Chapter 9: Alone

Hinata walked silently behind Shino. The once dry river bed beside them was slowly filling and becoming like the river it should have been. Trees to her right and a slowly forming river to her left.

But no Naruto.

They had already nearly reached the small fishing village that they had escaped from earlier that day and they hadn't once seen Naruto's body. At first she had run down the bank, hoping to see his body in the still mostly dry river bed or walking towards them with a smile on his face. But as they passed where they had seen him land and the waters of the river rose…

There was very little hope left in Hinata's heart.

"Lady Hinata. You must keep moving."

Hinata looked up from the ground. She had stopped walking for a moment without realizing it. She shook her head to clear it before catching up with Shino. They had decided to walk, mainly because they wanted to carefully check the banks for Naruto's body. The hover sleds were back where they had left them until Shino returned for them.

I don't know why this is bothering me so much. When my two guards from home were killed I knew I had to move on, and I did. But something about Naruto… just won't let me get him out of my head. He was special.

He was special to me.

I can't stop now. I have to continue my mission. But…

She glanced up at the sky. Just a few days ago he had saved he from falling from that sky. Twice. In an impossible show of skill that she had never seen or heard of. She owed him more then he had been hired for.

And I was just starting to feel more comfortable around him. He was… a friend. One of the only ones I had left. Now…

Hinata shook her head again, trying to clear her mind of her thoughts. She had to get over it fast. Light glistened off of something that flew off her face. She seemed shocked to see a tear fall to the earth.

"A dam?"

"Hai, one that was blocking the great river at its source."

Shino and Hinata had gathered the villagers of his small town to explain what had happened. It didn't take much effort because most had exited their homes armed with pitchforks when the explosions had gone off. The imperials had made a hasty retreat after collecting their dead. They had arrived to find the villagers either watching the growing river or cleaning up the wreckage of Shino's shed.

"How did you do it?"

"We broke the dam so it would slowly let out some water. We need to carefully destroy the rest later, but now isn't the time."

Shino naturally avoided telling the people about the river guardian. They would be outraged to here that it had been killed by Naruto. No one seemed to notice he was gone, but most hadn't even seen him and Hinata arrive anyway.

"What now? The Imperials dammed our river."

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that's grounds for war!"

The villagers were getting very angry, Shino could tell. Hinata was standing near the back of the group, staring into the sky. Shino sighed. He only knew a little of the two, but it was obvious that his loss had hit her hard. Naruto had been a good warrior, at the very least, and maybe a good man.

Shino might never know.

"Listen."

The villagers got quiet, but Shino could feel the anger and intensity in the air.

"Let's think about this. If the imperials were damming the river, with it gone… what sort of leverage do they have against the lord of lightning?"

None was the answer. Awareness was appearing on the faces of many.

"I the imperials truly want something from this land they can no longer get it through trickery. It will be done by force. Why else would the imperial patrol have not returned to the village? The imperials will attack the capital, to get what they want."

Hinata was spacing off as Shino tried to convince the villagers that evil was a foot. Her mind drifted to the pendant that hung around her neck. The pendant that Naruto had helped her retrieve.

She pulled it out from under her clothing to get a closer look at it. Time had been short recently, and even when she had stolen it there hadn't been much time to actually look at it.

One side was a weird design that didn't make much sense to her. Circles and lines that made a very interesting looking picture, but nothing compared to what was on the other side.

The front had an image Hinata found immediately beautiful and yet horrible.

The nine tailed fox.

The Kyuubi no Kitsune. The demon lord… Is this a coincidence? What is this pendant for? What does it do?

Hinata shuddered as she looked at the picture. The fox was crushing a mountain and forming a tidal wave. Its power was terrifying. But what startled her the most was that the fox was beautiful. You would think it would look like a monster, like most images anyone dared to make, which were few. This looked noble... it almost appeared to weep as it destroyed the world.

"Hinata-sama."

