CH.4

Takami Port,

II shinobi war, Sunakagure campaign.

They had decided to spend the rest of the evening in the same city they had planned the mission in. Nawaki was back with that cheerful attitude of his, smiling about the completed mission all the while. Mikoto, on the other hand, was quieter than usual, she had excused herself from the group as soon as they reached the city, locking herself in the hotel room they had booked before. Naruto had thought about trying to talk to her but decided ultimately to leave her a little time for herself. She had been the only one of them to deliver a brutal killing blow, after all.

Hatake and Yu had suspiciously disappeared shortly after landing, leaving the three boys by themselves.

Actually, only Naruto and his fellow redhead were left, walking silently by the humid cobbled street of the small city. Nawaki had left them for a tiny gambling house a few minutes earlier, using a simple henge in order to enter the suspicious looking wooden building.

''Care to share a drink with me?''

He waited a few seconds for Rasa's response, his scowl had not moved an inch since they met outside his previous prison.

''Sure.''

It was the first time Naruto heard him talk. Despite his stiffen appearance, his voice didn't seem to hold any kind of malice or deep hatred for the world. That sure was surprising, Naruto guessed his face was just shaped like that.

Shortly after, they sat in one of the many pubs of the western part of the city. Apart from them, only a couple more of civilians occupied the rather desolated place. They were facing each other, their eyes linked in some sort of unspoken greeting, not really caring for the flaming hot cup of sake that had been placed in front of them.

''So... you got tired of your Kage, or something?''

He scoffed soundly, his dried thin lips slightly turning upwards, amused.

''I know what you think of me, Uzumaki Naruto. You think I'm the typical power hungry fool that, unable to achieve the Hokage position by his own devices, decided to sell its village to the enemy, hoping to gain the position once the war was over.''

Naruto crossed his arms in front of his chest, still looking into the boy's eyes.

''Am I wrong?''

Rasa's face went back to its usual scowl, his hand reaching for the sake cup slowly. He took a small sip of the alcoholic liquid, closing his eyes all the while.

''I would have become Kazekage anyway. I was the Third's only disciple, after all. I'm nothing but a warrior, Uzumaki-san… Somebody else made me realize sensei's cruel and pointless regime, without this person I would probably still be fighting against your forces. I may know the major weak points of the village security and its leader, but… this person has the actual information that will make the population revolt against its tyrant. Unfortunately, she was caught before we could escape together, and she is currently held in one of Suna's most guarded prisons…''

His hand tightened around the porcelain cup, while his eyes focused on the outside of the city, visible from the wide window of the pub. Naruto was still watching him carefully, but that very human display of emotions from before eased his suspicious on the red-head.

''I do believe the upcoming mission Hatake was talking about on the boat will be the rescue of this very same person, am I correct?''

Rasa nodded mutely, his gaze still fixed on the window.

''…And I assume you have some kind of romantic relationship with this person as well.''

He busted his fist loudly on the wooden table, splintering part of it. Naruto noted attentively, how some kind of golden powder was slowing inching on his bare forearm. He didn't need an answer, his tiny black pupils wide in anger was enough of a confirmation.

''You'll do well keeping your assumptions for yourself, Uzumaki-san.''

Said boy relaxed visibly in his chair, spreading his hands in a calming demeanor.

''Don't fret Rasa. I just want you to know that if things get ugly, my first priority will be completing the mission, I'm sure you understand where I'm getting at.''

Surely enough, the golden powder on his arm retreated slowly inside his clothes. He was a capable shinobi, Naruto was sure the boy knew what the procedure was if the rescue failed.

Keep the enemy from obtaining information. Drastically, if needed.

His eyes closed again, while his head bowed slightly in an apologizing manner.

The young Uzumaki grasped his cup firmly, raising it high in the air once getting the attention from the other boy.

''Cheers to the Yondaime Kazekage, then.''

Rasa smiled a tiny smile, reaching, after a moment, Naruto's cup with his own.

