"Talking"
'Thinking'
"Spell/Jutsu"
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, the Final Fantasy Series, or anything associated with them.
As Time Flows
Soon after his defection from Konoha, Naruto needed a place to stay while training. When the Kyuubi reminded him that he could make a place to stay, he nearly smacked himself in the forehead.
Deciding he might as well go for a flashy living/training area so that Akatsuki could find him if they ever needed him, he set himself up at the border of Kaze no Kuni (Land of Wind) and Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire).
With Naruto…
He hopped down from the treetop he was scouting from, landing in the slightly grainy soil that denoted the beginning of the shift from woodland to desert. The temperature was a nice medium from the pleasant forests and the scalding deserts, and he was close enough to both elements he needed training in. It was perfect!
He swiftly began constructing a training area/base/living area by obliterating the forests surrounding him and growing his own. He sat in a Lotus position, working on decoding the grimoire in his lap as his dark purple energy expanded from where he sat. It spread in a wave, corrupting, reforming, and bending the surroundings to his will with him in the center.
It took three days to fully complete his forest area, and it was quite a sight to see. The outer rim was a 'natural' barrier created out of tall, sturdy, sickly green trees with poisonous miasma emanating from them like a fog. Anything entering would be dead within a few minutes, killed from the potent neurotoxin within the miasma.
The middle area for those able to bypass the miasma was a jungle, filled with barbed vines laced with potent necrotic venom. Beautiful, if otherworldly, ivory Sakura trees complete with violet blossoms stood guard around the innermost area, the blossoms able to fire their stamens and pistils as darts at any mobile intruder, filled with yet another toxic poison designed to immobilize and slowly kill.
The absolute center was a rather plain looking house, created out of hardened and compacted earth, with roofing created out of black frost. The entire area was bathed in an eternal twilight, neither day nor night, light or dark.
After the base was completed, he turned in for a well deserved rest, having only been able to decipher the title of the book. The glyphs used as a language were constantly shifting and twisting, seeming to change constantly when under perusal, though after the word or sentence was decrypted it stayed in place.
'A Guide to Undeath for Idiots'
In Konoha…
The Council was somewhere between panicked, shocked, angry, and smug at the news that the Jinchuuriki was missing. Some of the wiser council members had known this would happen at some point, and immediately pulled out matching folders of 'Operation: Missing Jinchuuriki'.
The spokesman (or in this case woman) of the wiser council members was none other than Inuzuka Tsume, clan head of the Inuzuka clan. She spoke in clear tones over the general chaos of the Council room, silencing them immediately.
"It is clear that the container has deserted Konoha, and therefore must be marked as a nuke-nin. We must send out the ANBU in collaboration of the hunter-nin to hunt him down before he becomes too much of a threat. He should be marked as an S-rank nuke-nin in the Bingo Book. He should be detained if possible so that we can breed his bloodline into Konoha, or have his body brought back to be dissected so that we may learn how to replicate it."
Before the Council could roar in agreement to her idea, Jiraiya appeared in the standard puff of smoke denoting a Shunshin (Body Flicker). As soon as the Sannin saw the folders denoting that they had been prepared for this, he began speaking.
"Before he left, Naruto left me a message stating that he resigned from Konoha's ninja register. But knowing that you will mark him as a nuke-nin anyway… he asked to be known as Kouhai no Naruto (Naruto of Devastation), much like Sasori is known as Akasuna no Sasori (Sasori of the Red Sands). He also stated that he left because the village failed to redeem themselves in his eyes for their actions when he was younger."
The Council was understandably shocked at this point. They could've had the Jinchuuriki all along if they would have simply appealed to his standards? But… that would involve thinking something through, as well as actually bowing to the demands of someone! Blasphemy!
Hyuuga Hiashi stood, his normally impassive face marred by a scowl. Or at least, a scowl by Hyuuga standards. In reality, it was simply a slight downward tilt of his eyebrows, as well as a very slight twisting of the edges of his lips denoting a Hyuuga Sneer.
"Why would the village bow to the demands of a demon?"
Jiraiya was hard pressed to not roll his eyes at the pure stupidity of the Council, their normally sound advice being twisted of over a decade of delusions concerning demons and their ilk. They seemed so… childish! Refusing to consider the possibility that their 'Beloved Yondaime' could maybe have done the seal correctly and that the boy wasn't a demon. He was tempted to tell them that the 'demon' they kept referring to was actually quite human, and had removed the demon from his body and soul by transferring it into the plush doll he always carried around with him. But then again… that would spoil the 'I-Know-Something-You-Don't-Know' fun, as well as possibly break the trust he had tentatively created with Naruto.
