Naruto yawned loudly in response to the slowly ascending sun. Once again his hopes of sleeping in were dashed by a mission. Sasuke didn't look that great either as they dragged themselves towards the Hokage tower.
"Sasuke, what time is it?" Naruto asked in an almost incomprehensible tone.
"I don't want to know," Sasuke answered sleepily. "I'll just feel bad for myself.
At the entrance to the tower, they found Sai, his normally impassive face contaminated with fatigue.
"Where's everyone else?" Sasuke asked.
"Probably upstairs waiting," Sai answered with some effort.
On the way up, Sasuke and Sai had to stop their companion from taking the wrong door. Twice.
Inside Tsunade's office the curtains were pulled to block the sun's glaring rays. The other half of Kakashi, Sakura, Yamato, and Shino were already inside.
"What a surprise. We're last," Sasuke remarked dully.
"Your fault," Naruto muttered. Sasuke punched him and started a dispute regarding whose fault it was that their alarm clock never woke them up on time.
Tsunade coughed. When they failed to notice. Sakura began cracking her knuckles. That got their attention.
"Since everyon is present, I will brief you on the mission now," Tsunade said.
"Half of you don't know this, but yesterday we were finally able to capture a sound ninja." Sakura and Kakashi looked very surprised. Naruto didn't know what his reaction should be.
"Unfortunately, we had difficulties in extracting information,"Tsunade continued. "Even Ibiki's tactics did not work. He wouldn't let one word out of his mouth. Not even his name, favorite color or food. Luckily for us, a Kinkou member agreed to help in the interrogation. She was able to extract the general area of their village.
At this point Naruto had some questions. Who where these Kinkou people? Weren't the Sound located in Rice Country? He raised his hand.
"Yes Naruto?" Tsunade said. She seemed to know this was coming.
"Who're these Kinkou pe-" Naruto began.
"One of the groups you escorted yesterday. The one with black and white eyes," Tsunade answered. She then continued with the mission explanation. "Aside from that, the only thing we were able to confirm is that Kabuto is still among the Sound ranks, he might even be their leader. At midnight today, the prisoner died suddenly. Shizune should come out with the autopsy soon. Now that we know where the Sound village is around, we don't need to lose any more time. As such, I will be dispatching two teams to confirm this." She rummaged through her desk in search of something. A faint clink of glass was audible.
"Here," Tsunade said as she threw a scroll to Yamato. "On that map are all known locations where Sound have been sighted, as well as Orochimaru's hideouts and the area where Sound is supposedly located. Try to avoid combat. If we can confirm this, we might be one step closer to eliminating a potential enemy.
"Don't worry, ba-chan! I'll be enough for all of them! Then we don't have to start a war or something!" Naruto proclaimed with sudden vigor.
"Baka! The Sound are strong, and they are proficient at using genjutsu! They'll have you attacking Mist or Lightning instead!" Tsunade exclaimed. She had already asked Kakashi to keep an eye on him.
"Hokage-sama, if that's all, we'll be going now," Yamato said. He inclined his head and left. The others began to file out as well.
"Wait!" Tsuande ordered. They paused.
"Who said all of you are going? The team I'm sending is Yamato, Naruto, Shino, and Sai! The others have a special assignment. Good luck to your team, Yamato.
After Yamato's team left, Tsunade addressed The remaining shinobi.
"You will have an assignment just as important. In fact, you didn't have to wake up so early," Tsunade said.
"Tsunade-sama, you ordered me to tell Team seven to meet you at 5:30," Sakura pointed out.
Oh! That's right, but I changed my mind," Tsunade said. Anyway, here's your mission..."
--
"I will see you three later," Tsunade said when she finished explainin. Once they were gone, Shizune entered carrying a mountain of paperwork. Tsunade looked at the clock. A quarter past five. And already the day looked bad.
"Shizune, where are the autopsy results?" Tsunade asked, irritated.
