Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, but i do own my OC and any original jutsu i decide to create.
Izo waited patiently for Kurotsuchi to charge at him, probably in some form of female fury that many regarded as highly dangerous. He could understand her hesitance though; having a dislocated shoulder was a definite handicap in a fight with someone whom you didn't know what was capable of. Unfortunately, or rather fortunately for his opponent, Izo couldn't simply charge at her either. As it was, both of them had used too much chakra just to survive the fall, and both of them were suffering with the effects of that.
Kurotsuchi was noticeably having trouble breathing, more than likely due to some internal injury she had sustained in the fall; that would also have explained the small amount of blood that had dribbled down her chin. Her arm being dislocated was also glaringly obvious, as was the drastic drop in her chakra reserves. In her current condition, Izo estimated that she would put up about as much of a fight as Sakura. Then again, the Iwa kunoichi might manage to pull of some miraculous stunt and get the drop on him.
Izo winced slightly and gripped his left arm tightly to stop it from twitching. This did nothing to stop his arms from shaking slightly as he tried to calm himself down; Kurotsuchi smirking at his apparent discomfort was not helping him in this ordeal. He grit his teeth as the burning sensation worked its way down his arm before pulsing back up into his chest. This was not something he felt like dealing with at this particular time and he really didn't want to just kill Kurotsuchi; he was still hoping that the situation could be salvaged…somehow.
"What's the matter, nervous?" the girl asked smugly. She tried not to show it, but she was desperately hoping that he had exhausted himself trying to survive the fall. Kurotsuchi knew that she wouldn't be able to fight someone on his level in the way she was, not unless he was more injured than she was.
"Nervous? Hah! Very funny Kuro-Chan. No, I'm not nervous, but I am having a little bit more trouble than I expected. You really surprised me when you set off the explosives; didn't take you for the suicidal type" Izo chuckled. "Then again, I didn't expect you to answer my questions so honestly either, considering that the paralysis seal had worn off shortly after I entered that room. Why exactly did you give away so much information, if you don't mind me asking?"
Kurotsuchi glared at him. "I might be loyal to my village, and I might agree that having another Bijuu in our possession would be best…but I will not condone the torture, brainwashing, or death of a child just so my village can win a pissing contest. It was the Iwa council that wanted your jinchuuriki, and the only reason my grandfather agreed to it was to shut them up. He didn't account for the fact that the Hokage would actually send the jinchuuriki," she explained angrily.
Izo quirked an eyebrow. "Why are you angry at us? You just said that it was all a scheme to get your hands on another jinchuuriki. If anything, I should be angry at you for planning to kidnap my brother," the blindfolded boy said irritably.
"I'm angry because you idiots actually sent your damn jinchuuriki here, even when you had more than enough reasons to think it was a trap. What the hell was the Hokage thinking? Had you just sent some grunts instead, we could have easily disregarded our mission entirely and run off with no war scale repercussions. But ohhh no, you guys had to be idiots. And now I'm stuck here fighting a freak of nature in hopes that I can still complete part of my mission" Kurotsuchi ranted loudly.
"Hey, I am not a freak of nature. I started off as a clone before slowly climbing the ladder out of the realm of normal. I do not even exist in natures schematics!" Izo exclaimed childishly before bursting into a maniacal cackle.
Kurotsuchi took a step back from the boy with a concerned expression. She had been noticing that his arms had progressively been twitching more and more as they talked, but his mad cackle and the disturbingly vicious grin that had suddenly plastered itself on his face was unnerving her more than anything else had.
"Are you ok?" she asked apprehensively.
"Ahahahahehehe! Nope, but that's even better!" he yelled madly before looking at her and tilting his head curiously. "You tried to kill me" he said darkly, his voice sounding much deeper and more menacing than his earlier high pitched mad scientist like tone.
An evil and ominous aura started to surround Izo as his fingers started to twitch uncontrollably. Kurotsuchi felt sick, the boy's presence was unlike anything she had felt before. She had experienced killing intent from her grandfather, and although that had scared her shitless, it wasn't in any way similar to this. Izo's mere presence, not even his killing intent, just his presence, was making her want to throw up until she died. It was a disgusting and sickening sensation that sent an uncomfortable chill down her spine.
She chuckled nervously as she stepped further away from the clearly insane boy. "It's ok, I'll just leave now," she said quickly.
