As you can see, I'm updating Killer Instinct first. Now that it's finished I'll start on Seals of Forgotten Time this time. The flip of a coin has decided the fate of my next update. My next update will be Seals of Forgotten Time, guaranteed.
I, for one, am glad the coin made this decision. For the simple fact that, since I love both of those stories, it would have taken me forever to chose which to update.
Now, enough of my babbling, lets get started!
Disclaimer: I don't even know why I make these anymore. It's obvious I don't own Naruto.
Killer Instinct Chapter Four: The Mission
{Hi no Kuni}
Naruto mentally cursed as he watched Konoha's walls from afar. He spotted at least twelve Jonin, judging from their vests, on the walls. He knew from how they were spaced apart, that, where one peripheral ended, another started. That made things difficult, if he wanted to slip by them undetected.
It was the same setting for the other three sides of the village, the main gate having a dozen more. 'Fuck, I don't remember the village being this heavily guarded.' Naruto thought before hearing the whimpers of the little vulpines on each of his shoulders. "Sorry little guys, but its too dangerous for you two to go in there. This is where we part ways. Why don't you return to your parents. They're probably worrying sick about you two." Naruto murmured as the two foxes hopped off his shoulders and scampered behind some foliage.
The blonde returned his eyes back to the village with a grimace. "I don't think you're going to complete this mission tonight. You actually might have to wait a week or two before the moon could work in your favor." Kurama commented with a yawn.
'You definitely need sleep furball, if being awake has you thinking like that. I'm already without chakra, they couldn't detect me, even if they were looking out for me.' Naruto replied with hardening eyes.
Though Naruto said that, he couldn't disagree with the fox's words. It seemed like the hardest part was getting to the walls. A total of twenty five yards separated the walls from the tree-line.
He looked to his right, hearing the bumping of wheels on the ground. 'A traveling merchant, at this time of night?' Naruto just had to see.
He moved further into the forest and climbed the tallest tree near the road. He squinted his eyes and saw a group of Jonins talking to the merchant. They were searching rather aggressively, all around the man's wagon. 'Damn, they're really checking him.' Naruto thought, returning his gaze to the walls ahead.
He was located at the North entrance, his future escape route. But, what he needed to do, was enter from the west. The Red Light District was closer to that entrance. Of course it was also for the off chance that he was seen. Those people really didn't give a damn about anything, so they wouldn't rat him out… if they did see him.
Naruto scowled, it was always harder to break in somewhere, than it was to break out. It was then that a idea came to mind. He mulled it over in consideration, weighing the pros and cons of such an action.
"It seems like an only option at this point." Kurama informed with a large grin.
Naruto shrugged his shoulders at the words. "Then let this tree become a beacon for my cause." Naruto said with a smirk as he dug into his body suit and removed a his black ninja pouch. 'This better work.'
~KI~KI~KI~
Naruto crouched on the west side of the village, waiting for his cue. He should have about ten more minutes before the fireworks started. Again, he hoped it worked, or else he would be seen as soon as he dashed into the large gap.
Again, he climbed onto the tallest peak he could and looked at the Jonins on the wall. He noticed that only ten Jonin were visible. He rose an eyebrow at the oddity, 'Where's the other two?' he thought narrowing his eyes.
"I don't know what I saw. All I know is, that it was around here." the blonde heard a gruff voice, right below him, ground level. He looked down and melded into the shadows.
"Maybe it was just a deer or something. The Nara clan's deer ranch is only two hundred yards away." another voice, feminine by the sounds of it, assured the man.
"I guess, it is possible one of them got out. Though I doubt it, that ranch is rather fortified. But I guess I'll disregard my gut feeling in this matter." the man said again, still a little uncertain.
"Good. Then perhaps, we can return to our posts." the female said before a large explosion sounded to the north.
Them and everyone else in the village, were immediately drawn to the conflagration as more explosions sounded in that direction. The explosions were moving around the village, going counter clockwise, though they were still generally in the north.
Naruto smirked as the two Jonin below him and the others, began running in that direction. Though he noticed that six still remained, but had their eyes away from his direction.
He dug into his body suit again, and removed six kunai. He used the resonating sounds of the explosions to mask the sounds of the thudding kunai. He ran straight for the wall and used the kunai as his footholds as he jumped from each kunai, until he reached the top.
When that happened, he simply hung over the edge. He didn't pull himself up, since they might see him. He kept his breathing low as he shimmied over to the gate on his right. Nobody was directly over the arcing gate and that was his ticket inside.
