Episode seven: Naruto's New Mission

''Fucking dammit!" Naruto yelled in pure agitation as he and Kakashi continued to make their way into Kusa.

''Naruto, relax you know we're gonna find her. I know it won't be soon, but as long as we find her that's all that matters.'' Kakashi said trying to calm his friend and teammate down.

Not even a few minutes ago their teammate, Rin Nohara has been kidnapped by Iwa shinobi and among the shinobi present during her kidnapping was Kurotsuchi, the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage. Naruto had an interest in the pink-eyed girl but now that Rin was in danger he knew he had to be serious in matters such as this and he knew, despite his interest in the Iwa girl he knew he shouldn't let Kurotsuchi off the hook should they manage to get Rin back. There will be hell to pay.

The duo continued hopping through the trees of Kusa until they decided to stop to regain their bearings and figure out what part grass country they are currently in.

Kakashi looked up into the late afternoon sky and observed the ways the tree branches were swaying with the wind. Taking out his compass he looks at it and sees the they were heading further southwest into Kusa, near the Land of Rivers, a small country that bordered Sunagakure.

''Where are we Kakashi? Which direction did we travel in?'' Asked the blonde. He was trying his hardest to contain his emotions but the thought of Rin kidnapped by Kurotsuchi for whatever reasons was really getting to him. His father is right.

''We've gone southwest and we're definitely near Kawa no Kuni. That's odd since Iwa is in the northwest so I wonder what that Kurotsuchi girl would need to take Rin there for.'' Said Kakashi.

''The Land of Rivers...why there? Why isn't she headed back to Iwa instead?'' Naruto thought with his teeth gritted.

Just then the two boys felt a presence fill the air and a split-second later another figure landed in between them. Despite the sudden company they weren't stunned at all as they knew the person Naruto had called for would arrive in a matter of seconds, literally.

''Dad!"

''Hokage-sama!"

''Naruto, Kakashi, what's going on? Are you two okay? Where's Rin?'' Minato asked. He looks around the area and saw that only he and the two boys were the only one present.

''Dad..'' Naruto wanted to speak but the emotions that were running through his body prevented him from doing so, but he did his best to suppressed them.

''Naruto..what's wrong?'' Minato asked.

''Dad, Kurotsuchi...Rin..''

''Yes? Please tell me son.''

Kakashi saw that Naruto was still having difficulty explaining to his father so he decided to do the job of telling their Hokage the situation. ''Hokage-sama, we were on our way to our objective we decided to take a quick break. Me and Naruto went to use the bathroom while Rin was left on her own but not without Naruto giving her one of your specialized kunai.''

Minato listened intently and the one thing he thought was odd was that his son gave Rin one of his kunai so that meant Naruto would've teleported straight back to Rin the moment she was in danger.

''I see, please go on.''

''While Rin was waiting for us to finish she was attacked by Iwa shinobi and one of them happened to be Kurotsuchi. They managed to get her trapped in some weird substance that prevented her from escaping and as Kurotsuchi and her comrades were about to make a break for it I returned just in time to battle them but a third Iwa ninja joined the fray and bought some time for Kurotsuchi to run off with Rin. While Rin was attacked I saw your kunai on the ground so I scooped it up and tossed it in the direction Kurotsuchi went in a way that it would sail past her and when it did Naruto used the Flying Thunder God and appeared right in front of the girl and nearly took her out with a Rasengan but she used a mud wall and blocked it.'' Kakashi continued.

''After that Kurotsuchi jumped over me so I gave chase but that girl summoned a group of shadow clones to stop me and there was no way I could've gotten to Kurotsuchi without dealing with the clones first but by the time Kakashi had killed her last comrade and I finished the last clone off Kurotsuchi and Rin were long gone.'' Naruto said, almost yelling his side of the story at his father.

Minato looked at his son and saw that he was greatly upset and was slightly shaken and knew that he was feeling responsible for Rin's capture. He was about to speak to his son but the younger blonde continued to speak.

''You're right dad, I should've killed Kurotsuchi the moment I met her and now because of my stupid ass Rin is captured and who knows what they need her for.'' Said the younger blonde.

''I don't even want to know why Kurotsuchi even targeted Rin to begin with. I mean, Naruto is the Kyuubi's Jinchuuriki surely that's what makes Kurotsuchi view you as her biggest threat. Rin is just a medic so why would she need her?'' Kakashi inquired.

Minato closed his eyes and went into silent mode so that he could think that over. He opened his eyes.

''She wouldn't need Rin to heal her wounded comrades at the front fighting our village because there's no wounded to even attend to since I gave the order for all our shinobi to kill on sight. No wounded so there's obviously a different reason Rin was captured by that girl.''

The blonde Hokage then turned to face the southwest where the Land of Rivers was and closed bent down and closed his eyes. He then took his left index finger and gently placed it on the grass. A second later his eyes would open.

''What is it dad?'' Naruto asked.

''Naruto, I know you're an adept sensor type but my sensory skills are much stronger and have a wider and longer field of range. I just detected a few faint chakra signatures coming from the border with grass and river country and I bet it's those of Kurotsuchi and Rin.'' Explained the older blonde.

''Oh yeah! I had forgotten that you were an amazing sensor type and that you can detect people by just touching the ground like that. Can you calculate the distance we'll need to travel to get to Kurotsuchi and Rin?'' Kakashi asked.

''Dad won't be needing to calculate distance because there's no reason for Kurotsuchi to just stop at the border with Kawa right dad?'' Naruto quipped.

''That's right, she's still on the move but if we get going now we'll be able to either catch up to those two or at least get to Rin before Kurotsuchi does whatever she wants with Rin. Naruto, since Konan put you in charge of this mission now that I'm here I'm taking charge of it. We can put the Kannabi and Tenchi bridges aside we're now on a rescue mission to locate and retrieve Rin Nohara.'' Minato said.

Naruto shrugged, he didn't want to be team leader anymore since Rin was taken. ''Fine with me, I'm not ready for a leadership position anyway. I'm so fucking immature.''

