"You summoned me?" Naruto said, as he knocked on the door.
The Sandaim's office was chalky with toxic smoke, the man sitting in sharp relief of the sifting haze, seeming intent to stare into the equally hazy depths of his crystal ball. At Naruto's voice he looked up, pushing it to he side.
"I did." He nodded.
Naruto reread the scroll, looking incredulous. "You're giving me… a mission?"
The old man gave him a magnanimous smile. "Well, it would look a tad strange for a Jounin of Konoha to be lounging around, missionless, don't you agree?"
"I suppose so…" Naruto answered slowly. "But am I really the right ninja for the job?"
"You're the only ninja for the job." The Sandaime affirmed, a twinkle in his eye. "You'll be leaving tomorrow morning, 0700, and I expect you'll be meeting your travelling companions at the eastern gates—
"Companions?" Naruto echoed, looking down at his mission scroll. "But this says it's a solo mission…"
"To Amegakure, yes." Sarutobi nodded, before smiling dryly. "You'll find that you aren't the only one travelling in that direction."
Not entirely understanding, Naruto only nodded slowly, bowing, before letting himself out.
This would be his very first time receiving a solo mission from the Sandaime Hokage. To think, the last time he'd stood in that office for a mission briefing he'd come in a little Gennin on another Team Seven, with one lazy sensei, one brooding boy and a happy little girl. Now he was exiting a young Jounin, clutching an A-Rank mission in his hand.
.
.
.
After mulling over the Sandaime's words throughout the night and well into gloaming, Naruto wasn't entirely surprised to see Team Seven waiting around the edge of Konoha.
"Naruto-kun!" Rin perked up as he took the stairs down to the gate two at a time.
He grinned. "I had a feeling I'd be travelling with you guys."
"You're on a mission?" Obito's eyes grew wide. "So cool!-! Where to?"
"Amegakure."
"You're travelling with us?-!" Obito yelped out, enthusiasm growing ten fold. "No way! This is going to be the best mission ever! Sensei, does that mean we get to do Naruto's mission, too?"
"Absolutely not." The Yondaime cut in. "Naruto will only be travelling with us there. I'm sure whatever he's up to is a little more than our C-Rank retrieval mission."
Obito pouted. "No fair… what rank is your mission, Naruto?"
"A." The blonde smiled. "But it really isn't as much fun as you think it is."
"Sounds like Jounin work." Minato appraised.
Naruto shrugged. "I'm just glad to be back in the swing of things."
To be quite honest, Minato was just pleased to see the blonde in relatively good health. Seeing him on that hospital bed hadn't been easy for the older blonde. Seeing Naruto doing anything but smiling happily seemed wrong.
"Minato-sama." The Chuunin at the guard post bowed lowly, and Minato bit back a groan.
"Tetsuo-san," He greeted, amiably enough. Naruto was impressed he even knew their names. "Sousuke-san. Everything's good up here?"
"It's as to be expected." Said Tetsuo with a pleased grin. "A bit busy for today, but everything's going smoothly."
"I'm glad to hear it." Minato nodded, smiling.
No wonder the textbooks had referred to him as the, "people's Hokage".
The sunny blonde turned towards his team. "You guys ready to go?"
"Yes!" Rin and Obito chorused. Kakashi just looked vaguely annoyed with his Sensei's cheer.
.
.
.
Naruto had never been to Amegakure, but as he had suspected, the majority of the landscape was plotted with thick, obscuring trees, a damp cloying humidity hanging heavily in the air. The country of Rain, and by default, rainforests, had to be the most buggy, unnaturally warm climate he'd ever been in.
And for a well travelled Jounin, that was surely saying something.
"You know, Amegakure is a natural phenomenon—completely untouched by time! Some of their rivers have been around for centuries! Who knows what kinds of exotic biological species reside in their depths? I'm surprised no one's every tried to look before—!"
Obito gave Kakashi a flat look, which for once, the younger Shinobi met with equal regard. "What's wrong with this girl?" He snorted.
"I'm sure that's not exactly true, Rin-chan." Said Naruto neutrally. "Last I hear this place was completely ravaged by—
He, luckily, cut himself off before he betrayed any secrets about Hanzo the Salamander from his history lessons, in a time when they weren't exactly just history lessons.
"By what?" Rin piqued, curiously.
"Uh… dinosaurs?" Naruto ended lamely.
Obito chortled as Kakashi gave him a disbelieving look.
"Before Naruto makes a fool of himself further," Minato cut in swiftly, with an easy charm to his face. "Why don't we start some training, huh?"
"But Sensei!" Rin whined. "We're in the middle of a mission! We can't just train now!"
Minato frowned, tilting his head. "Why not?"
"What Rin means is that we're walking!" Obito explained further. "We can't just stop! It'd take even longer to get to Amegakure then!"
Minato wagged his finger. "Well this is a different kind of training."
Obito and Rin only skewered him with stark, disbelieving looks.
"These are high speed exercises!" Minato said with a laugh. His entire team gave a collective, unison groan, which only seemed to amuse both him and Naruto further. "Generally, ninja travel in the trees at higher speeds—this helps to lower detection and make for faster travelling times—
"We know, Sensei!" Rin complained, before adding, "We've done it before."