Hinata quickly placed the medallion back into her shirt. She spun to see Shino facing her. Most of the villagers looked like they were preparing for war.

"Shino-san… what is it?"

"I do not know your goals, but the men of this village are going to the capital help in case of an attack by imperials. We would gladly use your help if you were also traveling there.

Hinata stared back upriver a moment, wishing beyond all hope that a certain person would appear from the forest. But that wasn't going to happen…

"Hai. I need to speak with the Lord of Lightning anyway."

Naruto sat directly across from the man who had both saved him and was currently hosting him.

Well, hosting was a rather pleasant word for keeping him from leaving.

"Calm yourself, Naruto. I am not your enemy."

"Funny how you can say that from an imperial uniform."

Itachi Uchiha was a good looking imperial, black hair and eyes and taller then Naruto. He hardly ever smiled from what Naruto could remember, and he didn't break from tradition here.

"A formality."

"A formality? Funny, last time we met you thought differently of your uniform."

"Time changes us. Events change us, Naruto. Surely, you, of all people, can understand that."

Naruto sighed. There was no getting to this guy.

"I need to leave, Uchiha. I have a job."

"Ever the honest mercenary."

"Damn right."

"Well you can leave as soon as you are healthy."

Naruto began to stand up, but found a hand on his shoulder pushing back into his sitting position. Itachi stood above him as well in front of him.

"You are not well yet, Naruto. I can sense your chakra is incredibly low, and your nervous and muscular system are still recovering from that electrical shock."

"Cut that genjutsu out, Uchiha."

Itachi held a single hand up in a sign Naruto knew well. Instantly the Itachi above him vanished. Naruto wasn't intimidated, as many people who had met Itachi were. He knew the abilities of the so called 'imperial genius'. He was capable of keeping Naruto here if he chose to. What Naruto didn't understand was why they were in a cabin in the middle of nowhere instead of an imperial prison ship heading to his execution in the Imperial City.

"You are probably wondering why I helped you, and why I am helping you still."

"The thought had crossed my mind."

"Well, let's just say I'm returning a favor."

"I don't recall ever doing you a favor, Uchiha. As a matter of fact, I do believe last time we met it wasn't exactly under the most friendly of terms."

At this statement Naruto was shocked as the Uchiha in front of him smiled. It wasn't a happy smile, nor a sarcastic sneer.

It was filled with loss and sadness.

"You are right, Naruto Uzumaki. But you did me a great favor that day."

"We are approaching the target site for the assault, all guardsmen prepare your gear for battle."

Itachi Uchiha, age 17, sat in the back of an Armored Beetle Mark III along with twenty or so other black ops members. The elite of the elite, the ones who did what was absolutely impossible, the special operations group of the Imperial Navy. Itachi was not the youngest member in the group, no, but he had been when he had been admitted at the age of fifteen. Now he was the youngest captain ranked member. Leader of twenty four of the best warriors in existence.

And some mercenaries.

Like a ragtag group of misfits, the front of the tank like machine, closest to the door, was reserved for a few mercenaries. The first out, the first down. That was the general consensus on mercenaries. Itachi had very little respect for the headhunters, but they did their job. Either they soaked up fire meant for his troops, or they did their part to get rid of the fire. Itachi noticed this time that it would probably be only moments before each merc was dead. Three old men with projectile rifles and a twelve year old kid with no weapons in sight.

Itachi happened to be sitting next to the kid. He expected the kid to be shivering, afraid. Only truly desperate children ever signed up as mercs. Quick cash for those who lived through it. This one stared straight ahead, strong as steel on the outside.

"Stop looking at me."

And observant.

"Name?"

The child froze for a moment.

"Uzumaki."

"How old are you?

"Thirteen."

Too young to die.

"No one would hold it against you if you quit right now, kid. This isn't a job for the young."

The boy glared at him with such ferocity that Itachi almost drew his knife to defend himself.