''Cut that shit out Naruto, I think you have what it takes to lead.'' Kakashi said trying to calm his friend down.

''Naruto, let's put that negativity aside right now because we need to get Rin back and when we find them we'll take care of that Iwa girl.'' The Hokage said.

Minato, Naruto, and Kakashi then took off into the trees and headed straight for the Land of Rivers to rescue Rin from the clutches of Iwa, more specifically, Kurotsuchi.

Location: Cave in Kawa no Kuni, several hours later

It was all black, an empty void of nothingness and it felt like she was dead. Or at least that's what Rin felt like until she began to slowly open her eyes and regained her consciousness.

''Erm..Where am I? What happened?'' The girl groaned in pain. She slowly sat up and saw that she was instead of being trapped in Kurotsuchi's quicklime she was tired up with rope at the wrists and her ankles to prevent any kind of escape. The way her wrists were tied prevented her from using any hand seals.

The brown-haired girl looked around the place she was in and saw that she was taken into a cave, but she didn't know where the cave was located. She then remembered the events that culminated for..how long has it been since?

''Oh yeah, I was kidnapped by the freaking Kurotsuchi girl.''

She noticed that she was the only person in the cave at that minute and where ever Kurotsuchi went she decided to try and make a hasty escape. She learned the art of escaping during her time in the academy but with the use of basic rope that binds her she used her nails and began to use the edge of it to try and cut through the rope and after a few minutes of struggling she felt the rope begin to slowly cut.

''Damn, I wish my nails were sharper but this'll have to do. I just hope I can get out before Kurotsuchi comes back.'' She whispered to herself.

Then, rotten luck hit her when she saw the light that was coming from the outside through the cave entrance get cut off by a shadow of a person. Looking up Rin saw that it was Kurotsuchi with a slain rabbit in her hand and a bloodied kunai knife in the other.

''Awe, you're finally awake Rin? I thought I hit you a little too hard that you'd be knocked out for weeks.'' The pink-eyed girl said in a teasing tone.

Rin glared at the prodigy with intense disdain. She didn't necessarily hate Kurotsuchi for any reason, but more like she didn't trust the girl and viewed her in a neutral manner. ''What the hell do you want with me? Where the hell are we?'' She asks.

Kurotsuchi snorted and ignored the medic like she wasn't even there as she walked over and sat by the fire across from Rin. She began to use her kunai knife to gut the rabbit and skin it to put over the fire.

''Why would you even want to know anyway? I hear you Konoha bitches like to blabber and gossip so I think I'll keep it a secret. Our secret.'' The pink-eyed girl said in a condescending tone.

''You'd better tell me right now anyway since whatever you have planned for me is probably going to happen soon.'' Rin spat back.

Kurotsuchi placed a finger on her chin and gave Rin's comment a second's worth of thought before shaking her head.

''Nah, I don't think so.''

The Iwa girl then skewered her skinned and gutted rabbit with a stick and placed it over the fire cooking it rotisserie style. She took a small canteen next to her and unscrewed the cap off and began to take a sip of water from it and the sight of the pink-eyed girl hydrating reminded Rin that she was quite thirsty herself.

After taking her sip Kurotsuchi lowers the canteen down and noticed Rin was eyeing the small container with a hungry look. The medic then set her sights on the cooking rabbit and then a growl was heard from the medic's stomach.

''You hungry Rin? Well, lucky for you I've managed to catch this bad boy right here so when it's done cooking I'll share with you.'' Said Kurotsuchi.

The Iwa kunoichi takes the canteen and noticing the look the brown-haired medic gave the canteen Kurotsuchi made the correct assumption that she was not only hungry, but thirsty as well.

''Thirsty?'' She questioned.

Rin narrowed her eyes at Kurotsuchi and felt like she was going to try something until she saw the Iwa girl actually smile kindly at her. She nodded.

''Lean forward then.'' Kurotsuchi instructed.

Rin did what she was told and slightly leaned forward hoping that Kurotsuchi would move the canteen closer to her mouth but Kurotsuchi didn't do said action.

''Come on, move forward more I'm too lazy to do it myself.'' Kurotsuchi said.

The Konoha medic leaned even more forward and just as the tip of the canteen was about to reach her mouth Kurotsuchi jerked her hand forward causing some of the contents in it to spill on Rin's face. The next thing the Iwa prodigy did was spill the water in the canteen on Rin's head completely wetting her and she ended the tease by tossing the now empty canteen at Rin's face hitting her.

''What the fuck Kurotsuchi?!" Rin growled in pure agitation.

''You really think I was gonna share my water and food with you? Sorry, I don't share with Konoha trash, much less a Konoha bitch like you. Starve and die of thirst I don't give a shit.'' Kurotsuchi spat.

Rin's glare at the Iwa girl only intensified. At first she felt no hostility towards the girl but the way she was just treated by Kurotsuchi made her feel aggravation towards the Tsuchikage prospect. She grew up learning that Iwa was never to be trusted and that they will treat anyone from Konoha with hostility and the proof before her was all she needed.

''You Iwa shinobi are all the same. When I grew up I never hated you people but now with this war and what I've learned of your actions in the past I can see why not only Konoha hate you, but the other three villages despise the Hidden Stone. You all treat your POWs like trash and as if they're not human beings with feelings compared to my village. During the last war we had so many of your shinobi as prisoners but we treated them with such respect and courtesy. You already know the story of what your gramps did when our villages had that prisoner exchange. By the way, do you even know what kind of kunoichi I even am?'' The medic asked.

Kurotsuchi scoffed. ''I don't give a fuck what you are because no matter your specialty field all you Konoha fucks are scum, Even your Hokage is pure scum, no, he's lower than scum.''

Her own glare at the Iwa girl intensified. ''Don't you call Hokage-sama that he's a great leader and the best ninja to ever hail from Konoha. Also, I'm a medic just so you know so by law established by the first five Kage you are to treat me with dignity, fairness, and compassion.'' Rin said.