"Somewhere in there," Shizune said hurriedly before leaving the room.
"Oi! Shizune! Get back in here and tell me yourself!" Tsunade shouted.
Shizune entered carrying another mountain of paperwork.
"My apologies, Tsunade-sama. I'll tell you when I finish getting all the paperwork in," Shizune said.
"Why is there so much?" Tsunade asked.
"Well, you have to fill in a number of forms for our new members. You have to grant them citizenship, sign off on their integration to our forces, grant them permission to trade and open bank accounts, and I think some other things. Aside from your other paperwork," Shizune explained.
Tsunade didn't even care that Shizune saw her drinking on duty. In fact, Shizune seemed to sympathize with her for once.
--
At the gate, Yamato explained the travel route for the mission.
"There's no need to rush at all. According to the map, we can reach the place in about three or four hours if we push ourselves. That way, we can look at the territory and determine a strategy to infiltrate the place. It could be a Sound base or their home village. If it's the latter, I think we might need some more men."
"I think I could handle all of them," Naruto muttered. Yamato sighed.
"Talking around here won't help us," Shino remarked. Yamato jumped off, and the remaining followed him. The morning air was cool and refreshing, and the leaves were clothed in dew. The only sounds heard aside from the were the rushing of the shinobi and the crack of a branch whenever Naruto misjudged his step.
"I'm tired!" Naruto said defensively when Shino stared at him after breaking his sixth branch.
"Just from a dinner?" Shino asked.
"Huh?" Naruto exclaimed perplexed.
Sai put a hand to his face. Naruto might be extremely capable of thinking a clever strategy for battle, but sometimes he could be so... dumb.
After a while, Naruto decided to go in the front with Yamato, tired of thinking about Shino's strange remark.
"Yamato-taichou, don't we already know where Sound is? Why are we looking for it again?" Naruto asked Yamato. He groaned at the prospect of explaining the situation early in the morning.
"It's like this Naruto: We lost track of Kabuto shortly after you left. You remember his situation, right? After all, you saw him," Yamato said.
"Yeah," Naruto answered. He remembered Kabuto's incorporation of Orochimaru.
"So, a few months later, the ANBU completely lose track of Sound. They disappeared without a trace from the sight of our patrols. We would've been in real trouble were it not for Sasuke," Kakashi explained.
""That teme?" Naruto asked incredously.
"Sasuke had information on all of Orochimaru's bases. We spent some months looking at everything. All of Orochimaru's studies and data had disappeared. All of it. In a base to the south, we found a lone man retrieving something. Upon his capture, he spilled everything. After Orochimaru's death, they decided to regroup somewhere else, as they no longer had his power on their side. It seems that Kabuto is either the leader or a person of significance in their village, because the man was doing a favor and checking to see if Kabuto had left anything. Ibiki got the location of a storehouse, and we followed a trail. Finally, we seemed to have stumbled on somewhere important. Of course, there is a possibility that this is all a trap. So we have to be very careful," finished Yamato.
They soon came to a town just inside Rice country, not far from their final destination. They ate lunch, with Naruto eating as much as he could before being reminded that he would pay for his lunch. After the meal, they paid and left. The town wasn't much: a bunch of crudely organized wood buildings, some empty stalls, and a dusty road going straight through the town. There were some farms visible, but not many other businesses. Nothing worth taking a look at. The Konoha shinobi walked out of the town without another glance.
--
A man was sitting at a bar in the same humble restaurant where the group of Konoha shinobi had killed their hunger. He payed for his alcohol and left. He went to his room in the rusty motel and locked the door. He pulled out a scroll and brush, and began writing a missive. It had been months since he had seen any shinobi pass by the town, and certainly none of them had left heading northeast. He finished writing, sealed the scroll and bit his thumb. He whispered some indistinguishable words and traced a line of blood around the paper cylinder. A few second later, a white flame began burning at the tip of the scroll, and it soon consumed the entire message. Satisfied, he jumped on his bed and decided to rest. His part was finished.