Speaking of which, he really should try and use his spy network to find where the boy had gone. With his looks, he could create a whole new character for his Icha Icha series! Of course… it would probably be a female character involved in an orgy with a tentacle monster and a naughty ninja, but those details are unimportant.
He quickly left after the Council had chosen to mark the missing Jinchuuriki as an S-class nuke-nin known as Kouhai no Naruto, covering up their distaste at naming him something he wanted rather remarkably. They stated that the name was rather daunting, and would appeal to their needs to mark him as less human than demon.
Back with Naruto…
After setting up his 'base', the Black Mage began his training in the remaining two elements in earnest. He already had the form manipulation down for his Flora manipulation, meaning he knew how to create different plants and trees, but he didn't have the sheer speed that Yamato had. He intended to become even faster at creating plant life than the former experiment of Orochimaru.
Likewise, he also had to train in Sand manipulation. He understood the concept of it, as well as a little bit of the practical part, but it could be used for so many things! It was like Water manipulation… only it's both solid and liquid at the same time!
Kyuubi became a rather good partner for bouncing ideas off of while he trained, as the fox had seen some rather interesting things in his days. Material concerns such as food and water were easily taken care of, though the plants that he created for food had a rather interesting taste to them. If he tried to put it into words, he would state that they had an aftertaste of what one would think the aftermath of a lightning bolt hitting sand would taste like; a delicious molten glass taste with a hint of grit, and a little bit of electrical zing to make it memorable.
He wasn't quite sure why a plant would have an aftertaste of electricity and sand, but he didn't question it. The fox would probably spout something about how his mana was used more often to use lightning techniques in offense, and how his sand manipulation was used more often in defense, and thus was affecting his other techniques, though Naruto really didn't want to test that theory by eating a wind blade.
He had a feeling it would be like munching on razor blades, but lacking the metallic tang, and thus tasting mostly like his own blood with a hint of spring breeze thrown in there as a garnish.
Within his home (lair, he would amend to himself, as anyplace without Lulu was never home) he trained to the brink of exhaustion, bringing all the elements that he controlled to their peak of mastery. When he ran out of mana, he would pick up the Kusanagi and pluck at the various seals and bindings Orochimaru had placed on them, forming a plan of how to break the Sannin's control over the blade.
This continued for many months, never straying from the protective embrace of his forest, completely cut from the outside world.
Meanwhile, in Konoha…
Uchiha Sasuke was pissed. Strike that, he was furious. He quite possibly had completely shed his 'Ice Prince' attitude by snarling in rage at random passerby as well as anything remotely cute and cuddly.
The reason for his rage?
Uzumaki-Namikaze Naruto, or Kouhai no Naruto as he was now called.
The blonde 'dobe' had ascended to S-class nuke-nin, and thus was on the same level as Itachi. And seeing as how he didn't defeat him in the exams, he was understandably pissed. Since he couldn't defeat Naruto, how could he defeat Itachi?
Luckily, he hadn't quite gotten to the point where he realized that Naruto had limited his own abilities when fighting, and had almost beat him with pure hand to hand combat, the Black Mage's worst skill.
Then, he realized it in the middle of the street, causing waves of concentrated angst to roll off him, causing many pedestrians to become nauseated or suffer from vertigo. However, as quickly as it came it passed, and waves of concentrated smugness began radiating in their place. These had the odd effect of causing many girls, ages 8-80 to squeal at the top of their lungs and launch themselves at the Uchiha heir.
It's quite creepy when someone old enough to be your grandmother is yelling "SASUKE-KUN I WANT TO HAVE YOUR BABIES!"
Two Genin kunoichi in training, however, were unaffected and watching with a detached air of disgust and shock. Yamanaka Ino, and Tenten (who had no surname as she was an orphan from the Kyuubi attack and all the available surnames were taken) watched in fascination as the Uchiha was swarmed with hordes of women. In unison they gave a sigh of disgust and continued walking… right into each other.
Quickly picking themselves off the ground, they realized they were the only females within a large area that wasn't affected by Sasuke's presence, and struck up a rather odd conversation on the subject.
Halfway through theories of how the youth of Konoha were brainwashed by their parents to want to create Uchiha babies through skilled use of a tape recorder and hypnotic recordings played back during sleep, they broached one of the most trap-laden topics of discussion ever.