The granddaughter of the Tsuchikage almost burst out laughing at the rules the first five Kage had established when all the Great Villages were formed. She learned about it during her time in the academy and she always thought it was stupid. Why should she follow a rule that was almost a century old and the icing on the cake was she was going to treat a Konoha Kunoichi with the three words Rin said that it was almost hysterical to her. She would rather hang herself than treat any Konoha POW like a human being when she grew up to view Konoha as scum of the Earth.

''You're such a stupid bitch, do you really think shit like that applies when there's a war between two villages who out of all the five hate each other the most? You Konoha shinobi are fucking soft. Why should you treat a prisoner with dignity and stuff when they can and most likely will stab you in the back later? In Iwa, we learn that kindness, hospitality, fairness, and compassion are what makes a shinobi weak and vulnerable to his or her enemies. Dream on little girl.'' The Iwa girl spat condescendingly.

Rin cringed at the tone of Kurotsuchi's voice. When Naruto revealed that he had an interest in her and that he wished this war wasn't happening so the two of them can meet properly. She always listened to the blonde boast about how he thought Kurotsuchi and him could see through the mutual hate between their villages but this, this situation with her being kidnapped by the very girl he was so interested in she had a feeling Naruto wouldn't be very nice to the Iwa Jonin.

''Naruto told me that he thought you were a nice girl and that if the war wasn't going on he would've tried to get to know you better to see if you can overcome the mutual hatred between us, but from what I'm seeing of you now shows me you're just brainwashed and conditioned to hate the Leaf just like the others am I right? I bet you think Naruto is a swell guy too, c'mon Kurotsuchi, ask me anything about him I'll tell you everything you want to know.'' Rin said in a menacingly teasing tone that was completely unusual of her.

What Kurotsuchi didn't know was that during their whole exchange the medic-nin had continued to use her nails to slowly cut through her rope bindings and she felt that she was almost free of her confines. She only needed a couple more seconds, a minute at most.

''Why the fuck would I ask you about that blonde asshole anyway? All I need to know is that he's a piece of shit just like his dad and perfectly satisfied with that so fuck him I don't care if he died anyway and if he does I'll go to his body and spit on it.'' Answered the pink-eyed girl

''You are such a bitch, I bet all Iwa kunoichi are like you huh? And what the hell did you kidnap me for anyway? You might as well tell me since I bet my friends are almost here. Tell me now while you have the chance.'' Rin said with a grin.

Kurotsuchi was about to knock the girl unconscious again, but the medic did have a point but still, she didn't want to spill the information until they got to their destination where the shinobi in Iwa who specialized in matters involving the tailed-beasts will rendezvous with her.

''Hm, nah, I think it'll be better to save the surprise until it's ready little medic.'' Kurotsuchi said turning around to check on her rabbit which was still roasting over the fire.

''Too much of a scared little Iwa bitch to tell me? I'm just a medic. I guess Iwa girls have another use for their mouths instead of talking you know what I mean?'' Rin said hoping her insult would bring Kurotsuchi close to her.

The Iwa kunoichi felt a surge of anger flow through her body at the insult. How dare this low-life Konoha bitch insult the Tsuchikage's granddaughter like that.

''What did I say, watch your fucking mouth Konoha bitch.'' She barked.

''You watch how you use that mouth of yours, instead of opening it to let words out you open it to let certain things in. Is that what you're good at doing?'' Rin sneered.

''That's it! It wouldn't hurt to literally beat this girl to a pulp! I'm breaking her arms and legs!'' Thought the Iwa kunoichi.

She decided to tend to her cooking rabbit for a bit and after doing so she turns around only to be greeted to a kunai bring driven into her face.

''Shit!"

Kurotsuchi just barely managed to dodge the attack by bending backwards so that the lunging Rin would dash over. Groaning in annoyance at missing her best chance to strike the Iwa girl the medic-nin harmlessly sails over the flames and lands on the other side of it.

The two kunoichi regain their bearings and stare each other down. Rin had a kunai while Kurostuchi was now wielding her katana.

''I should've known you would cut yourself loose. How the hell did you even do it anyway? I made sure to tie your hands in a way you can't use hand seals or reach for any weapons.'' Kurotsuchi asked out of curiosity.

Rin showed the Iwa kunoichi her nails that she had done a few days prior to being assigned the mission to destroy the bridges from her Hokage and filed the sides of her nails to make them sharp enough to cut though things and maybe use them as weapons if kunai weren't available to her.

''See? That's what happens when you consider the advantages we can have as kunoichi.''

Kurotsuchi only scowled at Rin.

''Alright bitch, you got two choices, don't fight me and I'll just trap you with my quicklime until I'm finished resting here or two, we can fight and I'll just kill you and dump your body some place where your shitty friends will never find you.'' She asked.

''Fuck you, I'm getting out of here and finding Naruto and the others. I know I can't do that now, not without taking you out first.'' Rin said bravely.

The notion of being taken out by some Konoha underling almost made her burst out laughing. She is a Jonin, the best kunoichi in Iwa and the next Tsuchikage.

''There's no way an underling like you can beat me, you're a fucking medic, the weakest of all shinobi and the most useless.'' Kurotsuchi spat hatefully. ''This girl, I have to get her restrained and meet with the ANBU team to seal Yonbi in her, but I know she isn't going to give up without a fight. Gramps said if she ends up dying we can always try to get that blonde fucker's silver-haired friend instead. Oh well, I guess I'll just take this one out and I'll make it nice and slow for her.''

The two kunoichi stare each other down and the tension in the cave was powerful as they both were determined to defeat the other. As much as Rin didn't want to kill Kurotsuchi she knew that it was a last resort if she can't at least beat the Iwa girl down and make a quick escape while she had the chance.

Almost on cue the two kunoichi leaped towards each other so that they were both above the fire just as the view switches to the outside area showing the lush, green forests as dusk soon arrives. The sounds of their steel weapons clashing against each other emanate from the cave and filled the air.