Naruto supposed this was probably true. This was Team Minato, which had been fighting in the Iwa war. Though they were just kids, they had more experience than their childish antics belied.
"Well if you're so sure then," Minato rolled his eyes with a sly smirk, crouching deeply. "Why don't you catch up to me then?-!"
And with that, he darted into the trees with impressive speed, so quick that even Naruto's trained eye only caught a glimpse of his green Jounin flak before it was gone completely.
"No fair!" Rin cried in dismay. "You already got a head start!"
But Team Seven leapt into the trees as well, leaving Naruto to stare bemusedly at the long, empty forest path. Minato was the fastest shinobi to have ever lived—he was probably miles away from Naruto by now. Not that the blonde was bothered, no, there was a much simpler solution to catching up to the older blonde.
Naruto pulled out the three-pronged kunai, looping it around his finger once, twice, before throwing it into the forest at break-neck speed.
He gave it a second, before he brought up the hand seal, disappearing as well.
Minato heard the whir of the kunai rather than saw it, just a sharp noise to his left slicing through the air, and then a blonde Jounin was leaping right beside him, so quick it was near unbelievable.
The blonde grinned at him triumphantly, if not a little cockily.
"You're pretty fast." Minato noted, an impressed smile to his face.
"I could say the same to you." Naruto surmised, equally enjoying himself.
Minato didn't want to give the boy an ego rush, but he certainly was impressed. It wasn't very often that anyone could match him in speed. In fact, it wasn't often that he met anyone near his level, at all. Though he'd never actually fought Naruto, the older blonde was almost curious to do so. Naruto seemed to know a lot about everything, no easy feat considering the vast repertoire—how would they match up side by side?
"You must've done a lot of speed training." Minato concluded, taking in the speed and ease Naruto had at this high velocity. "I had a good head start on you."
Naruto gave him a sly smirk. "I cheated." He said, conspiratorially.
Minato blinked.
But how?
"There's a move I created," The Yondaime began slowly, as if appraising if Naruto was ready to hear this. "Called the Hirashin. I think it'd be a good move for you to learn."
Naruto only smiled.
I already know it.
"I bet it is." He agreed, airily. "You'll have to teach it to me sometime."
"You'll have to teach me sometime." Minato shot back.
Naruto blinked. "You're the Hokage!" He pointed out. "Don't you know everything?"
"Not at all." Minato scoffed. His piercing, ice blue eyes were on Naruto once more, as if seeing right through him and picking him apart. Naruto swallowed. He sincerely hoped not. "I'm sure you know a lot more than you let on."
That enormous fire technique, the like of which he'd never seen before. And that Rasengan-type move—how did he come up with it? It had taken Minato nearly three years to make that move. He doubted anyone could do the same to such perfection.
And a comment he'd made earlier—
"Are you a Fuuinjutsu master? I hear they're all super cool sealing masters!"
"Well yes, but—
"I know a lot less then you think." Naruto answered honestly. He didn't really know much, himself, anyway. The majority of the insight he had came from the fact that he came from the future, where all the answers were laid bare with time.
"I'm sure you could teach me something." Minato wheedled, actually becoming interested in learning something from the other blonde. "How about Fuuinjutsu?"
Naruto's eyes widened.
And then narrowed.
"But aren't you good at that?"
"Well yes." Minato supposed, taking a giant leap and almost overtaking the blonde Jounin. Naruto sped up with him, wondering how on earth Team Minato was going to catch up to them. "But I've never seen a seal like yours before…"
Like mine?
He must be referring to the Shiki Fuuin, Naruto thought.
And let's hope you never do…
He shook his head of his thoughts. "It's not really mine." Naruto explained. "Someone, ah, well, painted on to me, I guess. I didn't even make it—though it is quite a work of art."
"If you don't mind me asking," Minato began slowly, though Naruto had a feeling he would. "What does it do, exactly?"
Naruto answered with the truth. "It seals away a separate part of my chakra."
Now Minato was just confused. "A separate part? But why?" Why would anyone want to do that? Some people would kill for the amount of reserves Naruto had, or at least, suck him dry of them using some bizarre Jutsu. To separate it was just… crazy.
Naruto shrugged. "It's a very difficult chakra to use." He picked his words carefully. "It's not really mine, you see… and it does crazy things to me."
"Not really yours?" Now Naruto was just really, really not making sense. "But how can that be—
But Minato's attention was diverted, as Naruto looked ahead sharply, darting out of the way just as the two approached an enormous fallen tree in their path. Naruto split left and Minato split right, the two landing heavily on opposite trees with an audible 'thunk'.
Minato had a few seconds to catch his breath, before he was diving back into the path of tree limbs, grabbing Rin and Kakashi before they too could barrel head first into the tree. Luckily, Naruto managed to haul Obito out of the way as well, the five of them breathing heavily from such physical strain.
"Well that was a close one." Minato said with a laugh. "That would've sucked to run into to."
Rin gazed at the enormous tree, covered in moss and growing fungi. "No kidding." She breathed, before her attention snapped away. "Oh! Look at that mushroom—!"