"Shut your mouth, imperial. I'm here for your money, but don't think for a moment I wouldn't fight against you if it paid half as well."

Itachi was stunned. This boy had balls. He seemed to vomit the name 'imperial'.

If he lived, he would make a good recruit.

Itachi didn't even know where they were going this time, though. For all he knew, it was a drill assault for training. Only the general, Fugaku Uchiha, knew. Itachi's father was the special ops commander in chief, directly under the Fire Lord.

"Alright, go, go, GO!"

The doors of the beetle opened with a bang and within three seconds Itachi's twenty four man team was out of the tank, ready for anything.

Except what they faced.

Itachi only spared a moment to realize that the kid had disappeared.

The general, his father, stood before them. To their right and left other teams filed out of similar tanks, nearly two hundred soldiers and at least fifteen Beetles from the smaller mark I and II all the way up to the general's personal mark IV. It took only an instant for Itachi to take all this in. A moment later an order came over his head set.

"Captains, report."

With all his training, he was confused. His father and all of the tanks were facing just a small village on the edge of the great desert. A mining town with nothing special about it. A few rock buildings, a mine tunnel, and a few apartment style living quarters. Poverty that Itachi saw too often outside of the golden city.

Itachi and the rest of the captains appeared before the general. His father looked pleased, which could mean anything, but Itachi noticed why a moment later. His father now sported two stars n his uniform, an even higher ranking.

"I expect professionalism from all of you. This village has instigated a rebellion against the fire lord and refused to pay tribute. The lord has ordered an example made of this village. The order is complete eradication of life. The attack will commence in five minutes. Bombardment is in one hour, but that is only to demolish the town. By then all life should be gone."

"All life?"

"Men, women, children, elderly, animals, everything but the plant-life. That can be left for the bombardment."

Itachi had frozen in place. This couldn't be possible. It couldn't be happening. He was an imperial, trained to protect the citizens of the land of fire, not kill them!

"Fath… General. Surely the lord doesn't mean…"

"Silence! You will do what you have been ordered, captain."

Itachi frowned. This isn't right. His father didn't seem to care that what he was doing was against everything they swore an oath to. Against Itachi's moral code. He sprinted back to his team. They were instantly alert. He had trained them all, and they were the best. A few new recruits near the back weren't quite up to his standards, but he had hoped for more time…

"Orders, sir."

Itachi froze. What should he do? Relaying the wrong orders, or even not relaying them at all, meant court martial and possibly death. But before Itachi had to do anything, a voice spoke up from behind him.

"Your orders are imperial standard. Kill everything, leaving nothing alive. That's what you imperials do best, right?"

Itachi and his team turned to see the young boy flipping a knife while leaning against the side of the tank. No one spoke, Itachi because he was stunned, his team due to their training.

"I heard the orders, and I've heard the tale of this town. The fire lord wanted seventy percent of this town's exports, which would starve the village to death. They refused. They don't even have weapons. The fire lord has ordered the entire town wiped off the map. Just like… but that doesn't matter. I guess this really is too much for me, 'captain' Uchiha. I quit."

The boy caught his knife one last time before walking away from the town.

"I have no part in this fight. Do your own slaughtering of the innocent."

As he left Itachi noticed him slap something onto the leg of the tank.

"Captain, is what he said true? Are we really going to kill innocent citizens?"

Itachi turned to see one of his newest recruits, a young girl of sixteen with brown hair in buns.

"Our orders are to… to eradicate…"

That's what you imperials do best, right?

"No. Those are our orders from the general. But my orders are different. I want to know, who will you follow? Me, or the general? If you follow the general, then join with another team immediately."

No one left.

"We will all likely be court-martialed for this. I thank you anyway. Team one, sabotage all of the tanks. Teams two and three, evacuate the citizens. Head towards the desert, chances are you can reach the hidden village everyone talks about if you leave your uniform and join the refugees. They might hate imperials, but word has it that they don't kill on sight. Team one, follow them as rear guard when your job is done. Team four, you're with me. We're going to trap the entrances to the town. There is no time to talk, use your judgment,, GO!"