--
"We're almost there," Yamato alerted the group. They were getting into a more densely forested area, different from the rice fields that gave the country its name.
They drastically reduced their pace to facilitate the detection of any enemy shinobi. Soon Yamato raised his hand and signaled for everyone to stop.
"Shino, can you sense anything?" Yamato asked. Shino released a few bugs to look at the area.
"We captured the spy around here, so we already know that the place we're looking for is around here," Yamato said before jumping on a branch to keep watch.
Fifteen minutes later, a bug returned to Shino's palm.
"It seems, that they have put up a genjutsu," Shino remarked. "My bugs were able to sense chakra, but they could find no one.
"Show us," Yamato ordered. Shino led them to a particularly dense part of the forest. He pointed out a spot. Yamato clasped his hands together and released the seal. Their was a change in the pattern of trees.
Naruto jumped on a branch and looked through the leaves. He found himself staring at a small clearing, with a hole in the middle of it. There were no trees but there were some rocks, including one that looked like a pole stuck with spines. It looked so strange you had to wonder if it was really natural. But what caught his attention the most were the quartet of men in grey uniforms and headbands with a musical note. They looked very alert, surveying their surrounding with distrusting eyes. Something was off about that. He slowly walked down the tree and rejoined the group.
"There are four in the open, and I saw two in the trees," Yamato said.
"Two more amidst the rocks," Shino said.
"This is strange though. This base is hidden in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by a genjutsu, and the guards still expect someone to attack them," Yamato pointed out.
"Maybe we should've stayed out of the town," Sai said.
"I don't know, they would have to have some very efficient way of communicating, it's only an hour and a half at most since we left there,"Yamato said.
"Anyway, we should think about these guards," Naruto siad.
"It would be best if we did it quietly," Shino said. They nodded in agreement and disappeared.
"I'll take the ones in the trees, Shino and Sai can take the ones in the rocks. Naruto, you take out the rest," ordered Yamato. They acknowledged their commands and departed.
--
A guard yawned loudly. This was so tedious. They had gotten a message that company was on the way, but so far no one had arrived. He was finding it difficult to keep watch over his surroundings. At least it would be over soon. He didn't notice the trees behind him and his partner sprout extra branches.
--
Shino extended his arms, and his insects slowly made their way towards the lazy man in the rocks. The man stretched, thanked his luck for being able to stay in a place where his superiors wouldn't notice him slacking off. He nearly jumped out of his place when he saw a snake slithering by. He calmed himself and relaxed. Soon he would be inside enjoying a drink.
--
A man paced around the hole, anxiously awaiting the danger to make it's appearance. He was mimicked by his three teammates as they methodically assessed the area around them. Kabuto-sama would have his head if anything were to happen to the facility. The sounds of the footsteps in the trees did not reach his ears.
--
It was over quite quickly. Among the trees, the guards heard a rustle and turned rapidly. They were quickly stabbed by a tree branches. Four men sprang out of the trees towards the men pacing around the ground. Each man noticed only three shadows. As they alerted their friends, they were quickly disposed of. Except for one, who was his by the blunt end of a kunai.
--
As Naruto threw away the bloody kunai, Yamato observed the unconscious man.
"Shino, get everything you can from him. Make sure you gag him," Yamato directed.
Shino nodded and dragged the prisoner into the trees.
Sai came out from the rocks, and a black snake oozed into the ground near his feet.
Naruto fidgeted while waiting for Shino to come back.
Soon, Shino appeared, minus the prisoner.
"The next change in the guards is in about a minute. They knew we were coming because they have a contact in that small town. And this place holds some sort of importance to Kabuto. Our friend couldn't specify," Shino divulged.
"A minute? It would be easier to intercept them as they came up, rather than start a battle up here," Yamato said thoughtfully. Shino extended his arms and his bugs flew down the entrance. Naruto went after them.