LINESTRETCHER

The young Suna shinobi had left after several more cups of sake. The alcohol had seemed to loose him up a little bit, as he talked with Naruto about his life and about this… Karura girl of his; their target for the upcoming rescue mission. He also showed him his peculiar control of the golden powder that he acquired through a deep study of the current Kazekage's kekkei genkai.

Naruto was alone now. It was deep in the night and he was probably the only one of his team to be still outside. A couple of hours ago, he had seen a henged Nawaki running away from an angry mob of people, that were screaming something about their money.

He walked in the hotel's corridor as quietly as possible. It was a habit he had since he was little, to sneak up into places without being detected.

He was almost at his door when Hatake's muffled voice came from Mikoto's room.

''...Important… Naruto doesn't…I know it's…just… good work.''

He didn't dare to move towards her room. He couldn't hear more than a few words, but the risk of being caught was too high when Hatake was around. Good thing he usually kept his chakra tuned down, or he wouldn't have known they were talking about him.

He did a mute, chakra less, backflip towards the entrance of the corridor, in order to act as if he just arrived. Surely enough, the silver-haired shinobi exited the room in that same moment, immediately locking eyes with the younger shinobi. He, of course, went for the same tiny smile of his, but it felt different this time. He wordlessly walked towards the room he shared with Rasa, disappearing gradually behind the shadows. His gaze lingered a few seconds more on the now-closed wooden door.

''Naruto!''

Came the whispered voice of the Uchiha heiress, just her head poking from the slightly open door. She was smiling tenderly at him.

''Could you… stay for a little bit? I have some trouble sleeping…''

''Okay.''

He calmly walked into her room, just a tiny orange lamp on the bed table allowed him to see his surroundings. Lacking the headband that usually kept her bangs in place, she had tied her hair in a long ponytail, showing, even more, her simple yet flawless, pale face. She was wearing a big oversized pink pajama, giving her the innocent appearance kids their age were supposed to have. He seated composedly on the wooden chair in front of her bed, while she laid down on it, her feet towards the pillow's side. Her elbows were supporting her face, as her big charcoals stared at him intensely.

He crossed his arms in front of his chest.

''Sakumo-sensei and I just talked about you, actually!''

He feigned a surprised expression at her words.

''Really?''

She giggled at his usual meager display of emotions.

''Yes! I was a little… off from tonight mission, and Sakumo-sensei asked me for a brief report. He too thinks you could make a great leader, you know?''

Was she lying? He didn't know. Her eyes were just so big and full of emotions that Naruto would think himself capable of detecting any sort of deception in them. She couldn't be lying. Naruto was widely known as a walking polygraph, after all.

''...Naruto?''

Damn. He had been spacing out. She probably said something more while his attention had been sorely on her eyes. An excuse, he needed an excuse.

''Your eyes are beautiful.''

Meh. It was cheesy, but it worked. She blushed slightly in the dim light, her gaze shifting towards the floor, as a tiny smile pulled on her lips.

''Do...Do you really think so?''

She was once again staring at him, but her eyes held something else than before, something he couldn't identify.

''I do.''

He did.

She got on her knees slowly, the light blanket bending under the pressure. She tentatively crawled towards his chair, not breaking the eye contact even for a second. He watched her carefully, as her face inched calmly towards his. What should he do? He didn't know. She was an unprecedented anomaly for his mind, as his instincts screamed for her touch, while his mind reminded him that he really didn't know anything about the girl in front of him.

He inched closer.

He really wanted to laugh at himself. Having such an all-around knowledge of what he should and shouldn't do was completely useless in front of his weak and random humanity.

A well-oiled machine programmed for failure.

She closed her eyes, her face was so close...

''Man, you guys are really loud..''

He breathed out gently, turning his head away from the still very close Mikoto. Part of him wanted to crucify Nawaki on the spot, while his more reasoning part was thankful for the additional time the young boy had given him in order to figure out the situation.

Mikoto didn't seem as troubled as he was, as she glared potently towards her brown-haired teammate, a slight blush coloring her cheeks.

Nawaki had the decency to realize he interrupted something between the two. It probably only added fuel to his mischievous side, as he grinned cheekily.

''I would say you two should get a room, but you already have one.''