His team vanished. They were good, but they needed time.

With him were a few of his fastest soldiers, and he sent them ahead to begin. Itachi was now all alone. Alone and damned.

Just then, the leg of his tank exploded.

"You actually did that?"

Naruto was impressed. He had heard tales about how the town had fought back and destroyed a sizable portion of the attacking force, but thought it was propaganda against them. He had a whole new respect for the man holding him prisoner now.

"Hai. You forced me to make a choice."

"You made the right one, but I am surprised to see you alive."

Itachi sighed and frowned. He himself had been a bit surprised when the punishment given by the court had been less then death. It wasn't even a dishonorable discharge. Just demotion.

To emissary to the land of lightning.

"That doesn't matter right now."

"You're right. What really matters is what you do now. Treason has no forgiveness, and if you let me go that is exactly what you will be committing. Yet here you are, without any other imperials, after saving my life, and keeping me from doing my job."

Itachi smiled. The young man in front of him was inpatient as ever, and strong. Itachi had thrown the first kunai at the River Guardian, but Naruto had obliterated it completely. And his abilities, those advanced jutsu, resembled those of the new head of the elites, Orochimaru. Itachi himself had been trained in ninja arts by his father and a little by Orochimaru, but mainly that was chakra control exercises and controlling his bloodline.

"I owe you a great debt, Naruto. I will see it paid. As for your health, I am sure that even you can tell that you are not in peak condition. That blast injured you, and while I can see you heal quickly after waking up so soon, your body can't take infinite damage. We will wait here one more day, and leave in the morning."

"Wait a minute, did you just say 'we'?"

"Of course. Treason has no forgiveness, at least the second time for me. Your actions saved me from committing the worst atrocity I would have ever witnessed. I have no love for the fire lord, and wish to see him replaced as soon as possible. This one is vicious and is set on expansion at the cost of his people. I spied on your little group. You wish to fight against him, and so shall I."

At this, Itachi stood up and walked to the door, leaving a stunned Naruto.

"I have the hover sleds, your friends left them to look for your body. They will likely head for the capital city. Right after your explosive exit from the village, that unit received an emergency call back to Kumogakure. It is probably under attack from imperial forces as we speak."

"What? They think I'm dead? And the city is under…"

"If you want to go, then heal. We leave at first light anyway, so be prepared."

Hinata walked among the villagers in silence. None of them bothered her, and she thanked them for that. Her mind stayed fixated on one thing and one thing only. Even marching through the Cloud Passages, the main tourist attraction of the land where the roads were made among a unmoving cloud formation that was so thick one could grab the cloud and hold it in their hands, couldn't take her mind away from the upper river and the dam.

Shino marched in the lead, setting a quick pace. He knew that if the capital was under attack, it was only a matter of time before the lord would give in. Not from cowardice, of course. The Lord of Lightning was a kind ruler, and as soon as imperials found this out and took hostages… the lord would not hold out for long. Time was of the essence. Every so often he glanced back at the young woman he had just met that day. She walked as quick as any of his men, but her head was down and he could tell why.

He couldn't see how anyone could ever manage to enjoy the company of the blond haired man, but apparently she did. Shino had to admit that around the girl, Naruto Uzumaki had acted much differently then Shino had ever seen him act, or suspect he was capable of acting. Uzumaki had actually cared about that girl's life. And she cared a lot about his, more then Shino thought was usual of an employer/employee relationship. His death was taking her hard, but she went on. Shino admired that strength.

"Shino! Shino!"

Shino spun to the front. They were only a few miles from the city, and it should have come into view over the next hill. Running down it were two men he had sent ahead as scouts.

"Shino! The city! It's on fire!"

"And a tank, an imperial tank is blocking the road with about twenty imperials with it!"

