Let me clear up some confusion before I start this chapter. I have become aware that, due to bad writing on my part, it is unclear whether or not Naruto returned to Esdeath in the allotted time, i.e the two days she gave him to go to the outskirts of the capital. One reviewer wanted to see what her reaction to Naruto not showing up on time would've been. However, the thing is, Naruto was on time. When Najenda mentioned that they had two days to get Naruto, and they left immediately, it was supposed to be that they got him that next day. Naruto then was reintroduced, and woke up the next day in the Night Raid base. After the breakfast and all that, Naruto left via the window, the same day. This would mean that it was the second day Naruto was given, and he would presumably make his way back to Esdeath after leaving Night Raid. Sorry, just wanted to clear up any confusion.
Naruto gazed upon the sea of citizens that watched him and Esdeath approach the Northern Entrance of the Capital on horseback, the pair intending to meet with Esdeath's army and begin their trek towards the Northern Tribes. The tribes had been causing quite a disturbance, so naturally Honest had called upon Esdeath to correct that issue. It helped that there was supposedly a hero of the North who would never lose as long as he wielded his spear with his people behind it. Esdeath, obviously, wanted to break the man and make him lick her boots in front of his people. Naruto was too absorbed in his thoughts to care about what Esdeath was going to do to the man. Being that he had been on every single one of Esdeath's missions, Naruto had seen her cruelty first hand. Naruto stepped in when she got to hurting innocents though. Esdeath had, at one point, planned on ordering her men to rape and pillage an entire village, but Naruto swiftly and cleanly put an end to that thought process. While he allowed Esdeath to indulge in the darker parts of her personality on those that deserved it, never would he allow her to do it to innocents. Let alone an entire village of innocents.
Naruto sighed, something he found himself doing often in the past week. The Citizens below all cheered and reached out to touch the General to Naruto's right as they strolled past, Esdeath replying with a soft smile and even a few waves here and there. She didn't care for the attention, but it helped to keep morale up if she was nice to at least those on her side. Naruto was too absorbed in his thoughts to notice or care as the Citizens reached for him.
Within the crowd, a tall man gazed at Naruto. His hair fell over his face and shadowed his eyes, a grin gleaming in the sun as he watched Esdeath and Naruto approach the massive gateway to the outside of the Capital. The man chuckled, his grin gaining a sadistic and downright evil glint as he intently stared at Naruto. "I do hope you have a safe travel and easy mission in the North… Aniki." The man whispered with a malicious aura.
Naruto jumped slightly, turning around to look at the crowd of civilians behind him. He swore he had felt something, evil. It had pierced his thoughts and allowed him to focus on the present rather than the future. Naruto sighed, shaking his head. He was getting too paranoid for his liking.
Outskirts of the Northern Lands, Base of Operations for Invasion.
Naruto relaxed in his seat, pulling one leg over the other as he rested his cheek on his hand, smirking with closed eyes as he listened to the debate between Esdeath and the higher-ups of her army, all below her of course. Seated was Ex-General Liver, Daidara, and Nyau, Esdeath's Three Beasts, said moniker always made Naruto laugh considering the smallest in their group looked much too small to be called a Beast. There was Esdeath herself, Naruto seated to her left, and numerous squad captains and Lieutenants seated as well. They were bickering amongst themselves, trying to decide on the best plan of attack.
Personally, Naruto had always found these meetings to be pointless. All the bickering, yelling, name-calling… It all eventually lead to the same plan of attack: Attack. Esdeath's army was mighty, the strongest within the entire Empire. Considering who their General was, that made sense. Naruto groaned, adjusting in his seat and rubbing the bridge of his nose. As they bickered, a woman dressed in medicinal clothing much like Naruto walked up to the man, handing him a steaming tea with a small smile. "Here you go, Naruto-sama." The girl said softly, with a deep bow. "Thank you Hiko-san." Naruto thanked with a kind nod and smile. Naruto supposed being the Head Medic had its perks, mainly in having an entire medical staff there to assist him in the Infirmary Tent.