Kunoichi training.
Tenten, personally, didn't see the reason for training to correctly arrange flowers of all things, when in reality it's never used whatsoever.
Surely, if they needed it during a mission, they could just buy a book on it and study it. It didn't need years of training to correctly arrange a bouquet.
Ino, who worked in a flower shop, had argued that there is more to it than simply placing flowers in a specified pattern. She went into the fact that there was a whole subconscious message played through the flowers that is fundamentally identified by the receiver, who, even if they don't acknowledge it consciously, will always subconsciously know.
Even after she said it, though, she still didn't believe it.
After the two went into the details of how kunoichi training is different from shinobi training, they came to a rather odd conclusion.
"Why don't we both get the same training?"
Surely, if a jutsu is able to change your appearance by an illusion, couldn't it also change your gender? Then a shinobi could be sent on a reconnaissance mission that a kunoichi is generally used for. This way, kunoichi could partake in shinobi training, and shinobi could partake in kunoichi training.
Jiraiya, who was still apprentice-less and was ordered by the 'Honored' Council to retrieve his teammate to replace the now-dead Hokage, came across them as they were going into the details of how women can fight too, and how men should have to learn seduction and flower arranging just like women have to. After all, some women aren't able to grasp it as well as some men are.
The Toad Sannin, hearing their heated debate (which was held within the middle of a training ground while they were sparring) immediately came to a conclusion. He would take these two to meet Tsunade with him, as they might be able to help persuade her to come back, since they could tell her all about how Konoha was screwing up kunoichi training.
Even if that didn't work, he could still help train them. After all, he was still missing an apprentice, and he was getting on in years and needed to pass on the toad contract. Naruto didn't want it, and he helped these two with their training… so maybe one of them?
After a quick explanation of exactly why and where they were going, he had to deal with a hero-worshipping Ino and Tenten who had learned exactly what the Slug Sannin could do with but one finger. He quickly got permission from Yamanaka Inoichi, the Yamanaka clan head, and set off with the two kunoichi to where Tsunade was last spotted.
He didn't miss the wistful smile on Tenten's face, as well as the slightly cloudy look in her eyes when they met the man that was Ino's father, and contemplated on the possibilities of adopting the girl since nobody else had taken an interest to.
Normally he would take the 'scenic' route, taking care to hit as many bath houses as possible on the way, but the way that Tenten girl kept fondling her kunai, shuriken, and other pointy objects was making him think perversion would not be a good idea.
In Tanzaku Gai…
It had only taken them a week to pinpoint Tsunade's whereabouts, which was rather odd considering the fact that she was a Sannin and knew she had people after her. One would think someone who was wanted by both debt collectors and dangerous ninjas would have covered their steps a little better.
During the week that it took to find her, Jiraiya found quite a few copies of Icha Icha Paradise and Icha Icha Tactics in Tenten's backpack. When questioned on the books, she had replied that she had taken to reading them whenever Neji went on a 'Fate' speech, or her teammate and sensei were having a 'manly moment'. He didn't tell her he wrote the books, however, as the… research… needed to write such a masterpiece was rather questionable.
When they found Tsunade, she was already considerably sloshed in an average bar, and was ranting to a small pig wearing a red jacket and a beaded necklace all about how the casinos were ripping her off. A woman no older than twenty with short brown hair wearing a kimono was wringing her hands in anxiety while asking 'Tsunade-sama' to stop drinking as she was already quite drunk.
For Tenten and Ino, this scene was a rather large eye-opener. It showed that, regardless of how hallowed their heroes are, they are still human and thus have human vices and habits.
The fact that Tsunade was currently piss drunk just proved that she was just as flawed as they were. This did, of course, substantially lower their hero worship, but they still respected her strength regardless of her alcoholism.
Honestly, when a woman can shatter a boulder with her finger when sober, imagine what would happen if she were an angry drunk. Respect goes a long way to a longer life.
Jiraiya, with Ino and Tenten in tow, sat down on the opposite side of the table from Tsunade, where the Toad Sannin promptly went into 'serious mode'. This was a derivative of the Hokage's 'authority mode', also known as 'mission mode', and consisted of him leveling a piercing stare at his former teammate and steepling his fingers in front of his carefully blank face, trying hard not to have his gaze stray to her feminine assets.