He heard their yells about what was happening, and how it was happening. It was music to his ears, when it became fewer in number. More shinobi were going towards the fires, failing from keeping them from spreading. The north was no longer his future escape route out of the village.
When only two Jonin remained, on either side of the gate, he silently hefted himself up and threw kunai at both of them. It was pure luck that their danger senses didn't go off, before the kunai pierced both of their jugulars and going further into their necks.
Naruto gave each of their dying faces a smirk before jumping towards the nearest building, where he disappeared into the shadows.
It was then that he thought about why he didn't encounter any ANBU agents. Well, other then the ones he narrowly evaded detection from outside of the walls. He shrugged his shoulders and dropped into the alley below, immersing himself in the shadows.
Just then the explosions stopped and he smirked as they stopped in front of the main gate, in the east. Even from his spot in the shadows, he could see the fire in the air, just outside of the village. "It took you a good hour make all of those bombs. Now that you're inside, you need to be on guard, because they will be even more on the lookout." Kurama spoke with a yawn.
Naruto didn't reply, already knowing this. It was the biggest con in the plan, but also one he couldn't avoid at all. 'Let's just make this quick.' Naruto thought as he dashed through the alleys, remembering the route from long ago.
{Hokage's Office}
Hiruzen, the old Sandaime, had been in the middle of paperwork when the fireworks went off. Of course this was surprising to him, since they had never been attacked this suddenly since the Kyuubi attack.
The explosive vibrations shook his office as he called ANBU into sight. "What the hell is happening?" he questioned standing to his feet.
"Explosions, just outside of the village. We don't know what caused them, but no enemies are visible outside of said walls. We really have no idea of what the cause was." the ANBU wearing a boar mask reported just as a Chunin stumbled into the office.
"Hokage-sama, two of our Jonins were killed on the West wall. We have a breach." the female Chunin informed as Hiruzen's eyes widened.
"We cant be sure that it was a breach as of yet. It could have been an escape." the ANBU agent said facing the Chunin.
"That makes no sense Boar. Why would the perpetrator set ablaze the north and escape from the west." Hiruzen shook his head at the ANBU's words. "We first need to calm the flames, all water and earth users are tasked with that assignment. Boar I want you and your team to look over the scene on the west wall. Report to me when you're finished." Hiruzen said waving his hand as he sat back down when the explosions died down.
{Morning}
Only two hours passed and it was morning already. Naruto grunted from behind a dumpster as he knocked out a homeless man. He removed the gray and dirty cloak the man was wearing and put it on over his bodysuit. He slit the man's neck and tossed the body into the dumpster.
He took his hood off from his bodysuit and replaced it with the hood from his cloak. It was rather low, nearly covering his eyes from sight, while his mouth was still covered by his mask. It was common to see a few of these kinds of appearances in the Red Light District, at all times of the day.
With this, Naruto was free to wander around the district. Though it wasn't senseless wandering. He was moving closer and closer towards the south of the village, his objective was in that direction.
He quickly narrowed his eyes and his hand lashed out, stopping a hand from reaching in his cloak. "Keep on walking." Naruto seethed out, loving the sweat collecting on the man's brow, his amber eyes glaring at him.
The man gulped as Naruto released his hand. He promptly stumbled away, embarrassed he was caught trying to pick someone's pocket.
Naruto smiled as memories flooded his memories. He remembered being caught by others a few times in the past. He always felt embarrassed afterwards. His eyes remained amber, since his blue eyes were so unique. He didn't know anyone in the village with his kind of bright blue eyes. But there were a few with amber eyes, though it was only the dogs in the Inuzuka clan that shared his eye color.
He narrowed his eyes and took off into a jog, like many others, as a few Chunin entered the area. It was clearly apparent by the way they were acting that they were looking for a few of the well known arsonists in the district. The blonde grinned as the blame was instantly put on the village's own citizens. The timing seemed right as they had only put the fires out about fifteen minutes ago.
He ran into an alley, before a Chunin landed in front of him. "Halt little scum. Remove your hood." the man ordered.
Naruto kept his hood on as he glared at the bearded man. "Why would I do that? I have sensitive skin and burn easily." Naruto lied, now knowing the man was staring at his masked covered face.
The man glared back at the boy. He reached for the long knife on his belt and spoke again. "Uncover your face now, or I'll use force." the man said slowing removing the knife.
Naruto scowled, knowing a fight wasn't the best of situations right now. "Okay, okay, you don't have to go that far." Naruto said disarmingly, seeing the man loosening his grip on his weapon.