His chuckling was cut short by a very quick kunai that landed on the door frame just beside his head, courtesy of Mikoto.

Her eyes were shadowed by some non-existent darkness, as the left corner of her mouth twitched slightly.

She looked terrifying.

And where the hell she was keeping that kunai?

''Get out.''

Nawaki didn't hesitate to comply with the whispered order.

She lost all of her anger insanely fast, as she turned her face towards his direction once again.

''I should go… Goodnight, Mikoto.''

She looked like she wanted to complain, but she just settled for watching him leave calmly.

Naruto exited the room mutely, his head spinning around the situation that had just happened between them. What he didn't notice was Mikoto's face, that had depleted soundlessly in an emotionless mask, only her eyes showing something. Something very similar to… guilt.

LINEBENDER

Sand Peninsula, 40 miles away from Sunakagure,

II Shinobi war, Sunkagure campaign.

The four of them were waiting calmly for their sensei to appear amid the ruckus of the situation. Konoha had set up a temporary war camp at the beginning of the only gulf on Kaze no Kuni's coastline. It was a narrow coast recess in the very south-east of the country, that allowed the formation of the only swamp-like environment in the entirety of the Wind Country. It was the closest access to the sea for Sunakagure, thus becoming an important leverage point to obtain. While Konoha's forces occupied the southern part, the enemy had moved all of their defenses around the only port city, situated in the north of the recess. The hidden village was not much more than 20 miles away from the port. If Konoha was able to conquer it, Sunakagure would find itself lacking of any possible access to the sea. However, their team had nothing to do with the frontal attack, as their mission was to rescue this Karura girl, that their superior confirmed was a priority one information-wielding kunoichi.

Konoha ninja were running frantically from place to place around them, orders were given and wailing injured were rapidly taken to the medical tents.

It was the chaos that followed war everywhere. For once, Naruto thanked the collected mind he had reached during his life, as the commotion around them would have been enough to cause young shinobi, such himself, to panic. He looked at Rasa that was standing by his side, he too had been given a milky-white oversized coat for the mission.

After a subtle gust of wind, Hatake appeared in front of them, his features stern and battle-ready.

''I just spoke with our intelligence. We discovered the enemy had moved our target to another location, hoping to ambush our forces once they reached the prison. A group of specialized ANBU and I are going to head towards the prison anyway, so that they will still believe we are unaware of their tactics. You four, on the other hand, will be going towards the real target, where we suppose a lesser fraction of their defense will be present. You will be leaving in five.''

The only response from the four was a mute wielding of their masks, Naruto's one as scaring as it was on their first mission. Hatake smiled encouragingly as he watched them shunshin away.

They were rushing through the thick trees that populated the swamp-like area along the recess, their target was just a few minutes away, as Rasa had explained to them earlier. Said boy was leading their group, while Naruto stayed behind, as usual, forming a rhombus-like formation.

He looked at Mikoto's masked face. They hadn't really talked about what almost happened in her room a week ago, but he was contempt the relationship they seemed to share hadn't be damaged in any way. She did keep closer to him than usual, however.

He had talked some to Nawaki as well, but his subtle efforts in finding out more about his relationship with Mito had been fruitless. He was actually a rather pleasurable presence to be around when he didn't behave like an idiot. Naruto could almost see Kushina becoming very similar to the boy in a couple of years when she would be at his current age.

They all stopped by Rasa's silent command. Surely enough, hidden between the thick foliage, a dark wooden dojo rested silently on one of the few solid patches of soil amid the numerous swamps. It had wide, white banners hanged on the front entrance, all of them showing the inked kanji for wind.

Naruto took notice of just a couple of guards that were sitting in front of the building, looking almost lazily at their surrounding.

The four of them converged quietly among themselves, even if the surveillance looked meager, they needed a plan.

''I'll be taking the front guards straight on, Mikoto and Nawaki, you need to circle the dojo and look for hidden surprises on the back. Once I'm done with the guards, I'll be launching a kunai over the building roof, so that we can break in at the same time. Naruto, you will stay behind and take action if the enemy has something planned for us.''