"Wait Naruto!" Yamato called after him to no avail.
"He's as eager as ever," Sai commented. Yamato sighed. Some chilling screams were heard from the hole. After about a half a minute they stopped.
Yamato went down the hole, followed by the other two a few seconds later.
They found themselves in a poorly lit tunnel. There was a single lamp near an iron door that stood out against the dirt. Before it were eight corpses.
"See? Naruto took them out," Sai said.
No, I only finished them off. I was being kind, actually," Naruto corrected. Some of the bugs began to move back towards their master. Yamato approached the door. There was no lock.
"There's no point in staying hidden, now that they know we're here. So..," Naruto said forming a rasengan on his right palm. Yamato immediately edged back. Some winced at the loud crash that alerted everyone in the hideout where they were. Yamato signaled the team to move forward, and they entered the hideout, unsure of what lay in wait for them.
--
"Kabuto-sama! We have confirmed Konoha's infiltration of base seven. Enemy presence is estimated least two squads, and so far we have sixteen casualties," a sound messenger informed.
Kabuto looked up from his table. He was mixing a powder of some sorts, next to him, some chemicals were giving off a nasty smell.
"That is good. Have the subjects been deployed?" Kabuto asked.
"Yes Kabuto-sama!" the messenger said promptly.
"Very well. Now please excuse me," Kabuto said in his polite voice. The man bowed low and disappeared.
Konoha was better than he thought. He hadn't expected the base to be discovered. Not yet at least. He finished mixing his powder and scooped up a very small quantity. He turned to a man in chains against a wall.
"No more... No more...Please...Kill me..." the man moaned. Kabuto put the spoon in front of him.
"Just take this. Take this and it will be over," Kabuto said softly. He pushed the spoon towards the man's mouth. The man hungrily devoured the concoction. He almost laughed.
People were so easy to manipulate.
--
Sai found himself inside a massive, coliseum-like room. But instead of seats, there were prison cells. A lot of them. He had seen such places during his stay with Orochimaru. Except he had a funny feeling about this one. Sure enough, he looked closely, and saw that they were all empty. He signaled that it was okay to proceed and the rest of the shinobi moved forward.
"Where's everyone?" Naruto wondered out loud. The place had too many smells for him to detect anyone. Shino released a few bugs to scout the area, while Naruto moved towards the center, where the was a rather large open space. Yamato followed him.
"Geez, they must've run or something. There isn't anyone at all. Where's the way out? We should get out of here," Naruto stated before looking for another exit.
BOOM!
The others' heads instantly turned towards the source of the explosion. There was now a crater of twenty five meters where Yamato, and Naruto had stood. At the same time, Shino and Sai were pelted by kunai from all sides. They dodged and ran frantically. They had walked headfirst into the enemy's trap, and were now paying the price.
A few shouts could be heard above them. A body tumbled down and barely missed Sai.
"They're on the ceiling!" Sai alerted.
There was a loud bang from above and some shouts of pain. Chunks of earth began to fall in copius amounts.
"An exit!" Sai pointed out to Shino. There was a door on the second level of the room, and without further ado, the pair made a dash for the door. Several enemies dropped off the ceiling and gave chase. Naruto, Yamato, dropped in front of Shino and ran with them. Naruto blew the door open with a rasengan, and the Konoha shinobi ran through the debris. The sound nin that followed were pinned by ink lions or trapped in wooden cages.
"They planned the ambush well enough, but they underestimated us badly," Yamato remarked.
"I would guess that they have pulled back their strongest men farther in," Shino contributed.
"Cowards," Naruto said.
"Or conservative," Sai suggested.
They followed the dark passageway for a few minutes. A fork in the path appeared.