The blonde chose that moment to quickly unleash a quick series of blue fire from his punching fists. The man yelped in surprise as the fire covered his body. Naruto didn't stay to watch the man burn. He knew the other Chunin would be in his location in a quick second, so he bolted further into the alley.
~KI~KI~KI~
The Hokage frowned at the news. He stood in the hospital, where a burned Chunin was taken to. Though his burns weren't so bad, seeing as how he was immediately put out by the other Chunin.
The burns were only superficial, being only first degree. It was all thanks to his heavily armored attire that he wasn't in worst condition.
"Tell me about the arsonist. His age, appearance and anything else of note." the Hokage spoke looking at the man who was rubbing burn cream on his arms.
The man's beard had been burned off, along with his eyebrows, and he had wrappings around his head. "From the looks of it, he seemed to only be a boy. His age easily being around ten years old, maybe eleven. Even though he was wearing a dirtied cloak, I saw a classic shinobi bodysuit underneath before I was engulfed by blue flames. Speaking of the flames, he seemed to summon them from midair, without the use of hand signs as well." the man said, his voice slipping a little awe at the end.
The Hokage nodded his head. Fire without hand seals seemed impossible, nobody was capable of such a feat. Not even he, the Professor, was capable of commanding fire to such a degree. "Truly impressive. Though did you see anything else? Anything else of note?" he asked narrowing his eyes, glaring at the bandaged man.
"Yeah, amber eyes. And though, it might just be my imagination, but I think I saw yellow." the man spoke looking at the ceiling in deep thought with a spaced out look.
Hiruzen rose his brow at that. "Yellow? What do you mean by that?"
The man looked down, back to his arms, as he absently resumed rubbing more cream. "Hair. Yellow hair, down by his neck. Though whether it was my imagination or a reflection of the sun, I'm not really sure in that manner." the Chunin said with a downcast expression.
Hiruzen racked his brain for a solution to the puzzle. The blonde hair did make him immediately think of a certain boy who ran from the village four years ago. Except the boy didn't have amber eyes… until he remembered a confession from a large Akimichi about being subdued by an amber eyed blonde boy, resembling Naruto.
He still couldn't jump to conclusions just yet, he had more questions to ask. "Did you sense anything from the boy?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. If Naruto was in the village, his chakra would be a beacon on his radar. It was impossible for the boy to hide because of that, even if he did try to lower the signature.
The man shook his head in the negative. "That's the problem. I didn't sense a thing. It was like he was a ghost. He felt like he didn't have any chakra in his body." the man recalled looking down again in slight fright.
'Even more puzzling.' Hiruzen thought with a frown at the news. He rubbed the bridge of his nose in annoyance. "What about his face, more importantly his cheeks, were they covered?" Hiruzen voice his final question to the man.
The Chunin immediately nodded his head, now wearing a surprised expression. "Do you really think it was him. But… how?" he asked with anger in his eyes.
"He's clearly had some training. But I have no doubt in my mind. Naruto Uzumaki has returned." the Hokage revealed with narrowing eyes.
{Super Dark Alley}
It was revealed through the alley, that Naruto was leaning against a dumpster. He ran for half an hour, before feeling that he was back to the safety of being incognito. He tossed the cloak aside, knowing that it was identified by now.
He had no doubt the man survived, since just after he left, Chunin arrived to put him out. It was only thanks to having no chakra that he escaped, that and his fox-like cunning. He knew, from his many chases, that even if he had his chakra unsealed, it would have proved difficult to lock-on to his location.
Though he saw the good in the encounter. It helped him speed things along, made him realized that longer he spent in the village, the more likely he was to get captured.
He found a different cloak that was far darker than the last, on a much cleaner person. He ran for a few more minutes before he exited the alley and looked at his target destination, the Hyuga compound.
Just then a loud blaring sound echoed throughout the entire village. He clasped his hands over his ears as a loud voice accompanied the sound. "Attention all villagers!" the Sandaime's voice spoke loud and slightly distorted.
"The hell?" Naruto muttered as a projection of the old man's face appeared over the village. "I didn't know he could do that." Naruto spoke with a little caution, hoping that it couldn't see him.
"A five million ryo reward will be administered to whoever could apprehend the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze. He is in the village and he is dangerous." the Sandaime spoke, as a collective gasp was heard throughout the village.