"No, I think not" Izo said sharply as his chakra spiked to terrifying levels, the ground around him cracking slightly under the sudden pressure and the temperature dropping several degrees.
Kurotsuchi watched with wide fearful eyes as a long kunai flew down from seemingly nowhere and embedded itself directly in front of Izo. In a flash of red, a new and far more powerful presence simply appeared out of thin air and collided with the blindfolded boy. Izo was thrown back several feet before another flash of red appeared above him in mid-air and forced him into the ground. The older boys sickening presence disappeared quickly after that, but it was merely replaced by an even more overwhelming aura of pure anger and malice.
Naruto sighed as he stood up from a now unconscious Izo, a paper sealing tag stuck to the older boy's forehead. "You really shouldn't show off, you idiot" he mumbled irritably. He shook his head and took a deep breath, calming himself and drawing the Kyuubi's chakra back within himself, his crimson red eyes fading back to blue. It wouldn't bode well if he became a beacon for potential enemies in the area, and with Izo now out for a few hours they had lost a very large portion of their fighting power.
The masked blonde turned around and saw that Kurotsuchi was still standing where she had been, not moving a single muscle as she stared at him worryingly. A small smirk tugged at his lips from behind the fox styled ANBU mask; it was always somewhat amusing that the Kyuubi's chakra made people react that way, even when it was being completely filtered through his own reserves. No matter how hard he tried, the malicious nature of the Bijuu's chakra could never be taken away from the power. On the bright side, it didn't corrupt him in any way until he hit three tails, which was a definite plus in his books.
Unfortunately, the girl had tried to kill Izo, or at least that's what Naruto assumed since she was the only one still alive aside from the older boy. Then there was also the fact that she had not only witnessed him use the Hiraishin, even if it wasn't yellow, but also most likely now knew that he was the jinchuuriki. It was foolish to think she wouldn't be able to put the pieces together and come to an unsettling conclusion that had the potential to start a war between the villages. These facts, sadly, meant that Naruto would probably have to kill her to keep her silent.
Kana and Anko quickly landed next to him, the latter of the two moving to check on Izo much to the still conscious Uzumaki's confusion. The eldest of the group decided to overlook the action for the meantime, making a point to bring it back up for possible blackmail material at a later date. She turned to stare blankly at Kurotsuchi before turning questioningly to Naruto who had one of his Hiraishin kunai gripped in his hand, obviously ready for the girl to make a run for it.
"Did she see it?" Kana asked seriously.
Naruto nodded. "She saw, and she also knows what I am. Considering that Izo's mask isn't on him, I'd think it's safe to say she would be able to point him out to Iwa; I'm fairly certain that he was showing off too, so leaving her with that information would not be advisable" he explained emotionlessly.
The oldest Uzumaki nodded in understanding, not at all confused by the way that Naruto was talking. It was actually much safer for him to act and speak emotionlessly while working as a ROOT member since it was such the polar opposite of his normal persona; it would be much harder to try and connect an emotionless ANBU to a hyperactive genin, even with the bright blonde hair. Izo, however, was more or less compromised now, even if the boy didn't care about it, and that was not something that Kana felt comfortable in leaving as was.
She turned back to Kurotsuchi and placed a hand on the hilt of her sword, just in case. "Who are you?" she asked calmly.
Kurotsuchi mentally cursed herself for not running away when she had a chance. She definitely couldn't outrun two perfectly healthy ANBU and a jonin; not to mention the short blonde one had used a technique that was disturbingly similar to the famed Hiraishin. The black haired girl wouldn't go so far as to make bold assumptions from that alone, but it did raise some questions and unnerve her. From what they were saying, she could tell that the blonde was most definitely the jinchuuriki, no doubt about it, and that they were willing to kill her to keep that a secret.
"I'm Kurotsuchi, of the Kamizuru clan, and granddaughter of the Sandaime Tsuchikage," she answered honestly. If she was lucky, the Konoha shinobi would think twice about killing her considering who she was.
"Wait, you mean you're Ōnoki's granddaughter? Damn, what are we gunna do now?" Anko said worriedly. She really didn't want this mission to be the end of her and she really doubted that Danzō would give her a second chance. That old cripple was painfully strict when it came to candidates.
"Calm down Anko. Nothing bad is going to happen, isn't that right Kurotsuchi-San?" Naruto said sternly.