Kakashi and Obito sighed.
Minato only rolled his eyes. "I think that's enough training for today."
Obito immediately bounded up to Naruto, gushing about how fast he was and how he might even be faster than Minato—Naruto took this all with a surprisingly modest head, insisting that Obito was only overreacting.
But Minato found his eyes drawn to the other blonde, anyway.
What could Naruto have been referring to…?
.
.
.
The village hidden in the rain was as Naruto assumed, exotically rainy. And not in the good way.
Team Minato plus Naruto were heavily laden with their thick rain cloaks by the time the third day rolled around and they reached the main village. Mostly, it looked war-ravaged and a little reluctant to be allowing Konoha-nin inside. But Minato gave them his most disarming smile, and that seemed to keep the disgruntled guards at bay.
"Will we be meeting you soon, Naruto-kun?" Rin asked concernedly, as they were about to split to different hotels.
Naruto gave her an easy, worriless smile. "Of course! If not, I'll see you back at Konoha!"
Rin didn't look completely content with the answer, but Kakashi managed to drag her away before he could protest. Naruto hadn't meant to, but he accidentally met the fierce blue of Minato's eyes, the man conveying some sort of silent message that the blonde didn't understand, before turning away with his team.
Sometimes, in the depths of those icy eyes, he could see the terrifying Yondaime that dominated the Third Shinobi War, the impassive features depicted in his history book.
Other times, he saw Minato-sensei, the easy-going, if not a tad perceptive leader of Team Minato/Team Seven, who looked up to him with more adoration than necessary.
And on the briefest of occasions, he saw a bit of himself. A bit of his father.
The blonde made his way to his hotel, which was, in fact, very close to Team Minato's. Though Team Seven was under the impression Naruto was out aiding the village against some sort of local criminal organization, completely unaware that Naruto was meant to watch over them. Sarutobi had gotten word at Iwagakure's recent attempt to get rid of the Yondaime—through his team. Minato was probably aware his life was in danger, it would have been detrimental on the Sandaime's part not to have him aware, though Naruto didn't think the other man was aware that Naruto would be assisting in this as well. Though it was quite likely he had a hunch. Minato was oddly insightful like that.
How unlucky that Naruto received nothing of that sharp astuteness.
Naruto took in the vast, barren landscape, seeming devoid of life and nothing but a bowled fixture of mud and dirt. Scars struggled through buildings and split the ground open in long strokes—and no one, out of the few people which hastily walked through the streets, seemed particularly surprised by them. The blonde looked up into the dim gloom, past the heavy mist that covered the ground in a thick, furtive carpet, and into the crooked skyline of buildings and crisscrossing telephone wires.
This was Amegakure.
This was Akatsuki.
The blonde focused back onto the streets, navigating his way through the metallic landscape. Right now, Amegakure was coming to the end of a tumultuous civil war, resulting in Hanzo's overthrow and the rising of Akatsuki's reign. Right now, Team Minato was heading in the opposite direction, three of which were Konoha Chuunin and one, the Hokage to-be.
Naruto snorted.
And who's great idea was it to bring them in here? As if Amegakure didn't hate them enough. This was practically baiting the country to do something in retaliation—
The blonde's eyes widened.
Perhaps that was what the Sandaime had wanted—what Minato was trying to tell him without words. Though Akatsuki was attempting a full scale wipe out of all Hanzo's loyal followers, many of them still lingered bitterly in the sprawling city's shadows, waiting patiently for Akatsuki to ease into complacency. For Konoha to fall into a self-assured security, lulled with satisfaction.
The cunning old man must be using Minato as the bait, the sign that Konoha had well and truly decided its supreme rule, and now sat lavishly in amenity, resting on its victory. After all, why else would they send their newly-appointed Yondaime and his team of Chuunin into enemy lands?
Naruto reached into his pocket for the mission scroll, perusing it once more.
Watanabe Akio.
No wonder it had sounded so familiar. He'd been one of the biggest benefactors for Hanzo the Salamander during the Second World War, supplying money and weapons to a country who had had enough of fighting. It wasn't surprising that, at the turning point of the war, he'd disappeared flat off the map, leaving Amegakure to fend off the enemies it'd made on its own.
But if not even a dangerous band of S-Class criminals could root him out of this capacious mass of alloy, how would a solo Jounin from a foreign country?
Naruto debated this as he checked into his lodgings, careful to take his hitai-ate off long before he'd even entered the city. That was where Minato came in, surely. It wouldn't take long for news to spread that the legendary Yellow Flash was inside the city, working such a menial job as retrieving a scroll from a diplomat.
Was the other blonde aware of it, though? He'd given no indication, aside from that salient glance as they'd parted ways.
After settling into his room and spreading out his various maps and mission details, Naruto slumped onto the bed, lost in thought.
He near jumped right off it as Minato appeared next to him.
"Holy—
The Yondaime grinned, delving into Naruto's bag and looping out a three-pronged kunai from one of the pockets. "Didn't even notice I'd put it in there." He said, though the arrogance was almost endearing.
Naruto gave him a narrow-eyed glare. "Didn't think I had to watch my back with my own comrades."