Tsunade seemed to miraculously sober, a testament to her supremacy of the medical field. To go from 'shitfaced drunk' to 'post-hangover sober' was a remarkable feat, even for a medic-nin.
After listing that they wanted Tsunade to come back to Konoha as the Hokage, in which the Slug Sannin spewed a hate rant of the title, Tenten finally spoke up.
"While I respect you for the fact that you are the most notable kunoichi in recent history, it is rather sad that you won't come back to Konoha. I thought you would've considered all the different changes you could make, including those to the hospital as well as the kunoichi training (which is rather lacking and quite sexist), instead of constantly thinking about all the village has taken from you."
Ino spoke up at this point, taking up where Tenten left off.
"We have a theory that the Council had tried (and succeeded) to brainwash the younger generation into loving the Uchiha heir by using hypnotic messages in our sleep. The only girls that aren't currently trying to rape him or seduce him are Tenten, Hinata and I. Considering our theory, Tenten is one of the few unadopted orphans and thus wouldn't have been hypnotized, and I got my delusions shattered rather horribly in the middle of the Forest of Death in the Exams. Hyuuga Hinata probably wasn't affected because the Hyuuga and Uchiha have a long standing conflict, and wouldn't have wanted unity between the clans. Plus, a hybrid of doujutsu would be quite freaky, and possibly bad for the child's health. An… acquaintance of ours… was recently marked as an S-class nuke-nin simply because the council wasn't able to keep him under their thumb. Knowing this, it's not too far of a shot to believe that they would've tried to psychologically condition the youth into worshipping the ground Sasuke walked on, simply because it's what they believe is 'right'."
Jiraiya and Tsunade were both rather shocked and horrified at this, as it actually explained the phenomenon that seemed to have affected Konoha. Tsunade had to reconsider her thoughts for a moment, before slipping into her own version of the 'serious mode'. However, this effect was lost on Jiraiya who got a rather large eyeful of her cleavage from the maneuver. Almost unbidden, his hand crept forward and…
A rather large twitch in Tsunade's left eyebrow was the only warning before Jiraiya was forcefully ejected from the bar via a chakra-enhanced fist, blowing a man-shaped hole in the wall of the bar, as well as a similarly shaped hole in the wall behind it.
Regardless of the fact that it was a Genjutsu (and a well-made one at that), the flesh still looked (and felt, Jiraiya would later recall) real.
Tenten and Ino were torn between laughing at Jiraiya's forwardness, shocked at seeing Tsunade's power first hand, or being enraged at the public display of lechery.
In the end, despite the fact that Jiraiya had 'put the moves' on her, she had relented to become Hokage just to spite the Council that had allowed the village to fall so far. She would still mourn for her deceased brother, Nawaki, as well as her lover, Dan, but she would make sure that nobody else had to suffer the same.
Tenten, after learning that it was Jiraiya who wrote Icha Icha, immediately glomped him with a Cheshire grin on her face, asking him where he got the inspiration for scene 14 of Icha Icha Paradise: Twins in Paradise.
Ino, having contemplated her life thus far, asked Tsunade if she could learn some medical skills from her, as she was unable to be of much help to her teammates at the moment. She also vowed to tinker with her clan's techniques to make them more viable for frontline combat. Tsunade accepted her as an apprentice when she showed true determination to the field of medicine, even though Ino had expressed that she wished to be able to fight in combat as well instead of just working in a hospital.
Jiraiya, having learned that the 'pointy weapons girl' was alright with his writing, asked her how her training was going with the 'creepy spandex guy'. After pondering on the data she gave him, he came to a rather interesting conclusion that she required ninjutsu knowledge, not just weapons. She also needed to learn how to fight in close quarters, weapon or no weapon, and took her as an apprentice, as well as unofficially becoming her father figure.
Gamabunta was somewhere between enamored with the fact that his new summoner was a woman (pointy weapon fetish or not) and frustrated at the fact that she enjoyed reading hentai novels as much as Jiraiya enjoyed writing them. Gamakichi thought it was cool that she was so great at throwing pointy things.
The odd group moved on to Konoha, where, unknown to them, Sasuke had defected while the Council was too busy focusing their tunnel vision on a phantasmal menace: Naruto.