Kurotsuchi chuckled nervously. "Yeah, sure. If you guys just let me go I won't hold a grudge"
Kana shook her head. "I'm sorry, but we cannot just let you leave here now that you are aware of which one of us is the jinchuuriki. You will be coming with us, back to Konoha, where the Hokage will decide what will be done with you"
"What! You can't do that!" the Iwa kunoichi exclaimed angrily.
Naruto and Kana instantly drew their swords and fell into their respective Kenjutsu stances. "You will come with us peacefully or we will use force. If you resist, we will be forced to kill you, and that is not something that we would like to do. Hopefully, with you meeting the Hokage, this situation can be salvaged peacefully. After all, peace between our villages would be beneficial," Kana explained, leaving no room for argument.
"This meeting wasn't even about peace! The Iwa council just wanted us to capture the jinchuuriki; peace talks were not something we were even planning on. Taking me with you will do neither of us any good. At most, this will just anger Iwa more and possibly start another war," Kurotsuchi yelled in frustration.
"Surely Ōnoki will be reasonable when it comes to the safety of his granddaughter. I don't think even he will risk a war over a such a trivial matter, especially once Izo wakes up and explains why you're still alive. I don't want to sound too hopeful, but he usually kills anyone and everyone that would drop a tower on his head; therefore, you must have given him good reason to leave you alive, if only by chance" Naruto said dryly.
The girls pink eyes narrowed at the blonde. Izo was far better company than these ones, even though she would never admit it. At least that guy had a personality. But now she was stuck dealing with an emotionless jinchuuriki, whom she wasn't entirely sure how powerful was, and some strict ANBU woman that seemed to be in control of aforementioned jinchuuriki. Kurotsuchi hadn't been able to pick up much from the one named Anko, but the fact that she was on this mission with them obvious said something about her skill.
Kurotsuchi gritted her teeth and glared down at the ground. Her grandfather was going to break his back just screaming at her once he learnt about what happened. It wasn't as if she had much of an option though, and she doubted her chances of getting all the way back to Iwa in her condition. She slowly went to look up at her soon to be captors, only for her eyes to widen slightly. Right there, at their feet, were several of the explosives that that lunatic from the explosions corps had set up around that room. Kurotsuchi couldn't believe her luck.
All she would have to do is flare her chakra slightly and boom, run as fast and far as she could while they were busy picking their pieces up. It was a little brutal to kill them in such a way, and it wouldn't surprise her if the jinchuuriki somehow survived it, but she really didn't want to get dragged to Konoha. Even if she was given back to Iwa as a peace offering, the council would throw a hissy fit over it for months. Ōnoki would not appreciate her causing him even more problems than he already had. Kurotsuchi shivered at the thought of being demoted back to genin; dying was definitely a better option if that was the case.
Before Naruto or Kana could react, Kurotsuchi raised her still useable arm into a half snake seal and flared her chakra to the Iwa standard level set for explosives. She smirked cruelly as she waited for the bombs to do their thing and give her a chance to escape, but after a few seconds of nothing she began to get nervous. She watched with narrowed eyes as the blonde kid leant down and picked up one of the small exploding tags at his feet.
"I hoped you would be above such tactics," he said dryly as the air around the small scrap of paper wavered slightly before turning into a small piece of rubble. "If you try something like that again, we will kill you. Surrender while we're giving you the chance"
Kurotsuchi glared at him defiantly. She was going to make her capture as painful as she could for them, even if she had to reduce herself to being a loud whiny bitch. They would not get out of this without some form of regret and mental torment. She sighed in defeat as she let her arm drop to her side, hanging her head in submission.
Kana nodded as she sheathed her sword and turned to Anko, who had moved Izo into a more comfortable position amongst the rubble. "Anko, you're in charge of the prisoner. Bind her hands and start heading back to Konoha. Should she try anything stupid, stick with a paralysis poison and carry her. Do not cause her any unnecessary harm; we don't need the Tsuchikage throwing a fit" the older woman ordered calmly.
Anko groaned in mild protest as she walked towards Kurotsuchi. She wanted to be the one to carry Izo, if only for the chance of freaking him out once he woke up. Being stuck escorting an Iwa brat was not something she would classify as a good thing. But she would do as she was told though, and she wouldn't dare let her more sadistic tendencies get the better of her when it came to the girl; torturing the granddaughter of a Kage was one sure fire way to get one's head caved in, or worse considering she was kunoichi.