Esdeath smirked beside Naruto as the blonde sat up a little straighter so that he could properly drink his tea. "It will never cease to amaze me you know?" Esdeath mentioned off-handedly to Naruto, gazing calmly at him. The blonde looked at her as he took a drink of his tea, before he calming held it in his palms. "And what would 'it' be, Esdeath-chan?" Naruto fired back, calmly smiling as he looked into her blue eyes. Esdeath smirked, drawing back and placing a hand on her chest and bending her head down in a taken-back manner.
"Ah, so Bashful! You know exactly what I am talking about." Esdeath teased with a grin, watching as Naruto giggled along side her. "Yes, I suppose I do. You are talking about my prowess with a scalpel, ne?" Naruto responded rhetorically, taking a long sip of his tea. Esdeath nodded slightly. "Not just the scalpel, you know. Everything you do, if it's medical, is simply brilliant. You are as talented as I am strong, Naruto." Esdeath told him as-a-matter-of-factly. Naruto had the decency to blush.
"Heheh, thanks Esdeath-chan. I suppose all those years paid off." Naruto remarked, until he opened his eyes and noticed that the entire ensemble was looking towards the pair in silence, clearly waiting for something. Esdeath sighed as she removed her hand from her cheek, standing up slowly. "We shall do as we always do. Attack, head-on, without stopping. Overwhelm them." Esdeath stated, clearly annoyed.
As the group got up to leave, Liver leaned over to Daidara, peering darkly into the man's eyes. "You know what to do." Liver whispered calmly, before standing up as well, stuffing his hands in his pockets and leaving with Nyau. Daidara grinned madly as he stood as well, Belvaac swinging in its loose harness on his large back.
Naruto left the tent with Esdeath, peering around the massive camp made of tents and campfires. Soldiers all around laughed and told stories as they sat around the fires, clanking their drinks and stuffing their faces with meat. The day before an Invasion and they all just get piss-drunk. Naruto shook his head. Perhaps it was good, it kept Naruto's branch in business. Drunk soldiers meant good pay for the Medics. As the pair walked, Naruto watched the faces of the soldiers. There was not a care in the world in their drunken eyes. Esdeath's army had nothing to fear. For multiple reasons. For starters, they were strong. Incredibly strong for mere foot soldiers. Being selected to become part of Esdeath's army was like getting selected for the Elite, because it was. Second, their captains, lieutenants. Their tactical prowess was the best the Empire could offer, second to none, except perhaps Honest's manipulative powers. And lastly, was Esdeath herself. The woman could simply decimate any enemy her army could not. The sadistic woman was the strongest in the Empire. Some Soldiers, those who were unfortunate to find themselves in the Medical Tent, also attributed their safety to Naruto and his squad of Medics. The man's hands could only fail to fix death.
Naruto's thoughts were broken as the pair silently approached the two largest tents in the camp. The first, the one to the left, was the largest. It had a wide opening, with a massive White Patch above the entrance that was emblazoned with a red cross, marking it as the Medical Tent. All Infirmary-type tents were always the largest, as they required the most room. The one to the left, the second largest, was closed off and silent. It was Esdeath's personal tent, to which only two people, herself and Naruto, were permitted to enter without fear of instant death. Esdeath always placed her tent closest to the one Naruto took residence in during invasions. It kept her mind at ease and her Naruto close.
"This is where we part, unfortunately. That is, unless you'd like to spend the night, Naruto-kun." Esdeath offered as she twirled around to stare into Naruto's eyes, a lustful and mischievous smile adorning her face. Naruto smiled, leaning down and capturing her lips, before turning her around and lightly pushing her. "I'll decline for now Esdeath-chan. Keep your mind where it belongs. On the battlefield." Naruto called to the woman as she lifted the flap to her tent. She stopped and looked at him with a smile. "It belongs on you, Naruto-kun, and that is where it'll stay, with my heart as its companion." Esdeath's words made Naruto fluster slightly as she allowed the flap to fall to the floor, closing her tent off from the world. Naruto shook his head slightly, entering the Medical Tent and making his way towards his assigned bed, the largest naturally. Esdeath would not settle for anything but the best for her Naruto.