They all nodded. Naruto, just like his two teammates, was aware of how important this mission was for Rasa, as the Suna red-head had spent the previous week locked in his room, planning.

He couldn't see behind the boy's mask, but he was sure a strong will to succeed was hidden within that scowl of his. He got up mutely, his golden sand already taking shape behind his back.

Naruto watched attentively, as Rasa made quick work of his fellow shinobi before launching a single kunai and disappearing inside the dojo. He couldn't see anything, but he heard fighting noises coming from inside. He wasn't worried, his teammates were very much capable of taking care of themselves and Rasa was easily an A-ranked shinobi with that golden sand of his. Plus, they had the element of surprise, always a dangerous weapon in the ninja world.

He waited for ten, maybe fifteen, minutes, before a maskless Rasa exited from the front of the dojo, wrapped tightly to his side he had a short brown-haired girl, that was crying softly on his shoulder.

Shortly after, both Mikoto and Nawaki came out from the dojo, taking off their masks as well.

Mikoto was watching tenderly the two of them, her gentle smile was almost longing. She turned towards his direction, some unspoken words not entirely lost by him.

He was about to regroup with them when he caught a reflecting light coming from the east side of the forest. His eyes widened, as he pumped as much chakra as possible on his legs, jumping towards his teammates while destroying the branch he had been sitting on. A single kunai flew quickly by his side, moving almost slow motion for him, as it continued its course, aiming straight towards Mikoto...

He landed in front of the girl, startling her.

''EVERYBODY IN THE DOJO, NOW!''

All of them complied quickly, just in time for an endless amount of weapons to rain on the patch of grass they were previously standing. Once in the house, Naruto immediately took out a wide inked paper from his pouch, slamming it on the ground, before quickly sorting through hand-signs.

''They are everywhere…''

He ignored Nawaki's scared whisper behind him as he finished the needed motion for his seal to activate. He slammed his hand on the paper loudly, while it lighted up in a bright scarlet color.

''Fuuinjutsu: Fuuin kekkai!''

From the sealing matrix, a small translucent cube appeared soundlessly. It was radiating a deep scarlet light. It suddenly vibrated, as the cube started to become wider and wider. Naruto's eyes were closed in concentration, while his hand was holding the snake sign tightly. After a couple of seconds, the cube exploded outwards silently, surrounding the building completely in a cubical crimson barrier that extended endlessly towards the sky.

His breathing was ragged, as his hand trembled slightly, not moving from the snake sign.

Nobody dared to move, as they all felt a huge spike of chakra coming from all around them.

Countless, powerful gusts of wind and debris hit the barrier simultaneously, rocking the very foundations of the wooden building. The barrier didn't bulge in the slightest, as Naruto was now in a crossed leg position in order to get better focus. The enemy force tried a few more barrages, before settling for waiting all around the building.

They were surrounded. Completely. At least one-hundred, probably more, enemy ninjas had cornered their position.

''We are dead. It's over…''

Nawaki's voice was broken, it was clear the boy was barely holding tears.

''No we are not. Hatake will realize this was a trap and he will be here with reinforcements.''

Even Rasa's strong statement held doubt in it. How couldn't it? Hatake's objective was two days away from their position, they were alone.

''Rasa, couldn't you use your sand somehow?''

The meek voice of the girl they had just rescued called out timidly, she was still clinging onto the red-head. Rasa shook his head softly, his fist clenching loudly in frustration.

''No, there is not enough natural resources in the area for something of this caliber. I have a feeling they had planned all of this, it's too well organized to be a custom defense maneuver.''

Nawaki scoffed bitterly at this. His hands were clutching his head in resignation.

''See? We are all dead.''

Rasa, greatly angered now, was about to lunge at the younger boy, but was stopped by Naruto's quiet voice.

''If you all don't shut up, I will personally use every ounce of your chakra just to change the color of this fucking barrier to a nice blue marine, am I clear?''

Everybody in the room fell quiet at the boy's chilling tone. They couldn't see his face from his lotus position, but he still managed to get their unquestioning attention.

