"Sly, Sly!"
"What Bentley," the sleepy raccoon growled from under his fort of pillows and blankets.
"I've found Rajan." Silence descended in the safe house before there was a mad rush towards Bentley's computer: Naruto with his breakfast ramen, Murray with one of his weights, and Sly with his blanket and cup of coffee.
"Somehow he has managed to transform a long forgotten temple into the thriving center of his spice operation" Bentley muttered, staring at the monitor.
"So that's where the old tiger is holed up."
"Yes Naruto, in the middle of the jungle where our van cannot go."
"B-but my baby" Murray cried.
"Sorry big guy, we'll have to leave the van here where it's safe. At least we can continue to practice our tree climbing and tree jumping exercises," Sly answered.
"Oh joy" the turtle grumbled.
"Think of it as training to expand your chakra coils Bentley" Naruto smirked.
"Can't we just walk?"
"We'll avoid more trouble by tree jumping." The raccoon instructed.
"Fine" the turtle sighed.
"What else did you find out Bentley?"
"Rajan also has possession of the Clockwerk heart."
"With a pump that strong Rajan could increase spice production tenfold," exclaimed the raccoon.
"Good for Rajan, Not so much the rest of the world" Naruto grimaced.
"Hope he's not counting on that heart too much" Sly quipped. "Cause it's coming home with me."
"Then lets get going." The four melted away into the shadows of the jungle.
"Does it ever stop raining" Naruto moaned as the gang set up shop at their new hide out.
"Naruto stop complaining or I'll send you out for recon."
"Sorry Sly, but I need Naruto for another mission. Could you check out our location?"
"Sure thing Bentley" the raccoon nodded.
"Sly, see if you can sneak into the temple and take some recon photos, and try not to get hurt. I still haven't completed my training as a medic nin yet."
"Alright Bent, I'm on it." Slipping through the sewage drain behind the waterfall Sly entered the temple.
"Great Sly, you found the spice growing facility. Now from what I've learned of all herbs and spices all the expensive equipment would be high up, at the top of this room. That access tube should get you in a secluded area up there."
"Alright, I'll head to the top." By passing the unsuspecting guards with the tree climbing technique Sly easily made it to the access tube. "Time for some recon photos."
"It looks like half of the Clockwerk heart is being used to super irrigate the spice plants" Bentley mused.
"And Rajan has the other half on him at all times" Naruto pointed out.
"Well the crane controls over there is what keeping the first half of the heart suspended."
"Hey Bentley where does that entrance lead to" Sly asked.
"It's the only entrance to this level, although I can't figure out how to get in here from the temple's exterior. Bring those photos back to the safe house Sly. We really need to think about this one." After instructing the thief Bentley turned to the shinobi beside him.
"Naruto, Rajan is able to monitor all of our communications out here with that elephant driven satellite array."
"Elephants? I don't have to scare them, do I?"
"No, nothing so crude. I have a different plan. There is a reason that the local spice plants are illegal, eat too many and you'll go into a fit of uncontrolled rage."
"You want me, the jinchuriki of the most bloodthirsty of all demons to gather a plant that can induce a vicious bloodlust?"
"As long as you don't eat it you'll be fine Naruto. Just put the spice plants in the elephant's feed bag and…"
"He chows down, goes psychotic and bam! No more satellite array, except your forgetting one part Bentley."
"And what's that" Bentley asked, turning towards the fox.
"There will also be a flattened fox."
Rolling his eyes Bentley turned back to the monitor. "The spice plants grow at high elevations so you'll be doing plenty of tree climbing."
Nodding, Naruto scurried off, leaving the turtle behind. "Now onto my own assignment."
Hidden behind the armored truck Bentley prepped his senbon launcher.
"Bentley, are you sure you want to do this? I can do this instead."
"Sly your aim is horrible, even Naruto is better at senbon than you, and this needs to be precise."
"Then why can't Naruto swipe the plans?"
"Naruto is already on a job."
"You just didn't want to do anymore tree climbing, didn't you?" the silence over the binocucomm prominent.
"I'll take that as a yes."
"Sly quiet, I need to concentrate" the turtle hissed as Rajan entered the courtyard without the second half of the clockwork heart. "Hey Sly, why don't you go bug Rajan's office?"
"With what?"
" A rare Indian water bug."
"You want me to bug Rajan's office with a bug?"
"Yes Sly with a bug. Just make sure you keep the little guy happy so the guards don't swarm you."
I'll make sure he gets his swim time, just be careful Bentley."
"Yes, yes. Now go." Bentley hung up and lined his sights with the nape of his neck. "I hope this works," the turtle muttered. Senbon flew from the turtle's hand, piercing the tiger's neck and causing him to crumble.