The Next Day, Medics Tent.
Naruto's eyes were calm, focused as he carefully extracted the metal arrowheads from a soldier's back, the man groaning in slight pain, Naruto's medication making the pain a dull ache. Extracting the last one and letting it drop on his metal tray with a loud 'Clank', Naruto patted the man's back and told him, "There, they are all out Hideka-san. Now, I'll just need to bandage you up and then you are free to rest." Naruto explained, the man on his table nodding his head appreciatively. "Thank you, Naruto-sama. You really are the be-" The man's appreciative words were drowned out by the noises of multiple people groaning as Daidara entered the tent, ungracefully dropping three injured men off of his shoulder and turning to exit the tent.
"Excuse me, come back here Daidara." Naruto's forceful voice rang out, unknowing to the blonde it made Daidara smile sadistically, though it vanished as the man turned around. Naruto stepped away from his patient, looking around and shouting orders. "Rico, finish this man's bandages. Yuri, Fuka, help those injured onto operating tables and have Hiruzen and Yaiga examine them." Naruto barked out quickly, before approaching the seemingly bored Daidara with an intense look.
"You listen here, Daidara-san, this is the medical tent. When you bring in patients, they are to be treated with respect and carefully placed onto the operating tables, otherwise you cause your fellow soldiers pain and adding to the potential risk of infection." Naruto chided, causing Daidara to chortle. "Heh, they aren't worth the precaution if they were weak enough to be injured." Daidara coldly remarked, smirking as Naruto's eyes were lit alive with a fire.
"You'd better watch that tone, Daidara." Naruto growled out, glaring into the man's eyes. Daidara smiled sadistically. "Really? And what're you gonna do, Blondie?" The man questioned, trying to be intimidating, but Naruto groaned and rubbed the ridge of his nose with his hand. "Daidara… you are blonde too…" Naruto muttered, before looking up. "I will have to inform Esdeath of your blatant disrespect of your fellow soldiers. I suppose your punishment will be up to her. Now, leave." Naruto ordered, shooing the man away as he went over to a box of latex gloves, grabbing two and going to put them on, until Daidara growled.
"For some reason, I don't think Esdeath will get your message, Teme." Daidara stated, rising to tower over Naruto who turned around and looked at him, 3 feet of dirt between the two. "And why is that, Daidara?" Naruto questioned with a keen eye, his eyebrow raised. Daidara's grin stretched across his face, gleaming in the light and perfectly matching his pupil-less eyes.
"Because you will be dead!" Daidara shouted out, rushing Naruto and attempting to hit him. Naruto's eyes widened, and he dashed back, watcing as Daidara's massive fist swung down and knocked over a tray of medical tools. The staff gathered watched in fright. "I see. Hiko-san, hand me a scalpel." Naruto's voice was calm, cold. His eyes were ice blocks as he stared into Daidara's insane eyes, the man hunched over and waiting for what Naruto was going to do, keen on enjoying Naruto's crushing death. The small woman behind Naruto gasped slightly, looking at Naruto in shock. "Wh-What?" Hiko questioned, looking at the back of Naruto's head and too his outstretched right hand.
Naruto's head twisted and he looked over his shoulder, allowing Hiko to see the coldness in his eyes. "I said. Hand. Me. A. Scalpel." Naruto said, slower this time, but with the same icy tone. The two latex gloves were still in his left hand, while his right was outstretched, waiting for the tool he requested. Hiko nodded with wide eyes, frantically turning around and searching for the small metal knife. Grabbing it, Hiko quickly turned around and placed it in Naruto's hand.