"It was for your own good." Minato shrugged cheerfully, dropping himself onto the desk chair. "I'm sure you've figured it out by now."
"Shouldn't you be with your team?" Naruto asked quickly. "They'll be a liability without you—
"They can handle themselves." Minato waved him off, before adding, "I've also trapped the entire hotel and room, and sealed the door from foreign intruders."
Naruto laughed. "Overkill?"
"You never know." Said the other blonde, seriously. "At any rate, luring Watanabe out of his comfort zone will be difficult, even with me here. The Sandaime and I were unsure if he'd even come out at all, though I have a feeling he won't pass up the opportunity."
"To what?" Naruto wondered. "Stir up another war?"
"Get back at Konoha?" Minato shot back, looking like he didn't quite understand it himself. "Who knows. With guys like that, they'd do anything for revenge."
Naruto found himself thinking of the mysterious Akatsuki Leader. He was leading this city now—and for what? Who was he? A man just like Watanabe, selfishly manipulating the city for his own goals? For revenge as well?
"So do we have a plan?"
"Not much of one." Minato sighed. "My team and I will do what we came here for, and you'll be here for backup, if we need it."
The Yondaime stood then, turning to the window. Rain splattered in long waves of water, wind rattling at the glass. To think, everyday was like this in Amegakure, an endless torrent of rain. Naruto caught sight of the man's reflection in the glass, suddenly struck by how identical it looked to the Yondaime's portrait in Hokage tower. The sternness to his brow, a seriousness that Naruto rarely saw.
"To think, how different this country is now…" The Hokage to-be shook his head. "How could it have changed so easily?"
The time traveler thought to the coupe that could have done the same to Konoha, to the elusive leader of Akatsuki who had managed to do it to Amegakure.
"I'm not sure." The blonde answered honestly. "Maybe its inevitable."
Minato shook his head. "Not while I'm Hokage." He whispered, though Naruto was under the impression it was more to himself.
If only he'd stayed Hokage longer, then.
The blonde leapt as if burned, reaching into his side pocket where he pulled out a seal. Naruto immediately recognized the design as an alert.
The Yondaime met his eyes, a look of frightened terror, before he pulled Naruto's arm, and the two of them were leaping through space.
They hit the floor of Team Minato's hotel room, now looking like a spree of attack dogs had ravaged the room. The Hirashin always reminded him of time travel, a sheer vertigo of disequilibrium that made him feel dizzy. Minato's had been a fluent motion, like diving into water.
The Yondaime burst into action, throwing open the bathroom door, to see the inside wrecked as well. Naruto checked the outside hallway, which seemed as battered as the door did, though this time, he found Obito, at least. The Uchiha was slumped against the wall, another nin laying crumpled at his feet. Though victorious, the black-haired boy looked worse for wear.
"Obito." Naruto murmured, propping the boy against him. "Are you alright?"
"Nnn…" The Chuunin shook his head, looking out of sorts. "I'm fine. But Kakashi… Rin-chan."
"What about Kakashi? And Rin-chan?" Naruto asked slowly, meeting Minato's eyes as the furious Yondaime came into the hallway. He looked back down at Obito. "Where are they?"
"Kakashi—ugh…" Obito clutched at his head, pushing off of Naruto. "Kakashi was down that way… I dunno. He went out to get a soda, and then I heard him shouting—I came out here but this guy came out of nowhere and then I…"
"It's okay." Naruto assuaged calmly. "It's gonna be okay."
Naruto moved down the hallway quickly, leaving Minato to take care of his injured student. Kakashi seemed significantly less harmed than Obito, though at first glance it looked as if he had bled out all over the floor. He looked small and petulant amidst a sea of grape soda cans, from where the machine had been decked open by a long blade. Upon closer inspection the blood was actually cherry cola, from the cut open cans where Kakashi's katana had wrecked through dozens of them.
Naruto let out a sigh of relief.
"Are you okay, Kakashi?"
The boy grumbled in response. "I'm stuck." His feet seemed to be completely encased in cement, which seemed to rise up out of the floor and gobble him up until his neck and head were the only thing visible.
Naruto would have laughed at the irony, remembering a time when the Copy-nin had used a similar trick on Sasuke many years ago.
"Don't worry about that." The blonde easily dispelled the Jutsu, Kakashi springing free and landing catlike on his feet. "Where's Rin?"
The Hatake looked up sharply. "She was in the room." He answered, wide-eyed. "Was she—?"
Naruto immediately turned tail, sprinting back into the room, Kakashi hot on his heels. The door was still wide open, Minato standing forlornly in the middle of it, surrounded by seals. Naruto was immediately impressed by their caliber, scrawled all over the floor, the windows, and even the door. But the Yondaime wasn't focused on any of those. He was looking up at the ceiling, a space devoid of black ink.
"The vent." Minato cursed quietly. "The fucking vent."
"You wouldn't have known." Naruto placated, stepping inside. He ushered Kakashi into the bathroom to get cleaned up. Obito was lying face down on the bed. "At any rate, no normal person would be able to fit into something so small."
"No normal person," Minato agreed. "Just a ninja."