While the Council was currently in 'Defcon 4: Powerful Individual with a Reason to Hate Konoha', Uchiha Sasuke created a brilliantly organized plan to escape to Orochimaru for training. The man may be an effeminate, body jumping snake pervert, but he obviously knew what he was doing if he could kill and then imitate the Kazekage without the Hokage knowing. True, he would have to deal with the rapidly dwindling (and dying, due to the mind influencing property of the Cursed Seal) voice of 'Reason' in his head, but it would be silent soon enough. After all, there is no sacrifice great enough to get the power to kill his brother. Kakashi and his techniques be damned. The Chidori (1000 Birds) obviously didn't kill the blonde dobe, so how was it going to kill his brother?
His plan was something Shikamaru could be proud of: He sent a clone into a public place that (rather loudly) declared that he wanted a date, and thus the women must have a bikini mud wrestling match to find who would date him.
The resulting riot (coupled with several hundred gallons of mud created by various Doton (Earth Element) techniques) brought all nearby ANBU (as well as the gate guards and any other male in the vicinity) to break up. Then again… they were having too much fun watching to pull the women away from each other. Who knew a civilian girl could bend like that?
So Sasuke, carrying only the clothes on his back, directions (and phone number, apparently for 'if he felt lonely' the note said) to Orochimaru, right out the front gate.
The village would take two weeks to recognize this, as fan girls seemed to always file missing person reports whenever the object of their desire was gone from sight for over forty five seconds. After all, surely he must have been kidnapped to stay away from the beautiful and desirable 'insert name here'?
The reports tended to get quite… clogged with all of those. It was only when Hatake Kakashi came storming into the Councilroom with his (stolen) Sharingan ablaze demanding to know where his pupil went that they truly thought he might have been really missing.
Coincidentally, the day after was when Tsunade arrived and announced that she would take the job as Hokage. The Slug Sannin immediately sent out Ino and Shizune for a few cases of sake, already feeling that this first issue was going to be a massive headache that would require liberal amounts of alcohol to remedy.
Time passed, and they marked him as a C-rank nuke-nin to be captured or convinced back to Konoha on sight. If he was kidnapped, obviously the kidnapper would have demanded a ransom, or even been gloating to equally nefarious other villains to plot the downfall of Konoha now that they had a male specimen of the infamous Sharingan bloodline.
One year later…
It had been a year since he had left the sanctity of his forest. A year since he had felt the warmth of the sun on his skin, willingly disappearing into the twilight rapture of his forest.
He had gained a level of mastery previously unknown to any in the Elemental Countries when it came to his elemental control. The elements could respond purely to his thoughts and whims now, and he had to forcefully restrain the sand and ice every once and awhile from creating beautiful sculptures of abstract matter whenever he waxed poetic in his thoughts.
His appearance had changed quite a lot as well, becoming less… humane, less approachable, if he could put it into words.
His hair had almost completely lost all color, with several streaks of the golden blonde being threaded through the bone white. If he were to systematically count how many blonde hairs there were in comparison to the white, it would come out to one blonde hair for every four white, give or take a few (hundred) strands.
His skin, which still (irritatingly so) clung to the golden bronze, was not unaffected by the lack of sunlight, having paled slightly in comparison to its previous radiance.
His eyes, once sparkling gems seemingly cut from amethysts, had begun to glow with an inner light, visibly giving off an eerie purple glow when embraced within the darkness. It irritated him every now and then that he could no longer rely on his sight in the darkness, as it would give away his position, but he had learned to cope without his sight if need be.
He had grown slightly, reaching the absolute height he would ever reach, though his body would fill out a little bit more before he was finished growing. He stood proudly at a respectable height of 6'1", and his hair was cut to his waist after an interesting revelation that it had quit spiking once the lifeless white hair became predominant on his scalp. He was barefoot, and clad in rather odd attire.
Tossing away his previous battle kimono sometime near the end of his training, he had created his own clothing out of one of the most durable and adaptable elements.
His pants were a flowing set of royal purple colored hakama, crafted out of uniform grains of sand to create a rather smooth feeling, as opposed to the roughness sand normally creates. His torso was covered by an elegantly crafted black haori, shaped from the same sand the hakama were. His control over the elements had progressed so far that he was able to unconsciously keep the garments in form regardless of his mental state. Meaning… he would never have an awkward moment because his pants or shirt suddenly dissolved into sand in the middle of the marketplace, or some such event.
He pondered for a few minutes at the outskirts of his base, before releasing the magics which bound the unnatural constructs to the material plane, allowing the house (which was more of a hut, in any case) as well as the multilayered woodland that protected it to dissipate into their inherent energies. He gave a slight smile as he continued on his way, a rather odd plush fox toy with nine tails slumbering peacefully on his left shoulder.