The boy's heritage had been revealed months after his escape. At first the village had been remorseful for treating the child of their late Yondaime the way they did. Though when word spread that he fled from the village, they began thinking of him in the previous amount of hate, if not greater.
But that wasn't the only thing that was revealed, his status as the Jinchuriki was made public to the whole village. This just seemed to piss the two off even more. "Oh that is bullshit! He'll tell the village your biggest secrets, but not you!" Kurama yelled, absolutely livid.
It only seemed to bleed into Naruto's mind, enhancing his own anger. 'This is complete bullshit.' Naruto thought as clamoring all around him became rather noisy.
"I want a net to be dropped over the entire village. No one enters or exits until the brat is found." the Hokage said revealing the annoyance he had for the blonde container.
Naruto scowled at that, it was going to make leaving the village a pain in the ass. If he stuck to his plan though, he would be leaving the village unscathed and unnoticed.
Again he looked on to the Hyuga compound and saw multiple Hyuga hopping from the area, their Byakugans activated, looking for his signature. Again he was glad his chakra was sealed, otherwise he would have been immediately found.
He counted the members of the entire Hyuga clan at seventy five, give or take five or six. The clan was split in two groups, the Main house and the Branch house, the majority of the members being in the Branch house.
The members of the Branch house were branded with a Cursed Seal, in order to protect the Byakugan from falling into outside hands. As such, the Branch members were tasked as the protectors of the Hyuga clan and also doubled as slaves.
Being the slaves of the Main house, caused some branch members to develop deep hatred for the Main house.
Naruto was going to prey on those emotions and turn a few of them. He's been studying the Hyuga clan for the past year. He gained most of the knowledge from Kurama, from when he was locked inside of his mother and Mito. Though the data was a bit outdated, the blonde was glad Kumo had a scroll on the Hyuga Affair many years ago.
He knew he had to rely on their hatred, so he had to study them even more and learn just who harbored the hated feelings. He would be safe as long as he didn't use chakra. Nobody in the village would expect him to hide out in the most secured place in the village.
{Two Days Later}
It was around sunset when Naruto crouched in the darkness of the bushes. In front of him were three members of the Branch house, all in their late teens. Two were male and the other, female. He approached them with notions of freedom and being away from the Main house.
They had been hesitant at first and told him of such feelings. They knew of the price on the blonde's head and knew even if they had captured him, the money would go straight to the main house.
Naruto held up his seal tag, that had the Uzumaki clan's swirl displayed on it. He told them that he wasn't able to get rid of the sealing of their Byakugan upon their deaths, but he could get rid of the punishing effect of their seals.
That had sealed the deal, just as Naruto had predicted. They wanted the work done immediately, the blonde refused and told them that he would when they were ready to leave the village. He refused, just in case a Main house member tried to punish them and found their seals didn't work, they would be reapplied or executed.
They couldn't help but agree that his words were true. They accepted his terms and promised to hold their resentments of the Main house. "Alright, I have three, I need one more Hyuga before we can safely escape the village. Any suggestions?"
The woman immediately perked up. "I say you cripple the clan by getting the prodigy, Neji. He really hates the Main house for being the cause of his father's death. He feels that his father was born, only to die for the Main House."
Naruto nodded, loving the news. He still hadn't told the three he was going to take them to Kumo, he wanted to reveal that after they left the village. Plus there was something they didn't know about the seal Naruto placed over their Caged Bird Seal.
Naruto then thought about the information. Should he reveal that he was taking them to Kumo or would that make them resent him. It was a risk, but was he willing to take it. He came to the conclusion that he needed to know if they were really on board with him, to the end. He'll ask them during the ceremony of applying his seal.
"Alright, I'll begin studying Neji now. If I feel that he really is the prodigy, you make him out to be, then I'll see if I can get him on board." the blonde said putting the hood back over his head.
The other three nodded and went back to their duties, awaiting the signal that was going to prelude their escape. But they knew that it was going to be a long wait, considering that the Hokage put up a net over the village.
Naruto stayed in the bushes and thought. He had wanted to simply take a Main house member, but his plan had obviously changed somehow. He wasn't complaining at all, it was actually working in his favor. More Byakugans for Kumo.
The three he picked were Chunin and proficient in the Gentle Fist. If they were praising this Neji person, then he indeed worth his attention.
He grunted as jumped onto the roof of the nearest house, before jumping over the compound's walls. He needed to get to the manhole outside of the compound, so he could get to where he slept every night.