Instantly everyone in their makeshift army sprinted to the top of the hill. The sight that they took in was not one of their beloved capital shining in the moonlight. It was of buildings, broken and burning, with the air filled not with the beautiful clouds of Kumo, but with black smoke. The sounds of explosions and weapon discharges echoed from the city to their overlook. The skies also contained troop carriers of the imperials. Airships each capable of holding hundreds of troops, over a dozen tanks, and capable of providing air support. Below them, at the entrance gate to the capital, was a Iron Beetle Mark II, one of the oldest tanks in service to the empire. Shino was grateful for that, but knew that it was still going to be a problem. It had energy cannons still, cannons capable of turning his army of men with pitchforks and a few projectile weapons into nothing more then ash.

"Shino, I can take the tank. Hold the men back until…"

Shino had only just managed to recognize the voice of the speaker as Hinata when the tank he was watching, still over a quarter mile away, rotated its cannons in their direction. And fired.

A massive explosion blew the top of the hill away, along with a few of his men.

"Everyone get back, behind the hill!"

Not wanting to be the next targets, his men listened and obeyed. Then three men caught in the explosion were lucky, they had just had the wind knocked out of them. Shino took a quick check for everyone.

Hinata was gone.

Hinata's wings were out as she pumped chakra into her legs. The tank and its guard were still too far away. She was at the bottom of the hill, running full speed towards the tank.

400 meters.

This is just like training. I can do this.

A simple tank, coated in gold-bronze alloy, it slightly resembled the animal it was named after. A long body with six legs, each leg ending in a wide foot. Its front tapered down to look like the front of a chisel, while the back was thicker to allow for transporting troops. It was slow, pondering, and worthless except on hard, flat, ground. But that wasn't an issue here. It was on flat, hard ground. And it also held one of the strongest weapons in all the nations. The cannon. It fired energy through some science Hinata was not familiar with. Off either side of the nose of the tank were cannons capable of blowing her apart with one blow. Hinata watched the twin energy cannons of the tank rotate from the hill top to draw a bead on her.

300 meters.

Still too far, I need to get closer.

She had only a moment to get out of the way of an exceptional gunners targeting reticule as she saw energy gather for only an instant at the end of the cannon's barrels.

She jumped.

Her wings gave her that extra boost she had needed. She was lucky. The ground she had been about to run on exploded beneath her, sending her flying out of control. She barely managed a rolling landing.

That… was too close.

She was up and running instantly. The one good thing about energy weapons, like those used by imperials, was they took much longer to fire then other weapons. One shot every four seconds for hand weapons, more time was needed for the larger ones.

200 meters.

Hinata could see the men around the tank pointing at her and getting in firing positions. Most lay on the ground or took cover around the tank, but stayed careful of the tanks legs. There was no telling with the pilot of the tank would decide to move.

The cannons were following her every move. Hinata kept her eyes on the barrels.

100 meters.

Now I'm close enough.

Hinata planted her feet and stopped her charge moments before she saw the energy building at the end of the cannons.

And she began to spin.

Her whole plan required the gunner of the tank to aim directly at her, and not at the ground around her.

"Kaiten!"

Shino had crept back up to the top of the hill as soon as he had realized exactly what Hinata had been talking about. He watched from cover as she made it safely down the hill at incredible speeds and started across the field around the main road. He flinched as she barely missed the first shot. When she stopped running altogether, though, he stood up. She was going to die, he knew it, and if she did it would be as if he had failed. Who, or how he had failed he did not know. But inside his mind he knew that if Hinata died here he would never forgive himself.

"Charge!"

His men, loyal to the lord and naïve in the ways of war, obediently followed. The men, fifty some strong, poured over the hill sprinting at top speed. Shino extended his wings, as did anyone else in his small army that could, and he ran as fast as he could.

But he saw it would be too late.

The cannons were about to fire and Hinata wasn't moving. No… wait… she was…

Spinning?