Location: Border between Kusa and Kawa no Kuni

They've been making their way towards the Land of Rivers for hours on end and had it not been for encountering countless Iwa shinobi while heading there they would've arrived sooner. Minato, Naruto, and Kakashi had finally arrived at the border between the two small countries and despite being exhausted from battling at least a hundred Iwa shinobi while making their way towards their intended destination they still kept going.

''Damn, dad, I think we need to take a quick break. All those fights have me tired.'' Naruto said, almost in a breathy voice.

''Yeah...I need to attend to the cuts I've gotten from those fights and I'm a bit sore too Hokage-sama. Please, let's rest for a bit.'' Kakashi said.

He didn't want to admit it himself, but the fourth Hokage was feeling exhausted himself as well. He knew that it would be best to rest for a little bit to catch their breaths as he knew that even if Kurotsuchi and Rin were far he can still detect them from an incredible distance away. He lands atop a clustered area where the branches of multiple trees intertwined creating a platform for them to rest on.

''Okay guys, it's almost night time so let's rest and if you're not recovered by the set time we'll stay here the night. Go ahead, eat your rations and hydrate you both need to be refueled in the case we catch up to that Iwa girl.'' The Hokage said.

''Thanks dad, and don't worry they're not going anywhere.'' Naruto said as he falls over in pure exhaustion.

Kakashi merely took a seat and took his pack off his back. Unzipping it he reaches in and pulls out a field ration for one consisting of dango and some rice balls. ''Finally, I thought I was going to die of starvation out here.''

Minato smiled at the younger shinobi. Even with the dire situation they've found themselves in it was nice to see these two act like themselves when they were home. He closes his eyes and places his fingers on the ground and like before he picked up the faint signatures of Rin and Kurotsuchi many miles away and they remained in the same place.

''Hm, guess that Iwa girl is resting for the night. Glad to tell she didn't do anything to Rin. Thank Kami there's no one else out here but us.'' The Hokage thought to himself in content knowing that they might be able to peacefully have their break.

He goes to join the two young ones and sit with them as Kakashi starts a fire so that they can keep warm for the forthcoming night.

55 minutes later

It was the nearing the end of Kakashi's turn for guard duty as night began to descend upon the three males. Up next was Minato and checking his little watch Kakashi saw that he had five minutes left before he would have to wake the Hokage who was taking a quick nap before his shift up.

Kakashi wished he had sensory abilities on the same caliber with Minato but at least having the best sensor in their village aside from Kushina with him out in the field was a relief since Minato has such a large range. He looked over to Naruto and saw that the blonde Chunin had completely knocked out for the night and getting him up for his shift would be next to impossible.

Five more minutes would pass before Kakashi saw that it was time for Minato to take watch. Getting up he walks over to the resting Hokage and gently shakes him awake.

''Psst, Minato-sama it's time for your shift.'' Kakashi whispered as to not disturb Naruto.

Minato began to stir awake and opened his eyes to be greeted by Kakashi's face.

''Is it my turn already?'' The Hokage quietly grumbled.

''Yeah, then it's Naruto's next. Can I go rest now Minato-sama?'' Asked the masked Chunin.

''Go ahead, you've earned it.'' Minato said as he gets up and stretches.

The Hokage watches as the silver-haired Chunin makes his way over next to Naruto and goes to lay down and as soon as he does that Kakashi knocks out and snores quietly alongside Naruto. Nodding, the Hokage takes one of his kunai from his pouch and walks over to the edge of the wooden platform they were in and sits there with his feet hanging over the edge.

Just as he takes a seat he immediately picked up several chakra signatures from the ground area below where he and the other two were.

''Iwa shinobi right below us, what would Iwa need to have their people here for? The ones I'm sensing isn't Kurotsuchi's since she's distinct from the others.'' Minato thought.

He closes his eyes and focuses on the chakra signature from below and deduced that there were at least five Iwa shinobi down below and he was glad they didn't detect either him, his son, or Kakashi.

''They're Iwa ANBU. I'd go and take care of them myself but guess it's time to show Naruto why I'm called the Yellow Flash.'' The Hokage whispered to himself.

Getting up he quietly walks over to the resting forms of Kakashi and Naruto and gently wakes the both of them up.

''Erm, what is it dad? Is it my turn to do guard duty yet?'' Naruto asked groggily.

''Huh? Minato-sama why are you waking me up?'' Kakashi asked rubbing his droopy eyes.

We've got company boys. Right below us I detected about five Iwa ANBU agents. The thing that strikes me is what does Onoki need some ANBU out here for? Kawa is quite a distance away from Iwa you know. I wanted to wake you guys up so we can go pay them a visit and you Naruto, can see why Iwa is scared of your dad and why they call me the Yellow Flash.'' Minato explained.

Hearing that there were Iwa ANBU nearby Naruto and Kakashi quickly scrambled for their respective weapons.

''Iwa? Where? I want to take some out.'' Kakashi said.

''Yeah, I need to try and match your body count of Iwa ninja from the last war dad? Where are they let me at em!" The blonde whispered loudly.

Minato motioned for his son and Kakashi to relax as he was the one who would handle their company.

''Relax you two, come with me.''

They gather their things and extinguish what remained of the little flame they used to warm themselves up and Minato leads them to the edge.

''Right down below us, there are five Iwa ANBU and what a coincidence that they choose to rest in a spot right below us right? I think they might be here to meet with Kurotsuchi. Think about it you two, why would she come out here and be the only person from Iwa? These ANBU here are definitely heading out to meet her for something and we're going to find out.'' Minato explained.

''Iwa ANBU? C'mon dad let me take them.'' Naruto said only for his father to shake his head.

''No Naruto, if I fight them the very sight of me will make them cower in fear. What would you do if the Yellow Flash was in front of you?'' Said the older blonde.

Kakashi knew Minato was right. When the Hokage defeats them they're surely going to give information since Minato was so feared in Iwa that even the very mention of his name would make the most hardened Stone ninja cry.