"Here's how we'll split up: Shino will go left with Naruto, Sai and I will take the right path. We don't have anyway to communicate, so if one group finishes exploring one path, they double back and wait here for the other pair. If they take too long, follow the path the other team took. And if the other pair isn't found, well, assume the worst. See you soon," Yamato finished. The shinobi dispersed.
Shino and Naruto rushed in silence down a corridor. They encountered no ambushes or traps. This made them even more suspicious.
Just when they were starting ot become bored, they found themselves in front of a door. It stood ajar. Shino pushed it opened and entered. Naruto followed.
There was a light in the ceiling. The floor was padded, there were some chairs and a water dispenser. To Naruto, it looked like a training dojo. Both men stiffened when they heard a groan. It didn't take them long to find the source. A plain looking brown haired man lay motionless on the floor. He gave no sign of having noticed the invaders. Naruto drew a kunai and approached the man slowly. The man's moaning ceased as he looked at Naruto. He began to foam at the mouth.
"Crazy wierdo,"thought Naruto.
"H-h-help m-m-me," the man murmured as he oozed saliva.
"What's wrong?" Naruto asked.
"Ka-Kabuto. He did th-this to m-me," the man whispered.
"Let's get you out of here where we can examine you," Naruto suggested. The man's facial response was enough to convey his consent.
Naruto reached down to lift the man up. Naruto noticed a black spot over his left lung.
"Hey, you have a-"
POOF
Naruto burst into smoke. When the smoke cleared, the man was on his feet. He wiped away the saliva from his mouth and rubbed his broken nose.
"I almost believed you fell for that. I was pretty convincing," the man addressed Naruto, who had stepped in to the room. He turned to Shino. "It's rude to speak to another ninja using a bunshin," the man said before he made a swiping motion with his arm. Shino split in half. The pieces became black and disappeared. Shino appeared from behind a pillar.
"Impressive. How did you know I was there?" Shino asked the man.
"You'll see. Or maybe you won't," the enemy replied mockingly. He began moving his fingers in a pattern, as though he was playing an instrument. An eerie pattern of sounds began ringing. After a few seconds, the light in the ceiling disappeared and another simultaneously appeared over the door. Then he broke the rhythm with one long sweep of his arm. Shino split again.
"Please enjoy my performance, Konoha shinobi," the man said with a grin. Naruto performed his signature handsign.
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" he cried as a dozen clones spawned into existence.
"Nice jutsu, but you shan't hinder me in the least," responded the Shinobi. His fingers began moving in a faster rythme, and as he conducted, the room's appearance constantly changed, from a dojo to a forest, to a riverside, and an empty street. One by one, the clones were cut down by nothing. Shino still hadn't moved from his hiding place. And Naruto had no idea what this technique was.
"Oi! Where's Kabuto?" Naruto shouted. The man gave a huge laugh.
"Who knows? Maybe here," the man hinted. "But you'll never get past me to find out!"
The man's fingers began to move once more. Naruto backed away instinctively. No way in hell was he getting sliced up by whatever this guy used.
He saw something flash very briefly in front of him and disappear. He heard the man mutter a curse. The man repeated the motion. Naruto jumped away again. He glimpsed the flash again. It reminded him of a metal reflection. The man swore loudly and struck up a rhythm again. This time, the black spot on his chest seemed to explode, and black marks stained his skin.
"Shino, that's a curse seal!" alerted Naruto.
The man grinned at Naruto, then the ground around Naruto cracked and shadows crawled up his ankles. He tried to shake them off, but they suddenly tightened like steel around his legs. He fell over and more shadows bound him to the ground.
"I thought you had me figured out. Seems I overestimated your intelligence," mocked the man. His eyes then widened in surprise. Bugs flew at both combatants. The enemy gritted his teeth and turned to liquid. He surfaced on the other side of the room. Naruto was on the ceiling.
"I'm sorry, but you'll have to wait your turn!" he exclaimed. He moved his fingers, creating yet another melodie. Now there was a dim red light below the man, and the sound of a roaring waterfall filled Naruto's ears.