Just as he exited the grounds he saw a boy standing over his manhole. Luckily his back was turned and the boy couldn't see him. "Its too late Naruto. It was fate that led me to this spot." the boy said while turning around to face the cloaked blonde.
Naruto narrowed his eyes and got ready to kill the boy, that is until he saw that it was Neji Hyuga. The same boy, who he was just talking about. He smirked at the fortune smiling on him at that moment. "How'd you find me, I'm supposed to be invisible to your eyes." Naruto asked with an ass kissing tone. He could already tell the boy was arrogant and he knew how to deal with their type.
Neji smirked a bit before returning his expression to his usual stoic appearance. "My eyes see everything. You could hide your chakra, but not others. I saw the others talking to you behind some bushes moments ago. I wasn't able to see your chakra, but my eyes were able to make out the outline of your body." Neji said crossing his arms.
Naruto nodded his head, impressed with the boy's eyes. It was obvious Neji's eyes were stronger than most. He saw a simple cloth around the boy's head, hiding his Cursed Seal from sight. It was clear by the absence of a headband that he wasn't a certified shinobi, and yet he was praised as a prodigy. "Okay Neji Hyuga, would you like to put your eyes to the test?"
"It's fate we two would meet each other as we did. Both born into royalty, but denied the privileges of such. We are kindred spirits, you and I." Neji continued to speak, clearly ignoring Naruto's question.
Naruto narrowed his eyes, wondering where this was going. He held his hood in place as he kept his eyes on the Hyuga. "Oh, kindred spirits are we?" he didn't know why, but the boy was creeping him out. "Then help me out here, will you?" Naruto said with a smile.
"Yes kindred spirits." Neji answered with a nod of his head as he began walking slowly towards Naruto. "Which makes this painful for me." Neji said as he quickly ran and thrust his palm out at the blonde.
Naruto blocked the strike heading for his chest with a quick jab. Neji continued to his assault and Naruto was quickly on the defensive. Just because the Hyuga couldn't block either of his Tenketsus, didn't mean that he couldn't harm his internal organs. Though he had nothing to worry about. Plus he had to be careful that the boy didn't accidentally unblock his already blocked chakra.
Naruto saw why the boy was considered a prodigy. He was immensely proficient in Taijutsu at his young age. Even as a Branch member, it was clearly obvious he was more skilled then all of the other Branch members and most of the Main members. Only Hiashi, the clan head, was more skilled then him.
Naruto bumped into a wall and quickly ducked under another open palm strike. He gave the Hyuga two quick jabs in the stomach before an uppercut ended the little fight. Naruto saw the unmoving academy student on his back. "It's clear you're not used to being hit. Your durability sucks ass." Naruto said knowing the wind was knocked out of the Hyuga.
The blonde crouched next to Neji's torso. "I know you recruited the three Hyuga from before. You promised them freedom outside of the clan's walls. I want to know where." Neji coughed out.
Naruto rose an eyebrow as he again, fixed his hood to cover more of his head. "That's true. You're a smart kid, I'm sure you can figure out where." Naruto said poking the boy's covered seal. He knew that if Neji was as smart as he thought, then it would be no reason to hide his destination.
Neji blistered at being called a kid by someone younger than him. But he calmed down and looked into the night sky. He wracked his mind for any possible answer, until it hit him. "Kumo." he muttered closing his eyes.
"Bingo." Naruto said standing to his feet. "I agree with you Neji. It was fate that we met the way we did. Its your fate to leave your clan and its mine to bring you to Kumo. Surely even you understand this." Naruto said knowing that all the bullshit about fate would bring the boy to his side.
Neji must have regain feeling over his body, because he started moving around slowly. He stood to his feet, a hand on his chin. "Oh, sorry about that. I do pack a mean punch." Naruto said holding up a fist with a chuckle.
"I have to congratulate you on the hit. You're right, I haven't been hit a lot during any of my training spars, but I have been getting punished by the Main House. Usually a Hyuga wouldn't ever leave their clan, no matter the situation. What ever you promised the other three to renounce their clan must have been completely worth it." Neji spoke with a cautious tone. He was almost sure some of their patrollers had sensed his use of chakra, but may have just chalked it up to him training, since Naruto was indeed invisible to their eyes. It wouldn't be the first time this has happened.
Naruto chuckled, sensing a bit of curiosity in the boy's voice. "You're right, I do have something to offer them. Who knows, it may even extend to you. That is, if you are willing to leave such an illustrious clan." Naruto said purposely holding back. He wanted Neji to admit, basically beg, to wanting to leave the clan.