''I agree with your dad Naruto, let him deal with these Stone assholes and since it's him we're more than likely getting info on what Kurotsuchi needs Rin for and why they are here.'' Said the silver-haired Chunin.

''Then it's settled, here.'' Minato reaches into his pouch and takes out several kunai knives and hands it to the younger shinobi. ''I want you guys to toss these knives at one ANBU each and watch what happens.''

Both Naruto and Kakashi understood and knew what Hokage was planning and they felt glee inside. Now they can see how Minato really operated and used the Flying Thunder God jutsu.

Doing what they were told the two Chunin take up positions and sneak their way around the Iwa ANBU so that they were both directly across from each other. They nod at each other and look down in the clearing where the ANBU were resting and were thankful that they were unaware even with all of them awake.

Before they threw the kunai knives they began to hear the ANBU talk. They listened.

''So, do you think Kurotsuchi really has that girl from the briefing with her?'' Asked one of them.

''She wouldn't have sent a messenger bird for nothing you know. Kurotsuchi is the kind of kunoichi to never lose sight of her target.'' Answered another.

''Remind me what our objective was again?'' The only clueless member of the group questioned earning a facepalm from his cohorts.

''We're gonna seal the Yonbi into that girl's body, the girl Kurotsuchi briefed on us a few days ago.'' The group leader answered.

''Yeah, that's exactly why she captured her. We're gonna leave the girl stranded in Kusa and those Konoha scum will have to look for her and when they find her they'll take her back to their village and the girl will unleash the Yonbi and destroy the Hidden Leaf and we'll win this war.'' Another explained.

Minato, Naruto, and Kakashi widened their eyes in realization. Now Naruto and Kakashi understood why Kurotsuchi targeted Rin and they felt the anger in their bodies swelling and building up inside and they know that they needed to do something about the Iwa girl when they get her.

''You can't be serious, sealing the Yonbi into Rin and having her unleash the beast in our village?'' Naruto thought in anger.

''So that's why that Iwa bitch kidnapped her, well we are gonna make sure you don't get the chance to do that.'' Kakashi thought as he was determined to bring Rin back.

Minato was thinking other thoughts. He felt bad for Naruto when he told his son that he should deal with Kurotsuchi appropriately the next time he encountered her. At that moment however, he felt compelled to deal with the girl himself and he would make her pay dearly. He can sense the anger coming from his son too. He looks at them and nods and that was the signal they needed to launch the barrage of kunai knives at the ANBU agents.

They hurl them so that if the kunai landed they'd be in between each of the Iwa ninjas. The Iwa ANBU detected the kunai flying towards them and they turn to face the direction in which the attack came from.

''Hey! We have company heads up!'' One of them shouted.

They all get up and draw their swords to try and deflect the oncoming kunai but as when the knives came with arm's reach of them they did not expect the next thing. In the blink of an eye all of the Iwa ANBU had blood gushing from their backs and necks as Minato had used the Flying Thunder God to teleport in between all of them. The speed in which it happened was so fast that even Naruto or Kakashi could finish blinking as they had tossed the kunai knives. They watched as all the Iwa ANBU fell just as fast as they were sliced apart by Minato and they all laid still, a pool of blood forming under each corpse.

''Woah, so that's how dad got that nickname...I thought I was fast...he's amazing.'' Naruto said to himself as he was still shocked at his father's natural speed.

''Damn, that's why he's called Konoha's Yellow Flash.'' Kakashi thought to himself.

Minato stood tall and proud as he looked at all the Iwa ANBU and noticed that one managed to survive his attack.

''Naruto, Kakashi, come down you two.'' He instructed.

Doing what they were told the two Chunin leap from their hiding spots to join the Hokage.

''We have a survivor, that's rare case when I use my jutsu in that manner.'' Minato said as he kicks the Iwa ANBU on his back so that he can look him in the eyes.

The Iwa ANBU's eyes widened in fear when he saw who had attacked him and his comrades.

''No..no way, the fourth Hokage? Why..why are you out here? Hokage are not supposed to be on the battlefield..'' The man said as he spat a glob of blood.

''Shut up, I heard what you were talking about. Now tell us. What do you need Rin for?! Answer me!'' Minato shouted menacingly.

''Fuck you! You piece of shit!'' The Iwa ANBU shot back.

Minato growled in anger which was unusual of him as he was always a calm and kind individual but in situations like this he knew he had to behave accordingly. He bent down and places his finger in the Iwa ANBU's eye and dug it slightly into his eye socket making the man scream.

''Tell us now! What does Kurotsuschi intend to do with Rin? The girl you said you were briefed on? Are you really going to seal the Yonbi within her?'' The Hokage asked in a calmer tone.

''Aaagh!'' The Iwa ANBU cried in agony as Minato dug his finger deeper into his eye.

Minato then forced his finger deeper and eventually he had gauged the man's eye out sending blood spraying slightly out of the wound.

''You fucking Konoha piece of shit! Fuck you! Hokage is nothing!'' The Iwa ANBU screamed in defiance.

''Naruto would you like to try your hands on getting information?'' Minato asked turning to look at his son.

Naruto nodded and took a kunai knive. ''Kakashi, force this guy's mouth open for me will you?''

Kakashi smiled. ''Sure thing.'' He then walks over and bends down so that he can pry the Iwa ANBU's mouth open but he was resisting. ''Open wide asshole.''

Seeing he wasn't going to give up easily despite his wounds Minato had inflicted Kakashi takes two of his own kunai knives and forces them into his mouth. He stabs into the roof of his mouth and the lower portion of the mouth and jerks his hands apart and successfully pries the man's mouth. The ninja weapons stabbed into the flesh of his mouth making him squirm and cry in agony.

With his kunai knife Naruto places the tip under the gum of one of the Iwa ANBU's teeth and jams his knife in it. ''You said you plan on sealing a tailed beast inside our friend is that true?'' Asked the blonde.

The man only screamed and tried to shove Naruto off of him but that only served to agitate Minato so the blonde Hokage took a kunai and jammed it in the man's palm.