"Kaiten!"

Shino watched as beams of light converged towards Hinata, who now was spinning in a blue ball of charka. One beam missed entirely, but the other scored a direct hit. The blue ball that was Hinata was sent tumbling along the ground back towards him. The beam, on the other hand, was returned to the sender.

Shino watched in fascination and joy as less then a second latter the Beetle was hit a glancing blow by its own attack. An explosion tore off two of the port side legs, toppling the tank to the side. The shrapnel ripped through the guards like they were butter, only a few were left to stand against the small wave of towns people.

Shino quickly approached where he had seen Hinata hit ground, only to find not her dead, broken body, but a conscious Hinata. Granted, she looked dazed and was barely sitting up, but that was infinitely better then dead. Shino ran over and knelt beside her to help her up.

"Hinata-san! Are you alright, is anything broken?"

"No…" Hinata shook her head and got to her feet, stumbled, then regained balance. "I should be ok. But remind me to never do that again. I think I've learned the limits of the Kaiten."

Shino sighed. It was no wonder Uzumaki died. This girl was trouble.

Shino quickly regrouped his men, who had set up a vague perimeter around the city gate, and equipped his men with the imperial weapons and who ever fit into the little undamaged body armor. Some he dressed completely in uniform and placed at the gate to offer his men a little more time. The imperials would soon know about his ragtag group, but every moment they had to prepare was one more moment his men weren't dying. His men hadn't slept all night, and they needed rest. Most of the guard would likely also be resting. No one attacked at night, especially the imperials. No one wanted to shoot a friend in the dark.

Hinata still seemed to be recovering as she sat against the city wall, shaking the dizziness out of her head. Shino wanted to go and talk to her, thank her for her bravery, but knew that it wasn't something she needed or probably wanted to hear. Her eyes hadn't changed. She still had the blond haired man on her mind.

Come first light, they would hopefully sneak into the city and get to the castle that was the home of the Lord of Lightning. Then… Shino had no clue what to do. But that as where it would come to a head. And he needed to be there to defend his home.

It must be morning by now.

Naruto opened his eyes and looked towards the window.

Still black.

Kuso!

He really was tempted to try his luck against the Spec Ops Ex-captain, but he knew that even if he won it would likely wound him more. And the Uchiha seemed willing to help…

Just on his time-table.

Naruto once again flexed his muscles. Up until a few hours ago he could still feel the effects of the electricity. His muscles would spasm and twitch as he flexed them. Now there was only a dull ache, nothing worse then he would get from running long distances or a tough day training.

Come on! I need to go. Hinata is likely in trouble, with her record, and only the Aburame is around to protect her!

Naruto sat up from the mat he had been given to rest on. No pain. He needed to go now! If Hinata was heading to an imperial occupied city he needed to be there to make sure she didn't get caught.

"Naruto."

Instantly, Naruto was on his feet. Itachi was behind him, wearing a cloak of black that covered all his features. He threw one to Naruto.

"Put it on. I can see you have recovered from the shock, amazingly quickly I might add."

"No more interesting then how you are able to see electrical damage to my body with those eyes of yours, Uchiha."

Naruto could barely see Itachi smile from under the hood of the cloak.

"True. You may call me Itachi, if you chose, Naruto. The hover sleds are right out back. We'll take the river straight towards the capital, but break off before reaching it." Naruto was already moving towards the door.

"Why break off? We want the quickest route."

"Hai, if you want to hit a few hundred imperial soldiers. We will break off so we can avoid the obvious guard around the river."

Naruto had reached one of the sleds and had thrown the black cloak over his clothing and his blond hair.

"Alright then, genius, what then?"

"Climb the wall, cause some damage, get between them and the lord."

Itachi was on his own sled ready to move. Naruto started his own which lifted into the air a few feet. Itachi was right behind him.

"Alright then, Itachi. I'll let you lead, but just this once."

"Agreed."

The morning would bring many more surprises.