The blonde pulled it up to his face, his tan hand gripping it softly, before he began to flip the scalpel in the air. "Daidara, let me tell you something about scalpels. You see," The scalpel flipped in the air, glinting. "A doctor, or medic, whatever, has to easily be able to cut whatever flesh is in the way." Naruto began, the scalpel descending and the blade landing in between Naruto's index and middle finger. He flipped in into the air once more, "It has been said that the Scalpel's of a Doctor are a sharp as Extase, able to cut whatever they must in order to do the surgery." The scalpel landed flat in Naruto's palm, the blonde grabbing it and adjusting it into a knife-like grip.
Suddenly, Daidara's figure appeared in front of Naruto, his right fist headed towards Naruto's head. Naruto ducked quickly, extending his right foot in front of both of Daidara's legs and brutally elbowing the back of the man's ribcage. The blonde cried out as he fell forward, roughly landing on his chest. Naruto turned swiftly around, and pressed his foot roughly onto the man's back. "Let me give you a demonstration." Naruto muttered, gripping the wrist of the arm that had tried to hit him, pulling it back at a bad angle. Daidara grunted, growling from his position on the ground. He struggled to overpower the blonde's foot, but found that he could not do so.
"You tried hitting me with this arm. Let's see how you fare without it." Naruto grunted, leaning down and cutting into the man's shoulder, the scalpel easily sliding through, though Naruto pushed it further, the blade hilting and cutting all the way through the muscle. Daidara began to scream as Naruto dragged the scalpel all around his shoulder, careful to miss the axillary artery. He didn't want the man to die just yet. Once he was done making a full circle cut around the man's arm, he dropped it limply onto the floor, Daidara having lost all connection to his arm, disregarding veins and the like.
Naruto released his foot on the man's back, grabbing him by the collar bone and pulling him onto his push, shoving the man further away from him. Naruto held up the latex gloves, going through the motions to put them on. It came as a shock that Naruto did not have any blood on his hands, despite the bloody actions he had just done. With the bloody scalpel held securely in his teeth, Naruto spoke as he got his hands through the gloves. "Come on then. You underestimated me, I can see it in your eyes. Come get me, for real this time." Naruto droned on, the scalpel slightly muffling his voice.
Daidara growled, going to lift his dominant right hand, and finding that no matter what he did, his right arm would not move. Realizing he could not use that arm, Daidara's stupid mind decided he could succeed with his left arm, if he used his full speed. The blonde man blurred, suddenly appearing in front of Naruto with his left fist pulled back.
Naruto suddenly dropped down, Daidara falling past him as a streak of blood flew with him, Naruto's scalpel glinting in the sun as he held it in a reverse grip, extended ahead of his body as he got back up. Naruto looked down, his eyes dark as he watched blood soak the man's pants, around the back of his foot. Naruto had cut his Achilles Tendon. The man could no longer stand even if he wanted to. Naruto pressed forward, even as Daidara turned around and attempted to get up, only to fall back down with a frustrated grunt.
"Eh, I'll kill you!" Daidara shouted out, the aggressive man pulling back the axe from his back and launching it at Naruto. The blonde merely sidestepped, the axe going past his head. Daidara grinned, remembering how his Teigu, Belvaac, would seek out the target until it connected. Suddenly, Naruto turned around, slashing downward with a mighty 'Clang' emanating from in front of him. Belvaac slammed into the ground, only its hilt visible from its earthy grave. Naruto had stopped the mighty teigu, with a scalpel.
"Belvaac cannot pursue me if it is stuck in the ground." Naruto coldly explained, continuing to walk towards Daidara, who growled and went to kick the man. Naruto widened his eyes with fury and stomped down on his thigh, breaking his femur, causing Daidara to scream in pain. Naruto dropped into a crouch, his scalpel dripping in blood. "You are pathetic Daidara. You know that? You are weak, pitiful, disgusting." Naruto groaned, eyes cold as he stared into the slightly terrified eyes of Daidara.
With a mighty roar that the animals surrounding the camp recognized as the last fighting breath, Daidara launched his left arm, the currently working arm, at Naruto. The blonde did not flinch as he raised his free hand, the gloved grip stopping the fist instantly as Naruto's cold eyes glinted from behind the fist, at least for Daidara's perspective. Naruto flipped his scalpel into a reverse grip, before leaning forward quickly and stabbing it into the man's shoulder, repeating what he had down to the right arm, causing the left arm to lose all function as it dropped limply to the ground. Daidara began to whimper in fear as Naruto stood.