"Fate has led me here for a reason. Obviously you're the reason, you must be offering something worth my time." Neji spoke glaring at the hooded blonde, knowing what the boy wanted him to do.
"There he goes with that fate bullshit again. If he mentions fate one more time, I swear I'm going to have to eat him." Kurama spoke with pure anger and annoyance in his voice.
'Calm down there Kurama. Nobody's eating anybody tonight, plus you would have to escape from the seal to do that.' Naruto thought making the giant fox grumble in annoyance. "Since you believe so heavily in fate, then you know that I indeed have something worth your time. Otherwise, I wouldn't be wasting my time." Naruto said as he began walking backwards, into the darkened alley.
Neji knew that his time was running out, seeing as how Naruto was leaving. He had to let go of his arrogance, if only for a second. "Okay, I'll leave the clan. Now please tell me what the offer is." Neji said with a bit of anger in his voice.
The blonde sensed this and shook his head. "I don't know, it didn't seem like you were really going to leave. It just wasn't believable or sincere to me." Naruto spoke as the bottom half of his body began being covered by the shadow of the alley.
"He's throwing logic out the window. All he needs is time to think, time you aren't giving him. Making him act under pressure, excellent choice." Kurama spoke watching everything through the blonde's eyes.
Neji watched in silence as more and more of the blonde was covered. When it reached the middle of his chest, the Hyuga had to drop to his knees and bow his head in the dirt. "Please, I'll leave my clan, I'll follow you wherever you want to take me. I truly mean this, I cant stand being in that clan any longer. Being a slave is the worst feeling in the world." Neji spoke sincerely, his face not moving from the dirt.
Naruto knew only his amber eyes were shining brightly in the darkness. "You know Neji, fate doesn't really exist in this world. We shape our own fates. You learned that now, when you had to beg for my help, even though you were born into a family of nobility. I was never going offer help to anyone who had such a thick stick up their ass. My original choice was to successfully kidnap the heir, Hinata, since the previous attempt failed miserably. My kage didn't want a bunch of branded members, but low and behold, here I am gathering a group of them. Luckily I have the key to his and my salvation, a seal that would allow me to remove the punishing affects of your cursed design. This will get rid of the option of simply killing you off, once you're out of the village." Naruto said feeling kind of cool for his words, while only being a floating pair of eyes.
Neji rose his head with a shocked face. He had to admit that he indeed had a large stick up his ass. In his defense, it was justified. He had bragging rights, as one of the most skillful of the clan. His thoughts then turned to his cousin, Hinata, the girl who started it all. If she hadn't been so weak, his father wouldn't have had to die.
Naruto sensed where the boy's thoughts were heading. "I for one am glad that attempt failed. Of course, it's a shame your father had to die, but if the kidnapping had been successful you wouldn't have had the drive to push yourself even further beyond your capabilities. And thus I wouldn't have been here to persuade you into joining Kumo. Who knows, in another universe, I might have been trying to ask you to join Suna." Naruto said with a chuckle as Neji finally gasped at the solution to his Caged Bird problem. 'Although that wouldn't be so bad, a lot of unrestricted firepower in Wind Country.'
"Can you really get rid of the part of the seal that destroys brain cells upon activation?" he asked with completely fascination. The blonde nodded his head to which Neji flattened his face in the dirt again. "If you can really do that, then I'm glad to have been one of your choices."
Naruto nodded, his amber eyes dulling down a bit. "Good. Now that I have you, I can begin preparations for the escape. In the meantime, don't tell the others where I'm taking them. Now we'll have to wait for the heat to be lowered down a bit. I'll wait until news reaches the old man of the failed attempt to find me. That shouldn't take long."
{A Week And A Half Later}
It was high noon when Hiruzen, the Sandaime Hokage, received some disturbing news. He sat in his office with an angered expression marring his face. "What the hell do you mean you cant find him. I have over a hundred members of the Inuzuka clan, seventy of the Aburame clan, and nearly eighty of the Hyuga clan, not to mention the hundred members of ANBU. He's just a little boy, how hard could it really be to find him?!" he yelled slamming his fist on his desk.
The ANBU member in front of him, most likely a Hyuga, bowed as low as he could. He was more ashamed than fearful of the Hokage's anger being towards him. "It seems in the previous years, he's learned how to evade detection from even the most keen of hunters. None of the Inuzukas can get a trace of his scent, and none of the Aburame's bugs can detect any traces of his chakra in the air either. Its like he's literally became a ghost, of there's a possibility that he's not even in the village anymore."