''This is my most powerful barrier, the Shinigami himself would have trouble passing through. I had prepared it beforehand. It will hold for at least 12 hours, plenty of time to figure something out. Nobody will die here.''

His speech was so simple and strong, that even Nawaki, for a moment, felt stupid for worrying. They knew that 12 hours wouldn't be enough for reinforcements to arrive, but it was still something to at least approach everything in a calmer demeanor.

''Naruto…Your leg!''

Mikoto half-scream broke the somewhat tranquil atmosphere the group had reached. Surely enough, the upper part of a kunai was sticking out from Naruto's left tight. His faded black shinobi pants were darkened by a small pool of his own blood.

Nawaki immediately rushed for the older boy, as his hands started glowing a bright green. He slowly removed the blade, while Naruto flinched visibly from his position.

''Fuck.''

When he held the bloodied kunai in the air, some other purplish liquid dripped on the wooden floor beneath them. Mikoto gasped loudly, as she got closer to her teammates. It was poison. Suna's poison, one of the most lethal liquids known in the elemental nation. Nawaki quickly closed the wound with his chakra, that was the most he could do in this situation. His jaw was clenched.

Their sensei had explained to them the dangers of fighting Suna's shinobi; avoiding to be cut was imperative, as their poison was able to kill even the strongest shinobi in a matter of hours. Only a really advanced medic nin would be able to intervene.

''It's okay Nawaki. Go lay down and keep your chakra for later, you will need it.''

Naruto somewhat resigned voice made the younger boy even more frustrated with himself, his efforts only stopping upon seeing the red-head rarely shown smile. Nawaki was watching him intently, amazement and utmost respect were clear in his steely colored pupils. He quickly left Naruto's side before the older boy could notice his soon to be arriving tears. Mikoto was still a step away from him. Her face was strangely stoic, but her hands were trembling madly.

''You took that for me… Why…''

Her voice was barely a whisper.

''Mikoto, listen…''

He didn't have the need to finish, as the girl laid down on the wooden floor, resting her head on his good leg. If his hands hadn't been in this position, he would have liked to run them gently through her raven locks.

''It should have been me.''

He didn't answer, as he let her hug his leg tightly. Her hold comforted him. He didn't even know how, facing certain death, he was being this calm. Self-preservation, he supposed. Naruto didn't want to say this out loud, but he was a goner. He could already feel the sweat forming rapidly on his forehead, as the soon to be approaching fever was heating his body. He thought about his life, his accomplishments… He wasn't satisfied. He thought about what little he remembered of his parents, that had died together after a failed seal experimentation… It wasn't enough. He thought about his sensei and his belief that shinobi, because of their sins, didn't deserve to live past thirty years of age, he thought about his missions, his leader, his council… Kushina.

He needed to do something. He couldn't leave his teammates to die, he couldn't fail… He never did.

His mind was spinning, searching within himself for something that could get them out from this hell. In a couple of hours he wouldn't be even able to stand, he needed something quick, a miracle.

A…big, angry miracle.

He smirked.

If he was destined to die here, he will be going out with a bang. It was time to pay a visit to the grouchy fox.

''Nawaki.''

Said boy got up immediately upon hearing his name, his instincts screaming for something to do.

''Inside the pouch beside me, there is a red colored scroll, take it.''

He obliged rapidly, his hands reaching heatedly for the brownish sack. He took the scroll out, looking back at Naruto for instructions.

''Now, open the scroll and release the seal.''

Nawaki nodded, as his hands formed the ram sign once the scroll was opened. Even Mikoto, who didn't seem to be leaving his leg anytime soon, looked at the puff of smoke with interest. All of them were a little confused when an exact replica of Naruto puffed into existence. Wordlessly, the clone took the real Naruto's position, his hands shifting in the same snake sign.

Naruto released his hands but didn't move, as he breathed in sharply.

He caressed Mikoto's cheek mutely, her charcoal eyes were looking at him for answers.

He locked eyes with every single person in the room.

Everybody was staring at him like he had gone mad, but they had a little hope that he could really get them out from this mess.

''I already told you, you are not gonna die today.''

