He placed his hands between his legs and made a seal.
"I am Hyuuga Neji. Genin of Konohagakure and member of Team 9." Neji replied.
"Well Neji, the only thing I'm guilty of is stealing a scroll and ensuring my survival. I had nothing to do with Mizuki or Iruka dying. Like you I believed all the lies that Konoha force fed us in the academy." Naruto said. He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I have recently come into possession of documents from the village that speak the truth. Even truths about your clan." Neji narrowed his eyes at Naruto. "I can't go back to the village, they will kill me once they get the scroll back just because of what I know now. You almost had me though. Fate doesn't mean shit to me. Kage Bunshin!" The area was filled with smoke and dozens of Naruto's escaped the ramen stand. Neji coughed as he stumbled out of the small restaurant and took off down the road after a random Naruto. People came rushing out of the buildings surrounding to see the commotion. One of the people was Sutata who looked around and shrugged his shoulders before walking down the road. "Damnit." Naruto said to himself inside of an alley. "Now I don't know where he went because of Neji." He kicked a trashcan spilling its contents. "I guess I just have to wait for my clones to keep me in the loop." He did a quick Henge and was now a red haired ten year old boy. He proceeded to wander around the city between the locations that Sutata goes to. An hour later the clone at the casino dispelled giving Naruto the memories. "Looks like he was alone there." A couple more hours passed and two more memories arrived. "He was alone at the bar but he met up with a woman at the restaurant and they left together." Naruto wandered down the road towards the carnival and caught a glimpse of the man and woman walking into the area. He followed them while occasionally catching sight of his clones that were in the area. A couple hours passed before Sutata left the woman to go to the bathroom. Naruto followed him quickly while giving brief signals to his clones to surround the building. Sutata walked into a stall and Naruto undid his transformation silently while locking the door. The man whistled to himself as Naruto gulped and pulled out a kunai. Naruto kicked the stall door in to find it empty. His confusion disappeared as a fist crashed through the next wall into his cheek sending him across the floor. He rolled to a stop and quickly got to his feet in a fighting stance.
"What the hell do you want with me?" Sutata demanded.
"Your bounty is what I'm after." Sutata narrowed his eyes as he raced at the boy. His speed caught Naruto off guard and a knee crashed into his sternum. Naruto crumpled to the ground as Sutata unlocked the door and went to leave. The man was dodged backwards dodging a fist from one of Naruto's clones. Coming to a stop by a window he made to go on the offensive when two clones crashed through the glass tackling the man. The last clone moved quickly to help subdue the man while Naruto finished collecting himself. He made his way over to Sutata and picked his kunai up from the floor. "Sorry it has to be this way."
"Fuck you kid." Sutata said spiting at the boy. The clones moved the man into a kneeling position and Naruto positioned the kunai on one side of his neck. Naruto took a couple of deep breaths.
"Good-bye Yoi Sutata." Naruto said as he brought the kunai across the man's neck. The clones held him as he bled out and Naruto vomited into the trashcan he placed the kunai in.
"That's right, this is your first time taking someone's life." A voice said from the broken window. Naruto's head snapped to the side and he saw the Demon Brothers standing in the bathroom by the window. "The first is always the worst." Meizu said.
"After that, you get used to it." Gozu chimed in. "Good work by the way kid."
"Yeah not bad for your first bounty." Meizu handed Naruto a scroll. Naruto unrolled it and the clones placed Sutata's body on the scroll. Channeling his chakra, Naruto sealed the body in the scroll and rolled it up. "I also have to say, nice improvement on the clothing. That orange shit was hideous." Naruto frowned at the man as he put the scroll away and dispelled the clones.
"They didn't have anything orange." He said as he followed the two men out of the bathroom through the broken window. They walked around the building and there was a large group of people looking at it. "Shit." Naruto said ducking behind the two.
"What's wrong?" Meizu asked.
"You see that kid with the black hair and white eyes?"
"Yeah, what about him?" Gozu replied.
"He identified me earlier. He is from Konoha and wants to bring me in." The group walked past the crowd and Gozu pricked Neji on the arm with his gauntlet. The boy turned around and caught sight of Naruto. As he went to make after him he stumbled and fell to the ground. "What did you do to him?"
"I gave him a non-lethal dose of poison." Gozu said as they walked off. "It will take him off his feet for a couple hours; plenty of time for us to get away from the city." Naruto turned around and looked at Neji. The last thing Neji saw before losing consciousness was Naruto smirking and winking at the boy.
"So where are we meeting Zabuza and Haku?" Naruto asked once they got out of the city and took to the trees.
"There is a bounty station a couple hours south of us. We will turn in the bounty there and that's where Zabuza and Haku will meet us." Meizu said. The journey was once again uneventful and they landed in a small makeshift camp with three log buildings. The group walked towards a building that a man walked out of. His green eyes met with Naruto's as he walked past them. They walked inside where Gozu pushed Naruto to the counter where a large man was.
"Alright, who do ya got kid?" He asked him. Naruto pulled out the scroll and laid it on the counter.
"Yoi Sutata, Chuunin missing-nin from Shumogakure." Naruto replied. The man unrolled the scroll and unsealed the body. He inspected it for a couple minutes before resealing and rolling up the scroll. He walked through a door in the back with the scroll and came back out with another scroll.
"Here is the listed bounty of five hundred thousand ryou." He said handing Naruto the scroll. The three walked out of the bounty office and were greeted by the sight of Zabuza and Haku.
"So, how did the kid do?" Zabuza asked.
"He did well enough for his first bounty." Gozu said taking the scroll from Naruto and tossing it to Zabuza. "He used his clones to scout out the areas and had three of them provide support while he went to subdue Sutata."
"Unfortunately he rushed in at the end to capture him and so there was a very small scuffle. Nothing life threatening for him, but enough to draw attention." Meizu said. "If it was Gozu and myself after the target I would give us a failing grade. This being Naruto's first one though, I would give him a pass on it." Zabuza nodded his head and unrolled the scroll. He unsealed a portion of money and gave it to Naruto.
"The way our group works is that you get fifteen percent of the bounties that you collect. The rest goes into a collection for the group to use on supplies and boarding if we are in a town." He told Naruto.
"Thank-you." Naruto replied putting the money in his wallet. "I was running low on money as it was."
"So what's the deal with Nami?" Meizu asked.
"It looks promising." Zabuza replied. "We will be acting as bodyguards and his own personal enforcers. There is another group after the work so the employer said we have to pass a test to get the job."
"What is the group we are competing against?" Naruto asked this time.
"It's just a group of mercenaries. Nothing that will prove too much of a challenge to us."
"And the test?" Was Naruto's next question. Zabuza smiled underneath his bandages and Naruto shivered.
"You, my dear pupil, will be fighting against five of them in a battle to the death." Zabuza told him. "If you kill them all, we get the job. If you die, well than we don't get the work."
"No pressure kid." Gozu said slapping Naruto on the back.
"When is the fight?" Naruto asked.
"It's in two days time. If we leave right now we can get to Nami no Kuni by nightfall. That will give you an entire day to rest or whatever you wish to do before the fight. We leave now." Zabuza led the group out of the bounty station and they sped off through the trees to their next destination.
A/N: Yes another chapter! I do still live and I do still write. Not much action in the story yet, but that will all change once the Wave arc starts. Next chapter is a prologue to the next arc. This will be a dark Naruto story if anyone was wondering. He isn't dark yet, but that will change soon. Review if you enjoyed the chapter. Review if you didn't, but again, give constructive criticism. If I can get better at writing any advice will help, but don't just flame senselessly.