Somewhere in Ame no Kuni (Land of Rain)…
This was not what he was expecting.
He was expecting some sort of underground fortress with intricately laid traps, explosion tags decorating everywhere (in case of an 'emergency self destruct'), several places requiring an elaborate password, and a convoluted maze to the 'throne room' where one could easily be lost and die of starvation.
Naruto was definitely not expecting to come to Amegakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the Rain), ask for Akatsuki, and be given a guide who led him to something reminiscent of the Hokage tower, only having two stories instead of four or five.
When he was led (through a torrential monsoon no less, didn't Pein ever show some hospitality in here?) through a rather average hidden village, he really began to think he might have gone to the wrong country. Perhaps they were stationed in Kaze no Kuni (Land of Wind) or Mizu no Kuni (Land of Water)? Maybe even Yuki no Kuni (Land of Snow)? Surely Akatsuki wouldn't be so careless to allow random people to be led directly to their base?
Apparently he was wrong. The guide took him all the way to doors labeled 'Amekage', and told him that the boss wasn't having any meetings and to go right on in.
He gave a slight knock on the door, deciding he might as well go with the madness, and gained entry after a deep voice had bid him to enter.
Amekage's Office…
Naruto really wasn't expecting to meet the Leader of Akatsuki in person. Regardless, he opened the door carefully and let himself in, shutting it behind him. His senses were on high alert of this being some form of trap, trying to get him to lower his guard before striking.
All he saw was a bright orange haired man with multiple piercings through his nose and ears, as well as one in his bottom lip. He was clad in standard black shinobi pants, standard black shinobi sandals, a long sleeved black shirt, and a scratched Ame hitai-ate upon his forehead. On the wall near his desk was the high collared black cloak with red clouds indicative of an Akatsuki.
The man lifted his head from a report he was reading to look up at him with a rather strange set of eyes. They were a shade of slate gray, but had multiple concentric circles in them that had an almost hypnotizing quality. Not as great as the Sharingan at hypnosis, but definitely enough to slightly unnerve a casual observer.
When the odd man, who couldn't have been older than twenty five or so, caught sight of him his mood brightened a little, and the rain lessened outside. The man gave him a curious glance, obviously noting that he wasn't wet at all, regardless of the rain outside, and spoke in the same deep tones he had heard from outside the door.
"You are..?"
Naruto gave a slight smile, bowing at the waist to an angle indicating respect for the other before speaking.
"I am Naruto, though I suppose most people refer to me as Kouhai no Naruto (Naruto of Devastation) or 'that demon brat'. I am the former Jinchuuriki of the Kyuubi no Kitsune, and I would like to join your organization. If that is not possible, please direct me to the nearest place to get a hat similar to Itachi's."
The man gave him a rather odd look; as if he thought it was either a joke or he was crazy. The corner of his lip gave a slight twitch, before replying.
"I am known as Pein. Currently there are no open positions within the organization, as we have yet to retrieve Orochimaru's ring."
Naruto tilted his head to the side quizzically, before an enigmatic smile formed upon his lips.
"How damage resistant are the rings, Pein-san?"
The orange haired man blinked rapidly at the curious question, before phrasing his statement carefully.
"They have survived incineration, as well as explosive clone-suicide by the bearer without being harmed. Why?"
The same unfathomable grin appeared on the Black Mage, and the next few words shocked Pein to the bone.
"I believe it's time I pay the Otokage a little visit. I'll have to make it suitably… appealing, don't you think, Pein-san? I hope you'll join me on this visit, as I'm sure it'll be quite something to see. After all, it's not often a village is wiped off the map in one day, is it?"
Pein thought on this for a few moments, before pressing a button on his desk, and telling the secretary there will be no more meetings. He pulled on his cloak and motioned for them to leave, quite fascinated in this rather remarkable individual. After they left, a second body took over where the first left off, reading the reports while the first watched, intrigued as Naruto split the rain around him, not letting it touch him at all. He would have to tinker with his technique if it was possible to escape it so easily, that was for sure.
Naruto continued walking along, the same strange smile settling on his lips as the two took to the trees, headed towards Otogakure no Sato (The Village Hidden in the Sound) at a blinding pace.
Author's Note: This chapter is purposefully short, as it's mainly just a timeskip coupled with 'things that happened while Naruto was gone'. Next chapter will have the assault on Otogakure, as well as a bit more.