"Step one complete" Bentley sighed as he checked Rajan's pulse or rather lack of pulse. "Interesting how the slightest pressure to certain nerves can affect the whole body." Bentley stashed the blueprints before initiating the second step of the plan. With a simple henge, Bentley transformed into one of the guards and carefully removed the senbon from the Jingbailao pressure point. Rajan's eyes snapped open with surprise as he struggled to his feet. The thief in disguise tried to help the tiger up but he pushed the turtle turned goat away. Finally standing Rajan searched his person, growing increasingly frantic.
"What? The blueprints? They have been stolen!" In a flurry of fear and adrenaline the tiger ran deeper into the woods leaving the helpful guard behind.
"Three sets of blueprints, great field work Bentley."
"I think I'm starting to get the hang of this" Bentley mused as he fiddled with the senbon launcher; that is until he accidently shot himself in the foot. "Yeowch!"
"I've got some bad news guys. Rajan has gone into hiding somewhere in the temple."
"Guess you spooked him Bentley" Naruto grinned at his friend.
"Indeed. However in order to get his part of the Clockwerk heart we'll need to drive him out into the open."
"Best bet would be to make him angry" Sly stated.
"Well we're good at that" Naruto replied as he sat down beside Murray.
"First we'll destroy the center of his operation, the spice grinder."
"Count me out Bentley. The very smell of those spices messes with my head."
"Very well Naruto. There are other jobs you could do. Secondly we need to destroy the dam above the palace in an attempt to flood him out."
"And if that doesn't work" Murray asked.
"I've made arrangements to exchange one of the temples rubies for some high explosives, higher then what our seals can do. This will flood the whole temple grotto. If my psychological profile of Rajan is correct Rajan will definitely pick up the second half of the Clockwerk heart before making his escape."
"Bringing it to us" Sly smirked with Naruto nodding in agreement.
Bentley snuck back to the armored truck as Sly kept watch over the binocucomm.
"So, have any ideas on how to draw Rajan out of hiding?"
"Normally tigers don't have an aversion to water" Bentley relayed.
"But Rajan does?"
"During his youth he strayed into the territory of an older, more sadistic tiger named El Jefe. Rajan spent about a month being tortured before being released."
"Tortured?"
"Waterboarding Sly." The raccoon hissed at that answer.
"And you want to destroy the dam and flood him out?"
"It's not the nicest thing Sly but Jiriya-sensei always taught us to use the enemy's weakness against then."
"Are your bombs even strong enough to destroy the dam?"
"No" Bentley replied. "Fortunately while monitoring the bug in Rajan's office I overheard that a new auto-pilot attack helicopter had just arrived, in fact its right inside this armored truck."
"Stay sharp, that dam is sure to be well protected."
Quickly Bentley released the helicopter and jumped into the gunner's seat. The propellers spun whipping the wind into frenzy as the chopper took off.
"All forces, defend the temple dam" Rajan cried out as several choppers homed in on the attack helicopter. Fire lit the skies as and metal rained from the heavens as choppers fell under Bentley's onslaught. But with each fallen chopper two more replaced them.
"I need some help here," Bentley screamed.
Sandaled paws beat against the ground as an orange blur dashed past the trees and scaled the temple side. Hand weaved through a series of seals as red chakra swirled around the fox. "Wind release: Beast Tearing Palm!" A wide chakra wave flew through the air, slicing easily through the choppers
"All clear Bentley."
"Thanks Naruto" Bentley grinned as he pounded away at the dam. "I'll meet you back at the safe house."
Naruto nodded disappearing before the dam burst.
"Nice shooting Bentley" Sly complimented. The dam exploded once more sending shards of stone flying. One pierced the rotor, jamming the propeller.
"I'm going down!" The chopper spun slamming into one of the temple towers, deeply lodging itself in the roof of the building.
"You okay Bentley?"
"Oooh… yes Sly, I'm fine. Just a little sore" Bentley muttered as he headed back to the safe house.
"Sly I need you to head to the room under the water wheel. That's where your next mission will begin."
"So" Sly drawled, picking the lock to the door. "What is the job?"
"According to Rajan's blueprints you're near the spice grinding facility. However, the passage is blocked by several laser fences."
"Lucky we have explosive seals." Sly smiled as the seals detonated. Slipping past the laser floors and spotlights Sly reached the spice grinder and its guards.
"What's next?"
"Rajan won't come out of hiding while spice is still being manufactured. If we destroy the grinder he'll be out of business and have no reason to stick around the temple."
"Great, we do the world a favor and Rajan is forced out into the open" Sly smirked as he activated his invisibility technique. Slipping past the guards Sly plastered the grinding wheel in seals. Leaping across the room Sly activated the seals, sending stone and metal and guards flying.