''Tell us now!'' He said, almost shouting.

''Gagh! Alright! We had a briefing with Kurotsuchi on how she suggested to our Tsuchikage that we kidnap that brown-haired girl and if Kurotsuchi was successful she is to take her to River country where ANBU trained in tailed-beast sealing will conduct said sealing and put the Yonbi inside that girl! We would then leave her in here to be found by your shinobi and take her back to Konoha where she would probably lose control of the beast and it would be unleashed and destroy your village!" The Iwa ANBU screamed.

His hunch was correct as Minato knew that the moment when he overheard them mention the Yonbi he had a feeling that they would have sealed it within one of their shinobi but he didn't expect them to target Rin.

''Where did you plan on meeting Kurotsuchi?'' Naruto asked.

''W-we p-planned on meeting her in the middle of this country where we would perform the sealing...'' The Iwa ANBU groaned.

''I think we have all the info we need Minato-sama so let's just waste this guy.'' Kakashi inquired. He thought it would be a waste of time trying to get more information out of this guy when they already knew the reason Rin was taken by Kurotsuchi and what they planned on doing with her.

Minato was thinking the same thing so he took a kunai knife and stabbed the Iwa ANBU in the forehead killing him instantly.

''Oh c'mon dad, we should've just let him suffer for wanting to participate in sealing the Yonbi in Rin.'' Naruto said, almost whining.

They then rummaged through the corpses of the other ANBU and found papers that suggested that they were indeed going to meet Kurostuchi in the middle of Kawa and now that they managed to know their intentions the three Konoha shinobi only had one objective and that was to rescue Rin and bring her home.

''I wonder exactly where in this country they're going to perform the sealing. What do you guys think?'' Questioned Naruto.

''I think it would be better if we got to her before she reaches her location.'' Kakashi said.

Minato felt the urge to use his jutsu to teleport himself to another dimension as he was so busy torturing the Iwa ANBU that he had not noticed that the chakra signatures of Rin and Kurotsuchi had gotten farther away.

''Hurry, let's get tail them before Kurotsuchi gets there because I'd love to surprise her and meet the girl.'' Minato said in a cold tone.

The three males then ran through the forest brush headed straight after the two kunoichi who Minato detected were on the move now.

-Elsewhere in Kawa-

The two kunoichi had been battling it out with one another for several hours now and despite Rin specializing more in the medical field rather than combat she still excelled in the latter thanks to training with Konan and her two teammates. She was glad she decided to learn how to fight otherwise she wouldn't have gotten this far and managed to escape from Kurotsuchi.

During their battle Rin had managed to temporarily stun the Iwa prodigy with a medical jutsu and she used the opportunity to make a break for it. She knew that the Iwa kunoichi would expect her to make a break for Konoha territory so she headed in the direction of Suna and maybe the Sand would allow her to hide from the Stone considering that they were both on bad terms two just like Iwa was with the Leaf.

Even though she felt like she wasn't alone in the area she did notice that Kurotsuchi didn't seem to be following her anymore which was odd but nonetheless she was glad. She spotted another cave beside a stream and headed in the direction of it hoping that she can head in and catch her breath even if it was for a minute.

Landing at the cave entrance she runs inside and places a hand on her chest out of exhaustion.

''Crap, I can't let my guard down, I know she's still following me, just that she's making it seem like she's given up chasing me.'' Rin thought to herself.

She peeks her head out of the cave entrance and looks around the forest and spots nothing. She felt safe and headed back into the cave. She then looks around the interior of it and after seeing that there was no one inside with her she sighed in content.

''Phew, looks like I can use what time I have to rest.'' She whispered.

''You thought you could get away from me? How cute bitch.'' A very familiar voice said.

Rin jumped at the sudden intrusion and looked down to see the dirt below her feet crumble upwards.

Then out of the crumbled dirt the tip of a katana protrudes out of it and went straight for her chin and the medic only just barely managed to dodge it and instead she takes the stab to the shoulder making her yelp in pain.

Kurotsuchi fully emerges from the dirt and the two kunoichi land several feet away from each other.

''You were waiting for me this whole time?!'' Rin yelled.

''Oh yeah, now I'm gonna give you another chance. Come with me and we'll seal the Yonbi in you and when it unleashes in Konoha you might live. Or I can kill you where you stand and use one of your friends instead. Maybe they won't be so stubborn like you.'' Kurotsuchi said.

''Fuck you Kurotsuchi! Over my dead body you'll use me or anyone I care for against my village.'' Rin declared defiantly drawing her last kunai knife.

Kurotsuchi only raised her eyebrow in astonishment at Rin's will and defiance. She had heard of Konoha shinobi possessing these traits but she didn't expect a frilly little medic like Rin to have them.

''So you'd rather die a painful death then live to see your village get destroyed? Fine by me fuck the mission.'' Kurotsuchi brandished her katana and the two kunoichi go at it again and lunge at each other.

The length advantage the katana gave Kurotsuchi enabled her to gain proper leverage at the two of them bring their blades together to wrestle control of the situation by trying to shove the other back.

The Iwa kunoichi slowly moves her katana forward so that the longer blade would slightly cut into Rin's fingers and she inwardly smiled with glee when she saw that she had drawn blood. She tries to use her sword's length more to her advantage but Rin knew that she would try this and quickly headbutts the kunoichi sending her reeling backwards.

Rin had managed to hit Kurotsuchi dead on the nose that she made the Iwa girl bleed out of her nostrils. The Iwa girl holds her nose and pain and looks at the amount of blood in her palm.

''Oh, now you're gonna die you Konoha skank.'' Growled Kurotsuchi.

Kurotsuchi performs a series of hand seals and expels her signature quicklime out of her mouth. Having seen this a couple times Rin manages to jump away from the jutsu and dodges it.