"Well…"
"It's not your fault, Sensei!" Obito cried weakly, voice muffled by the pillow. "It should have been me protecting her—but I ran to Kakashi instead…"
"Both of them needed your help." The Yondaime assured the upset Uchiha. "And it's going to be alright. Each of you have one of my special kunai for this purpose."
"So we'll be able to rescue her?" Obito looked up, relieved. "Thank god! Poor Rin-chan… she must be so worried."
Or knocked out. Naruto thought, but decided it would be better to keep that to himself.
"Get Kakashi." Minato ordered. "And we'll decide what to do from there."
As Obito scurried into the bathroom, the Yondaime turned to Naruto.
"Watanabe?" Naruto guessed.
"Looks like he didn't go after me after all." Minato smiled bitterly.
"But we've got our shot." Naruto pointed out, feeling a little sympathetic that it was at Rin's safety that they did. "And you can pinpoint her location?"
Minato nodded. "As long as the kunai is still there."
The bathroom door swung open, hitting the wall with a swooping bang. "We want to go too, Sensei!" Obito shouted, though it looked as if his ears were ringing from his voice. "We've got to save Rin-chan!"
"You guys have done good." Minato said, shaking his head. "Leave the rest up to Naruto and I, alright?"
Obito pouted, but Naruto felt odd satisfaction at the words. Naruto and I. Like they were partners. Or… equals.
"But I want to help too!" The Uchiha whined. Kakashi scowled, the little imp looking like he at least understood that they'd only be a hindrance.
"Come on, idiot." The younger Chuunin scowled. "Leave it up to Sensei. We'll only get in the way."
"But!" Obito sputtered. "But! But Rin-chan!"
"Will be fine." Kakashi cut off, looking irritated. "Minato-sensei can handle it."
Obito looked up imploringly at Naruto and Minato, though the latter only sighed. "Just rest, Obito."
"Fine…" The Uchiha muttered glumly.
Minato turned to Naruto, taking Obito's sullen understanding as approval. "Shall we?"
Naruto nodded.
.
.
.
"Looks like they were smart after all…" Minato sighed, looking annoyed. He picked up his kunai from where it was laying on the ground, along with Rin's hitai-ate and the majority of her weapons.
"There's no sign of struggle…" Naruto noted, walking around the seen with a keen eye. "She's most likely unconscious."
"That might be better." Minato muttered grimly. "They won't start interrogation until she wakes up." At the thought of anything torture related with Rin, the man's face twisted into a controlled impassiveness, though Naruto was aware that that was even worse than anger.
"They'll keep her as a hostage, most likely." Naruto pointed out. He looked down the street, the rain having melted into a light drizzle, but the mist still thick and laden against the ground. He caught sight of one of the street posts.
Hako…
"There's a base around here." The blonde spoke up, eyes widening. He remembered the name vaguely from his maps he'd received in his mission scroll. They were composed from spy groups meticulously monitoring Amegakure. Though there was little evidence, Watanabe and the few Hanzo loyalists still left were said to have a base around the area.
Minato looked up sharply, Rin's hitai-ate still in his hand. "Do you know where?" The blonde asked furtively.
Naruto shook his head. "No." He said, apologetically. If only he hadn't left his maps in his room… "But it cant' be too far."
"We'll split up then." Minato answered immediately. The blonde tossed another three-pronged kunai his way. "If you discover anything, just scratch the seal. It'll alert me."
Naruto nodded as Minato disappeared with nothing but a quick, blurred movement, leaving the Jounin to take the other side of the street.
Though it seemed a futile gesture, as Naruto could see little else aside from the watery street, diffused in the speckled lighting of lined street lamps. Amegakure was unpleasantly silent without the constant shifting background of rain, almost eerily quiet as the blonde made his way down the street.
Surely they'd have guards up, or perhaps just people wandering the streets as slum rats. But the entire block was devoid of life, making the ninja stand on edge.
It was unnatural.
Impossible, even.
Naruto blinked then.
"Kai!"
How could he always be this dense with Genjutsu?
The street blurred, before breaking into a road of messy, broken bodies. Naruto immediately leapt for cover, ducking behind a building. He peered into the street, which now carried with it the faint sounds of people farther away, and the electric hum beneath his feet foreshadowing a powerful generator somewhere near here.
The blonde gulped, eying the strewn corpses. His identity wouldn't be safe here, certainly. But, for the life of him, he couldn't make a Henge.
Then he smiled.
But of course, there was another option.
After a few quick hand seals, he turned into a she.
He had no time for satisfaction, however, as a blade was poised at his neck. "A young girl like yourself shouldn't be wandering alone."
Naruto smirked. Sexy no Jutsu could really come in handy sometimes.
"Who said I was a little girl?"
He ducked under the blade, giving a sweeping kick to the man behind him. The other ninja sprawled, but quickly poofed into a rock. The blonde parried a few more strikes, unpleasantly surprised at how unmatched he was. This man was strong. Perhaps even stronger than Minato.
Naruto dodged a punch to the face, only to be quickly overwhelmed by a kick to the stomach, effectively pinning him to the wall.
He grimaced.
"Who are you?"