"What's going on down there" Rajan growled over the intercom. "It looks like spice production has fallen behind. Wait… its completely stopped!"
"Hey Sly I'm going to flinch a few things from the temple, give us some extra cash in case of emergencies."
"You want me to help Naruto" Sly asked as he slipped past the water wheel.
"Nah I'll be fine, you go back to the safe house okay?"
"Alright, I'll see you later"
"See ya" Naruto replied as the binocucomm went silent. Stealthy the fox prowled the grotto unaware of a shadow stalking him.
"Uzumaki, we meet again." Naruto spun throwing a kunai at the target, only for the weapon to be caught between the fingers of a purple tigress.
"Constable Neyla, sorry about that."
"I'm use to it" the tigress shrugged handing the weapon back. "My sensei used to use these."
"Your precious person?"
"One of them" the tigress muttered looking away.
"Hey Neyla, its alright. Your precious person will be fine."
"Naruto, I once failed my sensei and he died. I don't want to fail this person either, he's all I have left."
"He's the reason you're no longer alone," Naruto stated.
"He's the reason I have a purpose again," Neyla corrected. "Without a purpose I would be no better than a living doll, a waste of space."
"Neyla…"
"Anyway" Neyla interrupted. "I've learned of a secret entrance leading to half of the Clockwerk heart. Legally I can't enter the premises without a warrant… but now a thief like you…"
"Can go wherever he pleases" Naruto continued, dropping the previous subject.
"Just don't fall behind Uzumaki."
"Call me Naruto" the fox grinned. Two shadows sprinted through the temple grounds, leaping from ledges and running across vines. The lengthy chase led to a hidden door cleverly covered by tree roots.
"If push comes to shove I never showed you this door" Neyla stated, turning away.
"Promise, and I never break my promises. That's my nindo."
Neyla paused, glancing back.
"You will become a strong shinobi," the tigress stated before disappearing.
"Yeah that's… wait a minute. How did she know I was a shinobi?" Shaking his head Naruto slipped through the door.
"There it is… just like Neyla said."
"In order to lower the clockwork heart you'll need access to that control box" Bentley instructed.
"Too bad I'm not good at lock picking yet," Naruto muttered.
"I'm sure the guards won't mind if you borrow their keys Naruto."
Using his karambit knives Naruto slit the guards pockets, collecting the coins and keys before taking out the guards.
"Now to get that heart." Two locks later the crane let the heart drop.
"That's it, half the Clockwerk heart. The spice won't be growing around here any time soon. Naruto, head up to the top of the palace and loosen the ruby, we'll need it."
"What for?" Naruto asked as he sealed away the heart.
"We've been contracted to acquire that huge ruby of Rajan's for a local crime ring. In exchange they'll set us up with a Cherry Bomb 500 for the heist."
"A Cherry Bomb 500! That's a lot of kick" Sly exclaimed.
"Exactly how much blast is this going to be" Naruto asked.
"Do you recall the blast radius you made when you fell into your four tailed state?"
"Yes" Naruto trailed off as he stood in front of the great ruby.
"Roughly about that."
"And you want to place seals on this explosive that will triple its blast?"
"Trust me… we'll need it. Try prying that ruby from its moorings, and be careful."
"I'm on it." Sighing Naruto as he pried the clamps loose only to watch the ruby tumble down and land on the temple's main staircase. "Oops."
"I'll send Murray to get it."
"I can get it."
"By all means" Bentley said, motioning to the jewel. Naruto leapt down and struggled to lift it.
"You've got it?"
"I… almost… got. Ye-ouch!" The ruby slipped from the fox's fingers and landed on his tail.
"I'll send Murray over" Bentley winced as Naruto tried to pull his tail out without success. "Murray your up. Naruto's knocked the ruby loose and is now trapped under it. We need your muscle to get it off Naruto and to the buyers."
"Muscle in the way!" Sprinting across the grotto, Murray reached the jewel and the trapped comrade.
"Fear not, I'll lift this ruby and free you from your prison."
"Thanks" Naruto winced as Murray easily lifted the gem.
"Naruto lead Murray to our rendezvous near the waterfall and keep the guards off him."
Fox and hippo crossed the distance, rushing towards the waterfall where one of the crime ring members waited.
"This ruby is near flawless," the female hissed. "I'll recommend to my superiors that we purchase it. Take it to our buyer and complete the contract." The women directed before melting back into the jungle.
"Come on Murray, I've got the coordinates."
"On it!" Both Cooper members slipped through the grotto without much fuss.