''Ha! I've seen this enough to know that it only expands a few feet before hardening.'' Rin thought only for her happiness to turn into shock when Kurotsuchi performs another series of hand seals. She then expels water from her mouth and to Rin's shock the hardened quicklime expanded even further and just as her feet touched the ground it became encased in the quicklime effectively trapping her.

''No!'' Rin cried out.

She looks up to see Kurotsuchi smirking in accomplishment before expelling another vat of quicklime at her hands gluing themselves together leaving her completely defenseless.

''Awwe, sorry I had to do that Rin. What do you don't know is that I can use my Water Trumpet jutsu to expand the range of my quicklime. Consider yourself fucked, it was nice knowing you Rin.'' Kurotsuchi took her katana and pointed it at the medic. ''I decided to play nice with you Rin so I left your mouth alone so I can hear you scream as you die.''

Rin glares at Kurotsuchi and knew that she was too beaten and exhausted from their earlier fight but she wasn't about to accept her fate yet as she still had the will to try to fight back even if the odds were against her.

The Iwa girl walks over to Kurotsuchi and hops onto the harden quicklime and makes her way towards the helpless medic. She places her katana against Rin's cheek and moved it slightly drawing some blood. The sharp pain made Rin wince but she fought through it.

''I think I'm gonna torture you a bit but I decided to be the nicest I've been. Live knowing you contributed to the destruction of your village or die a slow, painful death right here?'' Kurotsuchi asked.

The Iwa girl watches as Rin's blood spills onto her blade and when she got a decent amount of the precious liquid she flicks her sword so that some of the red splashed on Rin's face making her cringe in annoyance. Kurotsuchi then backhands Rin so hard that her head jerked almost ninety degrees and the medic swore she felt her vertebra move out of place but thankfully it wasn't anything that could've caused her to be paralyzed.

''This is just too fun, hope you're ready for hours of this.'' Kurotsuchi said menacingly.

Then, two figures slowly make their way into the cave and the sudden presence was noticed by the two kunoichi. They both look at the entrance to the cave and saw two figures that they couldn't make out thanks to it being night.

''Who goes there? Show yourself.'' Kurotsuchi ordered with her katana held defensively in front of her.

Rin looked over Kurotsuchi and saw the two figures standing there and when the two figures walked forward the figures were revealed to be Naruto and Kakashi and they didn't look very happy.

Rin's eyes gleamed in relief and happiness. ''Naruto! Kakashi!''

Kurotsuchi's expression was much different however as she glared the two Konoha Chunin down with sheer hatred. ''How the fuck did you Konoha trash catch up and find me?''

Naruto and Kakashi now had small smiles plastering their faces.

''Oh, with the help of a very special someone who I'm sure you would love to meet.'' Naruto answered and both of them moved to the side as if they were letting someone walk in between them and a second later Minato appeared via Flying Thunder God.

She had shown dominance and sadism when she was messing with Rin but the second she laid eyes on the Yellow Flash fear quickly took over as she would have never in a million years think she'd come face to face with the most hated person ever in her village. She knew that she couldn't escape now with the two fastest shinobi from the Hidden Leaf, she realized she should've just finish Rin off and head back home.

''T-the Yellow Flash..'' Kurotsuchi almost stuttered those words and Rin took notice of the sudden change in her voice.

''Awe, is little Kurotsuchi scared of the Hokage?'' Rin asked teasingly.

Minato took off his flak jacket, his kunai pouch, and his shuriken holster and proceeded to walk over to the frightened Iwa kunoichi with his hands up showing that he was unarmed.

''Now Kurotsuchi, I know you're surprised to see the Hokage out on the battlefield but I'm here to help my son and Kakashi get their teammate back. The girl you have, return her to us and we'll spare you but you also have no choice but to surrender to us and let us take you into custody. We can't let you go after kidnapping a kunoichi from our village. The other choice is that you can resist me but in retaliation I will kill you before you can even blink. So what's it going to be Kurotsuchi?''

Minato had hoped that Kurotsuchi would choose the first choice but her status in the Konoha bingo book stated that she'd be the kind of person to fight a Konoha shinobi to death regardless of who it is even if it was him, the fourth Hokage.

Naruto, Kakashi, and Rin looked at Kurotsuchi and saw that she appeared to be shaken slightly and they all knew why. However, they then looked at her in confusion when she began to let out a small laugh. She had a grin on her face.

''Oh man! The Yellow Flash and piece of shit Hokage telling me to surrender so I can be taken prisoner back to his shitty village. I can take my chances here to kill you and your shinobi and make my village proud and even if I die trying I'll be remembered a hero in Iwa.'' The Iwa girl spat.

Naruto felt compelled to speak his part.

''You know, I had a feeling that despite all that anger, aggression, and hatred towards our village deep down you were a very kind and sweet girl, but I'm starting to second guess myself. You really think you can take on all of us especially my dad? You know you're only putting on a brave act because you can't show your true emotions Kurotsuchi. I know you're scared right now because my dad is right in front of you but with that aside, what choice are you gonna make? You want to hand Rin back over to us and you get to live even as a prisoner until this war is over? Or would you rather have me or my dad kill you where you stand? How are you gonna counter his jutsu? There's no way. I let you off the hook two times before but after learning that you kidnapped Rin so you can seal a tailed-beast into her and have her return to the village and destroy it I now know that if you walked free from this you'd only cause more damage. Make your choice Kurotsuchi.'' The blonde offered but just in case she tried something he secretly drew one of his father's kunai knives.

''Make the right decision Kurotsuchi or you can kiss Iwa and your gramps goodbye.'' Kakashi said holding his father's blade just in case.

Minato stopped halfway towards Kurotsuchi and eyed the girl and saw that she had lowered her head and appeared to actually be giving their offer a thought. That was until she bent down and got on one knee.

''Earth Release: Earth Flow Spears!'' Kurotsuchi shouted hoping the jutsu would impale the Hokage.

The ground below Minato began to rumble and the blonde Hokage looked down and saw that a spike made of hardened mud began to form and fly upward towards him. Minato hears Naruto call out to him and sees his son toss a kunai knife slightly to the right where he was standing and the Hokage used his signature jutsu and teleports to it in the air and manages to avoid being impaled by the spear jutsu.