Naruto looked up to see a cloaked figure, a few ways taller than him in the Sexy no Jutsu—and probably when he was normal, too—with a multitude of piercings up the bridge of his nose. He had unusually red hair, as well as very tanned skin. But it was the eyes that bothered Narut the most. He'd never seen the pale gray coloring, nor the thousands of rings that seemed to focus in on his pupils.
"Nin—" Naruto grunted. "Ja…"
"From?" The man asked, looking amused.
Naruto swallowed. "Amegakure…"
There was a moment in which the man only watched him curiously, and the blonde thought he was in the clear. That was, until a kunai was embedded next to his head.
"Try again."
"Konoha!" Naruto grunted.
The man's eyes narrowed. "Konohagakure? Why?"
"A mission…" The blonde heaved slowly, carefully looking for a way out. He was unmatched, clearly, and Naruto would prefer not to have to use the Kyuubi, as that would give away, well, everything.
"For what?" Asked the taller man, testily.
"Assasination—…" Naruto gave a shuddering breath as the pressure to his stomach was lifted. "Of Watanabe Akio."
It seems that had been the right answer, as the man backed off, leaving Naruto to slump onto the wall.
"Huh." Muttered the man, looking a strange mixture of irritated and amused. "So Konoha has gotten itself involved… but for what gain?"
Naruto took the opportunity, as the man was lost in thought, to slowly draw his hand into his pocket, reaching for Minato's kunai. If he could just give it a scratch—even the tiniest one—surely the two of them could take this man out together. It shouldn't be too hard, after all, with their speed and the element of surprise—
But the man's eyes flashed, and one hand was on Naruto's feminine wrist, near crushing it, and the other was grabbing the kunai for himself.
Naruto blanched.
"The Yondaime's seal." Said the man, monotonously. Naruto paled, as he threw it into the far wall. It embedded with a thunk. "He will not be helping you here. We have no need for that man."
"And me?" Naruto asked bitterly, holding his ground.
The man with piercings eyed him casually. "You may prove your usefulness." He decided upon. And then, "Konan!"
A woman appeared in a flurry of paper flowers. Her eyes were dark, but her hair was a bright, sky-like blue.
"The main entrance is clear." The woman began, her voice a careful blankness as well. "He hasn't foreseen our involvement."
"Good." The man nodded, before turning to Naruto once more. "You will aid us in our quest, Konoha Kunoichi, in order to atone for your country's sins."
Sins? Naruto thought, puzzled, but certainly wasn't about to question.
"Fine." Naruto bit out, pulling himself from the wall and attempting to tie up his long hair. It was nice when going for the whole 'sexy' thing, but an annoyance when he was actually trying to get work done. "No introductions or anything…" The blonde muttered.
But the man caught it. "You may call me Pein for now." He said enigmatically. "This is Konan."
The woman inclined her head.
Naruto scowled. "But I don't understand… why are the two of you helping me?"
The woman, Konan, snorted. "We have our own motivations." Answered Pein, with an air of mystery.
So it seemed that there was more going on in Amegakure than Naruto had first thought.
"You must be with the girl, then?" Pein glanced at Naruto. Naruto blinked. "The one they dragged in earlier."
His eyes widened. "You mean Rin-chan—!"
Konan cut her off with a hiss, waving her hand and looking down the street. Naruto closed his mouth, sheepishly. "Was it a girl with brown hair?" He asked, quieter.
Konan nodded. "She was unconscious."
As he had thought.
"It seems Watanabe is intending to lure the Yondaime." Pein murmured. "But to what end?"
"Revenge?" Naruto hazarded, quoting from before. His eyes glanced longingly to the kunai on the far side of the street. If only Minato would hurry up and realize he'd went in the wrong direction…
"A possibility." Konan agreed.
Pein shook his head. "But too obvious. Perhaps he'd use the man as a bargaining chip—in order to force Konoha's hand into aiding the Hanzo loyalist cause."
"Danzou would never fall for that." Konan pointed out, losing Naruto completely. Danzou—?
"Regardless," Pein waved her off. "The ploy has given us the perfect opportunity to rid Amegakure of those opposing its peace. We should make haste of it while we can."
Konan nodded. "I'll take the roof." She declared, before disappearing once more into a flurry of origami cranes.
Pein glanced at Naruto, still some ways shorter then him, now looking at least like a semi-effective ninja with his hair tied up. "You will accompany me to find Watanabe." He intoned deeply. "It would be in both of our best interests to work together, at least for this juncture."
"Alright." Naruto agreed, if not a tad cautiously. Who knew who the hell these people were. Underground Amegakure revolutionists? Amegkure-nin? Though they wore no hitai-ate…
The two entered the main premises quietly, and, true to Konan's word, the main guard and entire first floor had already been killed for them. Pein maneuvered himself around them easily, moving to the stairs, Naruto hot on his heels. His eyes were eerily bright in the dim fluorescent lighting, and Naruto couldn't help but be drawn to them. The salient, puissant glowing of them.
The second floor opened to an array of surprised ninja, who were almost immediately blindsided when gravity seemed to pull them closer to the man—close enough for him to skewer them easily with his weapons.
Though Naruto couldn't blame them, he was surprised to.
He'd never seen anything like that, nothing so powerful.