The snake mistress sauntered over to the Iwa kunoichi and carefully went to tie her hands behind her back only to stop suddenly and frown. "I'll need to put your shoulder back into place before we get moving, so I suggest you get ready. This is going to hurt," she said casually.
Kurotsuchi nodded in understanding and clenched her eyes tightly. Anko shrugged and grabbed the girls arm roughly before quickly jarring it back into place eliciting a pained whimper from her. The purple haired woman quickly tied Kurotsuchi's hands behind her back, making sure to tie her fingers together so she couldn't make any hand seals.
"Not bad brat. I've known full grown men that scream like little girls after less pain than that, so you have my respect…for now," Anko said cheerfully. "Do you have enough chakra left to climb back up by yourself, or do I need to carry you?" she asked.
The black haired girl growled quietly. "I'll be fine by myself" she replied through gritted teeth.
"Good girl. Now start moving," Anko ordered, pointing to side of the ravine that they had walked down.
Naruto watched as Anko and Kurotsuchi leapt off towards the cliff face before turning back to Kana. Said woman was staring at Izo curiously and nudging him slightly with her foot. "How long do you think he'll be out this time?" she asked casually.
The blonde shrugged. "No idea. I managed to stick the tag on him before he completely lost it, but I honestly can't time these things anymore. His episodes are getting much easier to trigger though, and I'm not sure how much longer he can keep this up. No doubt the old man will put us on lockdown in terms of ANBU missions, but I suppose that's just one benefit of being a genin," he said tiredly.
Kana giggled quietly. "I guess you're still unhappy about being teamed up with Sasuke," she said in amusement. "Don't worry; I'm sure the Hokage will figure something out. Either that or the council will complain enough to get the teams reassigned. Having a genin team with four genin total is not exactly something that will go down well if you attempt the upcoming chunin exams"
"If?" Naruto asked sceptically. "The council will all but demand that the Uchiha participate in the exams to showcase the power of Konoha. Those shrivelled bastards are probably trying to figure out how to get Sasuke trained exclusively by Kakashi-sensei as we speak" the blonde ranted irritably.
"So, what exactly do you think was up with that girl? Izo doesn't leave people alive on a whim," Kana said in concern.
"I…don't know. But knowing Izo, he'll probably say it was just because she was cute, or something along those lines anyway. Either way, it works out for us in the long run; could you imagine the shit storm that her death would cause? At least this way we can use her to make some kind of deal with Iwa, Kami knows we'll need it for when my real identity gets out" the blonde said exhaustedly.
"Do you really think Iwa will react that badly? As you said, surely Ōnoki will be reasonable," she said with a raised eyebrow.
"I said he would be reasonable when it concerned his granddaughter. The son of the yellow flash, who is the equivalent of the Shinigami in Iwa, not so much. It wouldn't surprise me if he came to take my head as a trophy with his own two hands!" the young jinchuuriki exclaimed.
"You're so pessimistic Naru-Chan. Now grab a leg and start dragging" Kana said cheerfully as she reached down and grabbed one of Izo's legs.
"Don't you mean carry?" Naruto asked curiously.
Kana shook her head enthusiastically. "Nope, I meant drag. He deserves it," she said in a disturbingly sweet tone.
Naruto shrugged nonchalantly. Who was he to argue with the woman?
When Izo woke up, he felt like he had fallen down a ravine inside a stone death trap. 'Oh wait, that did happen. When the hell did I black out though?" he thought in confusion.
"Hey dumbass, you awake yet?" Naruto asked a little too loudly for Izo's liking.
Said blindfolded boy groaned in pain. "Naruto, I swear if I have to reteach you how to speak at a normal volume, I will personally drop you into the kunoichi bath house," he drawled.
"Whoa! That sounds like a serious threat there," Anko said with a chuckle.
"It is a serious threat. Remember the incident three years ago?" Kana asked in amusement.
Anko turned to stare at Izo with wide eyes. "That was you!" she yelled disbelievingly.
"Aaagh, stop speaking so loud. If I have to tie you and the blonde brat together in just your underwear, I'll make sure that everyone, and I do mean everyone, gets a free copy of the pictures delivered to their house" Izo threatened as he rolled over and tried to snuggle closer into the dirt.
"Big talk coming from a blind kid" Anko countered with a smirk before she noticed that Naruto was deathly pale. "What's up with you blondie?"
"You have my sympathy Anko," he muttered fearfully.