Kurotsuchi had anticipated that move and quickly leaps into the air and swings her katana hoping she can decapitate the Hokage but Minato reacted and grabs the katana in between two of his fingers. He then disarms Kurotsuchi and stabs the kunai knife into her shoulder making her cry in pain and delivers a gut wrenching kick into her gut sending her crashing into the cave floor. He teleports to the kunai in her shoulder and grabs her by the throat.

''If you wish to die then so be it. I could care less if the Tsuchikage hates me or not this is your doing.'' Minato said. ''Naruto! Kakashi get Rin and go!''

Naruto and Kakashi did not question his orders and they quickly rush over to quicklime encased Rin but before they can even reach her the ground around Rin began to form into humans and soon they appeared as mud clones of Kurotsuchi.

''Fucking really? Let's just get this shit done quick Kakashi.'' Naruto said and the two proceeded to engage the clones.

''Annoying.'' Kakashi growled.

Minato felt Kurotsuchi become cold and a bit slimy so he looked down and saw that she had turned into a pile of mud.

''A mud substitution. Where could the real one be?'' He thought just as a group of more Kurotsuchi mud clones appeared around him. ''Bothersome but this has to be done.''

Rin can only watch in annoyance as her comrades dealt with the mud clones but unaware to anyone of them but the cluster of clones made it impossible to detect the real Kurotsuchi who was now behind the brown-haired medic. The Iwa kunoichi takes her katana and stabs Rin straight through the back and out her gut and the medic let out an ear-piercing scream that caught the attention of her comrades.

Naruto, Minato, and Kakashi's eyes widened seeing their friend cough up blood.

''I'm not letting this bitch off the hook!'' Kurotsuchi shouted before kicking Rin like trash to the ground and the three males ran towards the downed medic.

''Rin! No!'' Naruto cried out.

The blonde performed a Rasengan and slams it into the ground and sends dirt and debris flying everywhere and takes out all the mud clones of the Iwa girl. With the clones out of the way the men all run over to the downed medic and Naruto gently scooped her up. They had no time to pay attention to Kurotsuchi as treating Rin's wounds was priority.

''Naruto, here use these gauze!'' Minato said.

''Rin stay with us!" Kakashi said taking out a cloth to wipe the blood from Rin's mouth.

Kurotsuchi watched the Konoha shinobi begin to attend to their comrades and decided to use the trademark jutsu of her village as a last resort. ''Earth Release: Rock Breaker!''

The next thing that happened was that the cave began to rumble violently and the rocks from the ceiling collapse on them. Kurotsuchi then made a break for it out of the cave as the rocks began to break apart from the ceiling of the cave and plunged downwards and the Iwa girl prayed to even the Shinigami that they would all die from the avalanche of rocks.

Kurotsuchi dolphin dived out of the cave and narrowly avoided having a boulder land on her and the entrance to the cave was blocked off and the jutsu died off to let the kunoichi know that the jutsu had completely destroyed the cave.

She chuckled to herself when she saw that she was alone in the forest. ''For some Hokage and Yellow Flash that trash couldn't even avoid getting trapped in a cave. Looks like I took out the Yellow Flash and his son.''

She then gasped in horror when she saw a kunai knife, more specifically Minato's special ones stabbed into the grass above the cave on a little hill.

A split-second later Naruto, Kakashi, and Minato holding a now barely conscious Rin appeared at the kunai knife. Kurotsuchi was careless, she had forgotten that they could escape her last resort attack by using the Flying Thunder God and she felt doomed and at the same time, afraid of what they'll do to her now that she severely wounded Rin.

Minato and Kakashi looked at Rin and saw that she was barely clinging on to consciousness.

''M-Minato-sama...Kakashi.'' She tried to speak but she coughed a bit of blood.

'Rin! Don't worry you'll be fine!'' Kakashi said reassuringly.

'Kakashi is right Rin, everything will be fine just hang in there.'' Minato whispered into her ear.

The Hokage looked up at his son and saw that he was looking at the direction of Kurotsuchi and he looked at the Iwa girl and saw that she was doing the same to his son. He noticed a tear fall from Naruto's eye and Kurotsuchi decided to tease the blonde Chunin about it.

''Awe, I'm not surprised that you guys all survived that. I'm surprised however, at your son crying Yellow Flash, what happened Naruto? Every time we fought you were always so cocky and happy go lucky acting like nothing could hurt you now you're crying? Well, then again you're a Konoha ninja you guys are always too emotional so how about you stop putting the lives of your friends before your own? You big cry baby.'' Kurotsuchi spat at the blonde as condescendingly as she could.

Naruto didn't react to those words and instead he slowly opened his eyes and looked at the girl.

Kurotsuchi's maniacal grin turned into a neutral expression when she saw the look in his eyes and saw the look of pure killer intent in them. ''There's something different about him now.''

Rin was able to use the energy she had left to say what she wanted to Naruto. ''Naruto...if..if I don't make it...promise me..you won't change.''

She then closed her eyes as she passed out from the pain.

''Naruto.'' Minato said taking out several of his kunai knives and tossing over to his son who catches them all. ''You have a new mission, kill Kurotsuchi.''

The tone in Minato's voice made even Kakashi cringe but the silver-haired Chunin continued to apply bandages around Rin's wound.

Naruto takes the kunai knife and holds it in front of him. ''I will.''

With that, Kurotsuchi made a break for it hoping she can get back to Iwa and Naruto watched his prey make a hasty retreat before he dashed right after her and the two shinobi disappeared into the night.


A/N: I hope all the people who regularly review this enjoyed this chapter. I tried to make the fight scenes as interesting as I could but nonetheless I'm happy with the way they turned out. What will happen in the next chapter now that Naruto has been given the order to take Kurotsuchi out? We'll have to wait and see because I haven't an idea either until I start writing it. Until next time readers!. Don't forget to fave, follow, and review.