"You can't hide from me here," the man boasted. He plunged his arm downward. The ground began cracking, or so it seemed to Naruto. He jumped off the ceiling and slashed at his opponent. A hole appeared in the man, and Naruto went straight through him. Shino burst out of a hole, the ground under him cracked and gave in.
"This is a genjutsu of some sorts," Shino informed Naruto. "This place is contaminated with chakra. My bugs and I cannot locate the source. We can be sure that that body is an illusion."
The man's grin faded a bit; apparently Shino was correct. In response, the man's fingers began moving again. The lights began changing color and moving, and a wide range of sounds, from a forest to a marketplace, began playing.
"Damn this bastard," Naruto said, very annoyed by the lack of visibility and the irksome noises. He couldn't summon his scroll, so there was no way he could call his clones at Myobukuzan.
He was racking his brains to find a way to break through the genjutsu, when something hit Shino. As Naruto saw his partner's blood spray, Shino flew into the wall, grunting in pain.
"One down," a voice infested with glee announced.
--
Sasuke yawned. The day was sunny and lively, perfect for a walk or some training. He had done a bit of both and taken nap after lunch. He had wondered why she hadn't sent him on the mission in Rice Country. Surely he, who had supplied much of the information on the Sound, should have gone? But when Tsunade had given him his mission, he had understood immediately. He looked at the tree's shadow. It was almost time. He reluctantly got up and made for a training ground nearby. When he reached his destination, he saw that he was last. Again.
He was greeted by Neji and Hinata. No surprise. Of course there would be representatives from Konoha's most powerful clan of the moment. He also spotted Kakashi and Gai. For once, Gai was not pestering his rival. Instead, he was observing the people in front of him.
The group from yesterday was there. The fanged man was snoring on the grass, blissfully unaware of everyone. The older man approached him and nudged him with his foot. No response. Then the purple haired woman punted the man's rib. The man opened his eyes. Then he groaned and rubbed his side. The woman called Natsumi had taken off her jacket, attracting the wandering eyes of most males present.
Tsunade appeared a minute later, followed by Sakura and Shizune. Then the advisers, Homura and Koharu arrived along with Danzo, and a minute before they started, Nara Shikaku, a jounin respected for his quick thinking and strategies arrived. All of the members of the body that governed Konoha had arrived to watch this. Tsunade addressed the assembled.
"As mentioned in our agreement, members of the Kinkou, Ikimono, and Ryoushi clans have agreed to give a demonstration of their abilities to help better identify where they may be of use. You have half an hour," Tsunade finished. She stepped back into the shade of the trees.
The three leaders were joined by two others, a black haired youth that had a striking resemblance to the old man, and the blue haired girl called Ai.
"Natsumi, don't even think about it. Ai can do that," the old man said in an angry voice. Natsumi looked very sorry.
"I was looking forward to having fun. Maybe I could even hit Kumabaka by accident. But you had to spoil my fun, Kouhei," Natsumi said as she grasped her huge weapon.
Kumakichi sniffed the air and grimaced.
Hinata took a deep breath. She wasn't going to fail in front of her father.
"How tense," Shikaku remarked. "Just get on with it.
"As you wish," the Kouhei said. He grabbed his cane and rushed Sasuke.
"Lucky me,"Sasuke thought dryly.
Then the rest of the group soon followed. Soon, the pounding of medal and the rushing of legs could be heard from a distance.
--
AN: Sorry for the delay. I have been quite busy, but I still find time to brainstorm. Let me know what you think. Any comment you have for me is helpful. Thanks!
One person mentioned their dislike of overpowered OCs. Well, I share that dislike, so I thought of two ways to contain that situation: one, give them a crucial weakness, and two: make the enemies just as powerful. So even with Naruto as strong as he is, he will have challenges ahead of him.
I don't own Naruto.