"Mine as well" Kana added idly.
Anko stared at the two of them curiously. "What the hell are you guys talking about?" she asked.
Neither of the Uzumaki's replied and so the snake user shrugged it off as them trying to play her for a fool or something, but she froze when she turned back to look as Izo. The boy was now sitting up straight and staring at her with a creepy and malicious grin which was only further enhanced by the flickering light of the nearby fire. She was slightly curious about why the kid had seemingly filed his teeth into points, but she couldn't deny the effectiveness of them in the intimidation factor.
"I accept the challenge," Izo said cheerfully, freaking out the purple haired woman even more and confusing her as well.
Izo decided to use this moment of confusion to observe his new surroundings. It seemed that they had long since left the ravine and had started heading back to Konoha; judging from the trees that surrounded them, he guessed that they had at least made it back into fire country. The team was currently in a small clearing with a small fire burning in the centre of it, with him and Anko sitting together on one side, and Naruto and Kana relaxing on the other side. Kurotsuchi was tied to a tree at the edge of the clearing.
"Um, why is Kuro-Chan here?" he asked curiously.
"Hah, told you he thought she was cute!" Naruto exclaimed.
Anko grumbled some choice curses and threw a small roll of ryō to the blonde boy who snatched it out of the air in a much too happy fashion before quickly starting to count it. The snake mistress turned and glared at Izo hatefully. "You owe me, brat," she growled.
"What the hell are you talking about? I only just woke up!" the ash haired boy exclaimed indignantly before pausing suddenly. "Uh…why exactly did I just wake up? Did something happen?"
"You had another episode," Naruto answered blandly.
Izo chuckled and scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "I didn't…hurt Kuro-Chan did I?" he asked hesitantly.
Naruto sighed. "No, you didn't hurt her. I got to you just as you were about to completely lose it and stuck you with one of those sealing tags you made. However, you really need to stop straining yourself like that Izo; showing off or not, we can't afford to constantly keep an eye on you. At least one of us has to stay in control of themselves at all times, and you know damn well that it can't be me, for obvious reasons," the blonde explained.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. But at least this time I had an excuse; I mean, the girl did drop several hundred tons of stone down on top of my head" Izo defended.
"Speaking of the girl. Why exactly is she still alive? We found three others amongst the rubble that had been dead for some time, and one other who was crushed to death, probably your handy work if I were to hazard a guess. But you left Kurotsuchi alive, even after she brought the trap down on you. Why?" Kana asked curiously.
"Um, Tsuchikage's granddaughter, duh" the boy replied dumbly.
"Hah, hand the money back blondie!" Anko yelled triumphantly.
"And she's cute" Izo added with a shrug.
Anko's happy expression fell from her face as a small snake slowly slithered out of her long sleeve. Without hesitation, the woman extended her hand out towards Izo, launching the small snake at the boy. She grinned viciously as her deadly little pet did its job, sinking it's small but lethal fangs right into the brats shoulder and pumping more than enough venom into him to render him completely useless. Her grin dropped quickly though once she realised that Izo wasn't even reacting.
Izo calmly reached up and removed the small reptile from his shoulder before staring at its master blankly. "Anko, I do hope you haven't forgotten that I too was in contact with Orochimaru for some time. It would stand to reason that snake venom, no matter what type, has little to no effect on me," he said emotionlessly.
"Tsk, whatever. Just keep in mind that I'm going to get my revenge for this. My money will be avenged" the snake mistress hissed.
"O-kay…can someone explain why Kuro-Chan is here now?" Izo repeated curiously.
"You said it yourself; she's the granddaughter of the Tsuchikage, and a valuable bargaining piece considering how our 'meeting' with Iwa turned out. We're taking her with us back to Konoha to speak with the Hokage. If we're lucky, this mess can be turned in our favour," Kana explained calmly.
"And she's unconscious, why?" the blindfolded boy asked.
Kana shrugged. "She was complaining about being tied to a tree, so I gave Anko the freedom to use a strong sedative on her. The girl is surprisingly stubborn, reminds me a bit of you two" she said casually, gesturing to Naruto and Izo.
"I regret nothing!" Izo exclaimed proudly.
"Don't put me in the same boat as him, it's not fair" Naruto whined pitifully.
"You guys really need counselling" Anko stated bluntly.
All three Uzumaki turned and stared at her blankly from behind their masks and blindfold. "You stay out of this," they said in unison.