"Unacceptable, are you seriously telling me that that boy has escaped from the village, not once, but twice. We have the best search and destroy clans in the entire Elemental Nations. How is it even possible for anyone, other than a certain snake, to escape our grasps?" Hiruzen yelled again putting more pressure into the desk. "I WANT EVERY SINGLE TREE IN THIS COUNTRY SEARCHED! EVERY BUILDING OF EVERY CITY! AND I WANTED IT DONE YESTERDAY, MOVE IT!" the Sandaime yelled even louder, eventually breaking the table underneath him.
The ANBU immediately nodded and vanished from his spot to spread the word to spread the search countrywide.
Hiruzen sat back into his seat his annoyance still palpable. 'He's still in this village, otherwise the Forbidden Scroll wouldn't have disappeared.'
~KI~KI~KI~
Naruto sat in the Forest of Death with a bored expression on his face. All around him were tigers, happily snoring away. Even if they had been awake, they wouldn't be bothering Naruto any longer, seeing as how he's already killed half a dozen of them.
He didn't know why this particular forest was so terrifying to the citizens of the village, it was just like any other section of the forest in this damn country. Sure the wild animals and insects were far larger than the norm, but if you knew what you were doing, you'll be alright.
The blonde yawned, still feeling a bit tired. He was extremely bored. Nighttime was the only form of entertainment he had in the village. Entering the village to check on the people's progress in finding him. They seemed to be loosing vigor, so he should be able to leave in a few days or so.
Though he nearly blew it when he stealthily raided the village's shops a few times. Luckily for him, they chalked it up to regular crimes that were always being committed in the village.
He only really collected food and a few kunai and shuriken, along with a nice looking sword. It was a katana, with two reinforced, parallel, blades set an inch apart from each other. The guard was dark silver designed in a square shape. The hilt was onyx leather with a silver cap. A six inch long, black, tassel was welded into the silver cap and smoothed out to perfection. The weapon was called a souba and with a few months of training, Naruto was going to master the deadly weapon.
"And what I'm I supposed to do with this?" Naruto muttered indicating the Forbidden Scroll of Sealing he had resting against the trunk of the tree he was in, along with the just as stolen souba.
He stole it from a silver haired Chunin, knowing full well what it was. Leaving behind the man's charred body, surely told the village that he was still in the village. Though whether they knew that he was in possession of the Forbidden Scroll or not, was still a mystery to him.
He had already copied a few techniques that seemed interesting to him, including a few S-class Lightning and Fire techniques and a useful Wind technique. He was thinking of simply burning the scroll, but there was too many valuable techniques inside. 'So I guess I'm taking this with me as well, no point in giving it back.' Naruto thought with a shrug of his shoulders.
Something told him to widen his senses and he was glad he did, because there was at least five Chunin level ninja coming his way. He was glad they were only Chunin level. With his hampered abilities, he didn't know if he would have defeated five Jonins.
"Look over here. A group of tigers, but look in the distance, Those are tiger bones." a Chunin said only a few feet above the cloaked blonde.
"Is it possible that the tigers ate some of their own?" a woman said looking closer into the distance.
"A strong possibility in this forest, but its not likely they were the ones to kill them. Do you see that the bones are slightly charred. I have a feeling Uzumaki was in this area." another woman said with a cautious voice.
"Or still is. My insects are going crazy and its not because of this forest." an obvious Aburame spoke with a collective voice, akin to everyone in his clan.
"Bingo! One point for the Aburame!" Naruto said excitedly as he punched a large blue flame around the insect user from below. He smirked and hopped down below, right in the middle of the tigers, who woke up and left at the sight of the blonde.
"Congratulations on finding me." Naruto said with a deep, flourished, bow sweeping his arm in front of him adding more flare to his introduction. "The fight hasn't even started yet, and its already one down, four to go." Naruto said with a smirk. "Surely you four will be enough to take on a rouge shinobi like me."
'You're no shinobi! You don't have a village to represent." a brown haired man barked at the blonde.
Naruto removed the hood, showcasing said blonde hair, and giving them a nice long look at his amber eyes. Naruto watched their reactions, no matter how small, at his action. He noticed a slight blush appear on the cheeks of a blue haired female.
He shook his head at the words of the Chunin. "Such naivety from one so much older than I. One doesn't need a village to be a shinobi, only the skills. But I guess I'll simply call myself a hunter, to make you feel better, okay?" Naruto asked with an uncanny smile gracing his lips.