The blonde followed a little reluctantly, more worried now than before. Whoever this man was, he wasn't anyone to be trifled with. The strange Dojutsu… the odd technique—Naruto swallowed, and decided that some things should stay in the past. This would be one of them.
He warily kept his distance from the other man, contemplating how he was supposed to send a message to Minato. He'd found the hideout, that was for sure… though in present company, he doubted he'd be able to do little else aside from follow and wait for a moment in the man's spectacular defense. It seemed that he kept one eye on their enemies, and one eye on Naruto.
By the fifth floor, Naruto was feeling a little useless—though he was privately pleased by this fact, as using any unique attacks may give him away—and coming up empty handed on how to get in touch with Minato. Every time his hands so much as twitched Pein's eyes moved to him, those strange rings glancing at him quickly, before he easily disarmed their opponents.
"How many more floors?" Naruto asked by the seventh, getting a little exhausted. Being tense for this long really wasn't good for his muscles. It felt like every second he was waiting for Pein to turn to him and spring into action, preparing himself for it, for what he'd show the other man—if it came to that, he'd have to kill him. For if Pein ever lived to tell the tale…
The man gave him a sidelong glance. "A few more." Was his answer. "Watanabe's office on the top floor."
Great, the blonde thought, rankled. Like that won't take long.
It would be so much easier if his accomplice at least used Kage Bunshin to clear the many rows of protecting guards. Or at least a summon or something. Lord knows there was a faster way to do this—
That's it!
Summon!
Naruto's eyes widened, only to drop back down. But how would he manage that, with Pein watching his every move…
Though Pein hadn't been the only one watching.
That move, whatever it was, that distorted gravity—it could only work for a few seconds. And afterwards, Pein was left vulnerable. Or at least as vulnerable as a man like that could be. At least, he seemed weaker; like he was recharging his attack.
Naruto drew in a bated breath, waiting for Pein's latest attack to wane off. Once it did, and the entire hallway was clear of guards, he sprung, ready for his attack.
But someone beat him to it.
"Naruto!"
Rin came stumbling out from the opposite end of the hallway, rounding the corner with a limp and looking utterly exhausted. She'd already spotted him, and was looking relieved. Naruto was just plain surprised.
"R—Rin?" How could she tell it was him? He was a girl, after all.
The blonde rushed to the young Chuunin, completely oblivious to Pein's narrowed, surprised glance at the mention of his name.
"Naruto…" The girl mumbled, almost dropping to the floor. Naruto slid to catch her in time, eying the hallway she'd just come from. His eyes widened when he realized she must have woken up and fought her way out, attempting to get out of the complex.
In a flurry of paper, Konan was beside Pein on the opposite end.
Naruto took his distraction to bite down on his thumb, blood oozing out of the wound as he rapidly made the hand seals for the Kuchiyose no Jutsu.
"He's on the ninth floor," She explained, her voice calm even though she spoke quickly. "Heading downwards—there seems to be some sort of escape into another complex of buildings on the eight level."
"We'll intercept him, then."
The two were distracted by another round of enemy-nin coming down from the stairs.
Taking the opportune moment for the fortuitous fortune it was, Naruto flew through the summoning handseals, quickly tearing at his skin and pressing them as quietly as possible into the ground.
A rather small, rounded toad the size of his palm poofed into existence, looking surprised and confused.
"Who the hell are you—
"Ssh!" Naruto hissed, leaning over to shove the toad, Rin, and himself bodily over the corner. "Keep your voice down!"
"Who are you?" The toad repeated again, looking weary.
"That doesn't matter." Naruto said, hastily. "Listen, I need you to give a message to Minato."
"To who?" The toad blinked.
Naruto wanted to hit something.
"Ask one of the other summons!" He spat quickly. "Look, tell Minato that I've found Rin. We're in the building across from his kunai. Tell him, that okay?"
"Okay…" The toad whispered back, looking unsure. "But I'm not really a summon, you know… I'm still in training on Mount—
"I know who you are, Gamakichi." Naruto smiled, nostalgic at seeing his friend so young and small.. "But you have to forget me, okay? Pretend like you never met me."
At this, the young Gamakichi was even more confused. "What? But—
Naruto released all the chakra holding him, though, sending him back to the summoning realm in a clout of smoke, just as Konan and Pein finished up the last of Watanabe's guards.
He stood then, dragging himself around the corner, Rin on his slim, feminine shoulders.
"Is she dead?" Konan asked, no inflection to her voice.
Naruto shook her head. "Chakra exhaustion, I think…"
"She'll be alright, then." The comely woman looked satisfied, turning to her partner.
Pein nodded, and the three of them ascended the stairs to the eighth floor, Naruto making sure to stay a few paces behind the two, always behind.
It wasn't hard to find Watanabe. He was a rotund, obtuse man of short stature, and his waddle made the floor shake with grounded effort. Pein's long, languid strides easily dwarfed the man's smaller ones, cornering him into a hallway as Konan's paper molded to seal the opening shut.
"What do you want from me?-!" He cried, after fruitlessly pounding the papered wall. He turned around to them, and Naruto was sorely reminded of Gatou, the way his forehead gathered sweat profusely and how his soft stomach collapsed as Pein pushed a kunai into it.