He left his right hand on Mikoto's cheek, it fit perfectly, with his thumb on her temple and his index finger reaching the side of her neck, while his left formed a one-handed ram seal, connecting him to his chakra. He closed his eyes, the reality around him disappearing behind the rhythmic pattern of his well-controlled breathing. He felt his head spinning towards a non-existent hole, before almost physically landing in front of something.

The same wooden door.

He liked what he recently assumed was his mindscape. It was all so calm, and far away from everything… He shook his head quickly. He noted that the intangible walls around him were leaking a dark purple viscose liquid. The poison was reaching his heart, he had to be quick.

He pushed the door open quietly, the appearance of the majestic beast way less shocking than his first time here.

''Thirsty for power, human?''

His voice was just as flooring as the first time, his feral grin almost mocking him about his soon to be death.

''Yes.''

He laughed. A laugh that could have moved mountains, barely different from a powerful roar.

''And say, human, what makes you think I will be willing to share my power with the likes of you?''

He got closer to the beast, his hand tentatively reaching in his direction. His fingers were stopped by some kind of invisible barrier, that rippled loudly around his touch. It was a powerful seal, but Naruto had something in mind.

''How angry are you, Kyuubi?''

''Get me out of this seal, and I will show it to you.''

''I have a better idea…''

A single seal on the top of his wrist lightened up in a peaceful yellow, as the kanji for each element appeared on each of his left-hand fingertips. He playing a dangerous game, but he didn't have much choice.

''…I will take part of your chakra, part of your conscience, and I will let you go wild on those annoying shinobi outside. You get to crush some human bones, and I will get my teammates free. You wouldn't want the jinchuuriki of the famed nine-tails dying anonymously from some stupid poison, way before he could make a name for himself and his Bijuu, would you?''

Appealing to the beast's bloodthirst and pride was a long shot, but it was the only thing he could think of. Naruto was almost ecstatic, as he felt the beast pondering his idea.

''If I agree, I want this to happen again.''

He was striking a deal with the devil, but the pros were just too many. He could still feel the ghost feeling of Mikoto face in his hand. He nodded mutely at the beast.

''Do we an agreement, then?''

He laughed again, as he was now standing on his fours. He looked even bigger like this.

''I'm not gonna lie, human, this will be painful.''

Naruto slammed his engraved hand on the barrier, creating a wide enough breach for the huge, furred paw of the beast to reach him. Their bodies touched, and Naruto immediately felt his vile chakra boiling in his veins. It was painful, but he was feeling invincible. In a blinding flash, his mindscape disappeared, as his eyes opened again.

He looked down, at Mikoto. It was harder and harder to resist the unreasonable hate that was pulsing through his body. He got up wordlessly, letting the girl to calmly sit on her knees.

''As soon as I have the enemy attention, you have to run away. Do not come back for any reason. Rasa, do you think you will have enough sand to cover them?''

The red-head flinched back upon seeing his companion red slitted pupils.

''Y-yes, I think so. But what about yourself?''

He grinned a feral grin, his elongated canines gleaming under the crimson light of the barrier coming from the window.

''I will be the distraction.''

Everybody wanted to complain at once, but a look in those angry, powerful eyes told them everything they needed to know. None of them knew what had happened to the red-head, but he wasn't the same person from before. Nawaki approached him cautiously, holding his oni mask towards his direction-

''N-Naruto, at least take your mask with you…''

He didn't answer. Instead, his body exploded in a crimson flame of potent chakra, the skin around his eyes darkening visibly, while the bubbling red aura around him took shape behind his back, forming three appendices that looked exactly like tails. Everybody stepped back, as the evil chakra felt corrosive at the very proximity.

''I won't need it. I want them to know who had massacred them.''

The clone that had been holding the barrier disappeared, as the real Naruto sprinted for the dojo entrance, grinning madly all the while.

Mamma mia che cliffhanger! What is sweet Mikoto hiding? Will Naruto be able to fight off hundreds of shinobi? Will the Cavs win the finals? Will people realize socialism doesn't work? Will Italy finally get a stable government? Find out (almost) everything in the next chapter! Cheers.