He smiled wider when the man growled at him. He frowned when he noticed the Aburame was put out right now. He was clearly still alive, although incapacitated. He had lost ninety percent of his hive to the flames. "You little brat." the man yelled as he ran forward.
Naruto watched as the man threw his punches. Being trained by the Raikage made every other opponent extremely slower in his eyes. He easily weaved around the wild punches and kicks and grinned the entire time. The man was filled with openings and his anger wasn't the cause. It was painfully obvious he wasn't a good Taijutsu fighter.
"Kenso-san calm down!" an older Chunin said as he too ran forward to help Kenso.
"Finally your help has arrived, too bad he's too late." Naruto said batting aside one of the punches and back flipping, his foot connected with the man's chin. To make matters worse, the man's head was engulfed in flames.
Naruto smirked at their surprised faces as the second man finally arrived near him. Naruto dropped into a classic boxing stance and quickly connected three jabs into the man's face. The blonde smirked at the man's annoyed rage. "You're such an angry person. What do you think the cause of it is?" Naruto asked as he felt the use of chakra in the distance.
"Katon: Endan." a loud female voice said as a fireball was unleashed in the blonde's direction.
The man jumped out of the way and threw a duo of kunai at the eleven year old. The blonde twisted his body as the kunai harmlessly passed by him before he kicked a charged fireball at the incoming ball of fire. The two flames collided before cancelling out.
When all the flames were gone, Naruto was nowhere to be found. "How'd the hell he do that!?" the female Chunin yelled in fright.
"I don't have a fucking idea. It was a good idea for Ayumi to retreat and inform the Hokage about seeing Uzumaki. We'll just stay here and preoccupy him until ANBU appear." the only surviving male Chunin said joining the female.
"Too bad Kenso couldn't survive. Damn demon!" the serious female yelled looking around for the hiding blonde. "WHERE ARE YOU HIDING, YOU BASTARD!?"
~KI~KI~KI~
Naruto shook his head, the scroll and souba tied around his waist. The souba was inside his cloak, while the scroll was outside. He was just meters behind the retreating Chunin. It was the same blue haired Chunin that blushed at his adorable looks earlier.
He knew she was on her way to relay his location to the Hokage. He couldn't have that, but that also meant that the old man was unknowingly allowing him a chance of escape. Tonight was the night for him and the others to leave, perfect.
The girl was incredibly fast, it was taking him a lot of energy to catch up to her. Before he could successfully latched onto the girl he was kicked straight down into the ground. The action kicked up a lot of dirt around the blonde. "Don't stop Ayumi, keep going. We'll handle Naruto-san from here. Just hurry and tell my father." a male voice spoke as the sound of retreating steps echoed away.
"Asuma, calm down. He shouldn't be that hard for us to handle, he's only eleven." another male voice said, though it had a lazy undertone.
"You shouldn't underestimate Naruto-kun, my rival! HE'S FILLED WITH THE FLAMES OF YOUTH!" a hyper voice yelled rather loudly.
"I agree with Guy-san. Also he was able to evade us for so long. That alone is a testament of his skill." Asuma's voice spoke with a gentle undertone, even in this situation.
Naruto groaned from inside of the dirt cloud. He heard the group of people talking and he paid extra attention to the names used. His eyes widened as he stood to his feet. When the dirt cloud thinned out all the way, he groaned in depression, as his prayers were denied. "If it isn't three of Konoha's most notorious Elite Jonin. Truly a gift and a curse at the same time." Naruto said as Kakashi Hatake, Asuma Sarutobi, and Might Guy became fully visible, all wearing matching Jonin vest. "I guess an autograph would be out of the question right now?"
Kakashi stepped forward, one hand in his pocket. "Forgive me sensei, for I'm going to have to harm your son." he spoke just loud enough for them to barely hear as he rose his headband revealing his Sharingan.
A/N: Whoa! That was a great ending to the chapter. We both know Naruto is going to have problems escaping from them. Its painfully obvious he's going to have to resort to Kurama's destructive power to escape, before resealing his chakra.
That's all I'll tell you about the next chapter. Although it was finally time for things to go wrong for the blonde. Nothing ever goes smoothly for any shinobi. A form of obstacle has to be presented to them. In this case, there's three, not counting the two remaining Chunin.
Well thank you everyone who read this chapter and the previous chapter. It means the world to me, seeing this story receive the amount of attention as it is. Please review with anything, questions, thanks, and definitely praise.
Don't be a stranger.
PEACE!