"I must say the Cooper Gang certainly lives up to its reputation" the buyer complimented. "This is a true Indian treasure. We will honor the bargain and provide a Cherry Bomb 500 at the time the turtle requested." With a wave of his hand two more hooded members dropped down and collected the ruby.
"Great job Murray, lets head back to the safe house" Naruto smiled, before racing his friend back to the safe house.
"Good your back" Bentley said as the two walked through the door. "Naruto come over here and get your tail fixed."
"No need Bentley, the fur ball already fixed it" Naruto stated as Bentley scanned his tail.
"Indeed, then we can move on to the operation."
"So what's the plan" Sly asked, plopping down between hippo and fox.
"Since partial flooding did not work its time to go the distance. Blowing up the temple's elephant mouth should turn this grotto into a swimming pool. I'll cover Murray with the attack chopper's gun turret while he pries the mouth open. Once that's done Sly needs to move the Cherry Bomb 500 into the throat. Naruto the seal must be applied immediately before detonation. Jiraiya-sensei has been teaching both of us seals so you need to apply them quickly but carefully. After that all three of you get to high ground as fast as possible. Rajan is sure to show up and be extra angry. Jump him, snag the Clockwerk heart and were out of here."
"Sounds good Bentley."
"Lets head out to the turret Murray" the turtle instructed, exiting the safe house.
"Alright, I'll set up shop here and provide cover fire while you try to pry open the mouth of that elephant for the others."
Saluting the turtle, Murray dashed toward the elephant's mouth. "This looks easy." Rubbing his hands together, Murray grasped at the lever.
"Alert the temple is under assault, put down this attack" Rajan growled.
"Are they crazy" Bentley hissed. "They're raining down napalm I have to destroy it before any reaches Murray." Gunshots filled the skies as the balloons of napalm were eradicated.
"And the skies are clear. Sly get that Cherry Bomb 500 down the throat."
"Already done Bentley, just waiting on Naruto."
"Hurry… up" Murray grunted. "This things… heavy."
"Just putting the final touches on it." With one last stroke the seal started to glow a bright red. Naruto spun around bypassing his brothers and the shortening fuse.
"Run for it!"
The explosion rocketed the fleeing trio to the edge of the palace balcony while the sudden rush of water flooded the grottos below. Hissing, Rajan leaped from the palace doors to the roof furiously taking in his ruined empire. The lightning above rumbled ominously.
"My spice temple, ruined! I will not hide while you villains destroy my hard won empire. This place is mine" Rajan snarled. "Here I am king! Come face me Cooper. With Clockwerks black heart I will show you true power. You are nothing, come face the mighty Rajan, lord of these hills!"
With Clockwerks heart, Rajan's miniscule chakra coils burst with power, enough to summon and direct bolts of lightning.
"Boy, when we try to tick someone off we really do the job" Sly boasted.
"Ready Sly?"
"Ready Naruto." The two spired jumped towards the tiger, dodging bolt after bolt.
"You are nothing," Rajan shouted, throwing a strong bolt of lightning towards the fox.
"Naruto!" Sly watched as the boy fell to the pit below. Snarling he turned towards the Spice Lord. But even he was blasted into the pit. With bloodlust in his eyes, Rajan leaped down stalking his prey.
"I'm coming guys!" Murray slugged Rajan before heading over to his friends. Pride stinging, Rajan manipulated the lightning into a fence, separating Murray from the others.
"This is it? This is the Cooper Gang I've heard so much about and feared these long hours?"
"The Murray will renew your fear," The hippo growled.
"Who's the Murray? All I see is a fat pathetic weakling"
"Uh oh" Naruto muttered as he stirred. A murderous look crossed Murray's face and an aura of death enveloped his being.
"What did you call me?"
Rajan shivered at the waves of killing intent but held his ground. "A fat pathetic weak-urk!" A diamond fist slammed into Rajan's sternum, sending the tiger flying through his own electric fences and embedded at least half a foot deep into the pit wall. A small groaned escaped the hole before the electric fences flickered and died.
"I am not fat, I'm just big-boned."
"He acts just like an Akamichi" Naruto groaned.
"Naruto, you okay?"
"Yeah, the fur ball is just ranting again." Suddenly a senbon needle shot through the air, embedding itself in Murray's neck.
"Murray!" The hippo toppled over as Naruto looked around for help and spotting a familiar tigress standing above the pit.
"Neyla help, the guys are injured."
"Sorry Naruto but I can't."
Naruto stared in confusion at the tigress.
"Once, in another lifetime, I told you we could have been friends. I guess fate was too cruel to even allow that," Neyla sighed, a senbon of ice forming in her hands.
"Haku" Naruto whispered before the world faded to black.