"I want nothing—" Those eyes collected light from the moon in the windows, a strange, warped sort of purple. "But to see you suffer."
Like a stuck pig, the man squealed, yelling aloud. "I never did anything wrong! I was just helping, you know? Just trying to survive… just like everyone else…"
"You will never know of survival." Pein spat, the most emotion in his voice Naruto had heard since meeting him, as if the other man had struck a resounding chord. "Of hunger."
He threw the man effortlessly into the wall, ending his pathetic life with a gravitational force to crush all his bones. Watanabe's body slumped to the floor in front of Konan, the woman walking over impassively to stand over the now dead corpse.
Pein turned to him.
"Does this man look familiar to you?" Pein gestured to the bloodied man leaning against the wall, head lolled and eyes closed. Even if he did look familiar, Naruto wouldn't be able to tell with all the swelling and blood, all the skeletal bone structure mangled.
He blinked. "I…"
"Does he?" Pein asked again, deceptively calm.
Did he? Had he ever been in Konoha? Would he have been, in this timeline? Naruto couldn't think straight, couldn't remember… "I don't know…" He answered, lamely.
Pein sighed. "It seems you had no use after all."
The man with the strange eyes took one step, pulling his hood off to reveal his face in the full lighting of the wintry moon. He looked younger than Naruto would have imagined, the piercings lining his nose glittered in the pallid lighting, a youthfulness to his full face that Naruto hadn't expected.
Before he could use that freaky gravity Jutsu on him, too, the entire line of windows shattered, a lightning fast blonde ninja barreling through them, causing Pein and Konan to retreat in the process.
By the time the glass had settled—a mere matter of seconds—the Yondaime had Pein pinned with a kunai to his neck, the other man looking surprised to see the blonde.
"Minato!"
The Yondaime looked up then, tearing his gaze away from Pein to see Naruto and Rin in the bloodied hall. For a moment, Minato didn't seem to recognize him in his Sexy no Jutsu form, before his eyes widened and he turned back to Pein.
"Well played, little girl." Pein surmised dryly, though he didn't look particularly judicious about it.
Naruto smirked. "You underestimated me."
"We're at a stalemate, then." Pein supposed, calm in the quiet wrath of the Yondaime Hokage holding a kunai to his neck. "What shall we do? Fight over who leaves this tower alive? Perhaps you were meant to take Watanabe with you—have you been deceiving us all along, girl? Or was this your whole purpose, to lure us here to fight your precious Yondaime?"
What's so special about you? Naruto wanted to ask, though knew he couldn't.
Minato pensively looked between the two of them. To Naruto, who looked ready, and almost itching for a fight, and to Rin, who was exhausted in the girl-Naruto's arms. And back to the mysterious young man in the cloak, who couldn't be any older than him, smiling elusively up at him. "Do you have an answer?"
"We'll leave." He decided, ferociously. "I'll take my team, you take yours, and we'll pretend like this never happened."
Naruto sighed, tension leaving him. Always the peace maker.
"Agreed." Pein nodded, the demure tone rivaled only by the smirk on his face.
Minato narrowed his eyes at the man, never once breaking eye contact, even as he moved across the room to grab Rin and Naruto. The blonde accidentally caught Pein's eyes, the strange Dojutsu spinning in them, calling out to him almost, before the Hirashin took over him.
.
.
.
The journey back to Konoha was quiet, and almost excruciatingly long. Long with both Obito and Kakashi injured, the trek was a long, grueling road that never seemed to end. Naruto could have cursed the musty heat, for the humidity seemed to trap it amongst the enormous trees, laying thick and clinging to his clothes.
And quiet for no one seemed up to talking.
Minato kept eying him, and Naruto kept looking in the other direction. Rin was too exhausted to do much else aside from plod along sullenly behind them, and Obito too injured to keep blabbing. And Kakashi, well, Kakashi hardly spoke at all, anyway.
It wasn't until the very end of their trip, when the air had finally crisped into a ripe coolness and the trees began to look marginally normal, with Konoha closer at every step, that Minato finally voiced what Naruto knew to be on his mind.
"Naruto…" Minato began slowly, carefully watching for any reaction with the other blonde. "Do you have… toad summons?"
Naruto paused in his steps.
"Toads?"
Minato eyed him.
There was a moment in which Naruto said nothing at all, his face covered by lemon colored hair. Minato waited for his answer with baited breath. Was it possible that Naruto had the same summon as him? But how? Only Jiraiya had the contract… had Naruto encountered Jiraiya? Was he a student as well? But how was that possible—?
And then, Naruto laughed.
"Toads?-!" He repeated, wiping at his eyes. "No! I summon frogs."
Minato blinked. "Eh?" And then… "But it was an amphibian…"
Naruto looked at him, amused. "Frogs are amphibians too, you know."
This was true. The Yondaime tried to think back on the summon he'd seen. It looked a lot like a toad… but wait? Didn't frogs look like toads too? It had been green after all… and a little slimy. But weren't toads like that too? What was the difference between them?-!
His confusion must have shown on his face, for Naruto continued to laugh.
Perhaps he'd been wrong after all.