Naruto's free hand brutally gripped onto his collar bone, pulling the man forward and shoving him down so that he was seated on his knees, elevated more than he had been before. Daidara grunted with a grimace, glaring at Naruto. "What're you gonna' do!? Kill me!? Esdeath would never forgive you, doesn't matter how close you two are!" Daidara yelled defiantly, until Naruto's eyes gleamed in front of him, Daidara instinctively feeling fearful of those eyes.
"Daidara… You are despicable. Human Waste. That does not deserve to be alive." Naruto growled out emotionlessly, before once more dug his hand behind Daidara's collar bone, only this time he held the man's stomach back with his scalpel hand. Naruto stared darkly into Daidara's eyes as he began to pull. At first, Daidara merely grit his teeth, until his eyes began to widen as Naruto's continued to pull. "aaaaAAAAAAAAAAGH!" Daidara screamed in pure agony, his shrieks echoing within Naruto's head. Hiko, the petrified nurse, would never forget the sound she heard next.
Crack
The sound echoed within the room as Naruto's arm abruptly pulled back as the clothing in front of Daidara pushed forward, down to the lower part of his ribcage. Daidara breathed shallowly, unable to scream as it hurt too much. Naruto then tore the man's clothing, revealing his bare chest. The entire ribcage, including the clavicle, was showing through the man's skin, pulled tightly against it. The clavicles were no longer connected to the shoulders, broken as was the ribcage, everything had been pulled forward by Naruto.
Naruto's eyes, dark and cold, glimmered once more as he brought the tip of the scalpel to the side of Daidara's stomach. "Sorry, I just had to make room." Naruto explained, causing Daidara to shake slightly. His curiosity couldn't be helped, as he muttered, "F-For what?" Then, he drew back and cried out in agony once more as the blade dug through his stomach, completely through his stomach muscles and into the intestines behind them. Naruto dragged the blade from one side of the man's stomach, to the other, blood spraying all over his uniform as he did so. Daidara's cries stopped as Naruto removed the scalpel, dropping it unceremoniously to the dirt.
"For what you ask?" Naruto chuckled darkly, before raising his gloved hand slowly. "My hand." Without warning Naruto's left hand began to dig into the wound, pulling the upper portion upward, folding it slightly until Naruto roughly shoved his right hand into the wound, widening it as Naruto's wrist tore through it. Daidara's screams echoed for miles, reaching even the invasion force, the Northerners losing morale as the screams echoed. Daidara continued to scream as Naruto's hand snaked through his body, shoving past his intestines and making its way to the now opened up ribcage area. Naruto's arm was now elbow-deep within Daidara.
"Let's see. Where is it…" Naruto muttered as Daidara began to whimper, Naruto's hand slithering through his body caused his breathing to become shallow, he could barely even whimper. "Aha! There it is!" Naruto shouted happily, before gripping onto a small, pumping organ within Daidara's chest. The man's eyes opened more than they ever had as he growled out in pain, not able to voice his pain anymore. "You know what I've got in my hand right? Your pumping heart. Does it hurt when I add a little pressure?" Naruto questioned, tightening his grip around the heart. The beats increased in frequency as he did so, Daidara's face morphed into pure agony as he cried, barely audible screams ringing through the tent. Naruto's medics were all gone, long gone. The patients were merely listening, not willing to watch what Naruto was doing.
"Well, Daidara, it's been… Well actually I think this is the first time we've spoken. Shocker." Naruto remarked, before his grip closed, the heart exploding in his hand. He watched as the life drained from Daidara's eyes, before he unsheathed his arm from the man's rapidly dying body, before looking at his drenched hand in contempt and regret. He did not like being the source of so much pain, but Daidara deserved it. The man had done so much wrong in this world that it had made his death a right.