Anko huffed and turned her head from her teammates as they all returned to staring at each other, seemingly beginning a three way glaring match between themselves. The staring contest lasted for several minutes, during which Anko considered throwing an exploding tag in the middle of them. The snake user, thankfully, decided against it since she found that she rather enjoyed being among the living, even if she had to deal with a family of idiots. Eventually though, and to Anko's surprise, Naruto simply fell backwards from his seated position and passed out on the ground.
"Dammit!" Izo yelled.
Kana giggled softly. "I guess that means that you have first watch Izo. I'd suggest you work on your genjutsu in your spare time if you ever want to beat me," the older woman said smugly.
"Uh, what just happened?" Anko asked in confusion.
Izo pouted and crossed his arms. "Me and Kana have little genjutsu battles to see who can knock Naruto out first; it's sort of like our own personal scissors, paper, rock type thing. We use it to settle multiple disputes, including and not limited to things like who gets watch duty, who gets to fight the strong opponent, and who gets the last piece of cake" he explained crossly. "Of course I never win, and Naruto doesn't get a say in the matter. Basically it's just me waiting to get bossed around by her"
Anko sniggered. "You're a mummy's boy, no doubt about it," she said amusedly.
"You have no idea" Kana chuckled. "I once managed to get him to make me breakfast every morning for a month before he realised I was just using him. It was so cute!" she squealed.
"You took advantage of me in a moment of weakness. I was still getting used to the way the real world worked and you manipulated me. I will never forgive you for that!" Izo exclaimed childishly.
"Yes you will, you love me too much to hold such a petty grudge" the woman said, waving the blindfolded boy off dismissively.
"I hate you, so very, very much," he muttered irritably.
Izo sighed and stood up, stretching his arms and legs and cracking his neck and back several times, much to the annoyance of Kana and Anko. "Why does it feel like you guys dragged me here?" he asked accusingly.
Kana shrugged, thanking Kami that her ANBU mask hid the disturbingly wide grin plastered on her face. Anko however, was not so well protected, and had her grin on display for all to see. Izo decided not to ask any further questions lest he uncover anything else unfortunate that had befallen him during his…nap. He really didn't want to find out that Naruto and Kana let Anko do anything to him while he was unconscious; he shivered at the idea of that woman getting to close to him. Sure, she was fun to joke around with, but that was where the line was drawn in the sand.
The teen gave a lazy salute to the two women before leaping off into the trees, going as far from the camp as he could. The benefit of being a skilled sensor was that you didn't need to be close to people to keep an eye on them; it made night watch actually somewhat pleasant. No annoying people to interrupt his late night reading. Speaking of which, Izo chuckled quietly as he quickly stopped and lounged himself comfortably in one of the nearby trees. He reached out with his sensing and made sure that he was still in range to keep an eye on things before nodding to himself and pulling out a small orange covered book.
"Ah, Jiraiya. A useless godfather you may be, but a literary genius you most certainly are," he said in content. "But I'm still gunna kick your ass one day" he muttered as he delved into the glorious world of Icha-Icha.
Back at the camp, Anko pulled out a kunai and smirked, preparing to chase after a certain blind brat. There was no way in hell she was going to let him go like that without making him suffer for making her lose that bet with blondie. Just as she was about to go after her next victim, a hand reached out and grabbed her arm. Anko turned and glared at Kana who she could just tell was smirking underneath that mask.
"I wouldn't go chasing Izo in the dark Anko. Stealth is not something you want to challenge him in; that, and he would sense you well before you got anywhere close to finding him. Trust me on this, it will only end in your own humiliation," the older woman lectured.
Anko hissed in annoyance. Although she did hold a level of confidence in her own abilities, she wasn't stupid enough to mess with a full-fledged FALL member. Even if the brat was several years her junior, that wasn't necessarily something that worked in her favour. One didn't make it into FALL without some serious skills to back them up; hell, most didn't make it into ROOT without some seriously kick ass skills in at least one shinobi field.
She sighed in resignation. She would leave the brat for now, but as soon as the opportunity presented itself, she would make him wish he was never born, or created, or whatever he was. It was all just a matter of time now.
Uncomfortable would not even begin to describe how Kurotsuchi felt when she woke up. This was definitely going down in her books as the worst day of her life so far. Her team had been killed, she had been used as a hostage, she dropped a tower on herself, she got captured by Konoha shinobi, she was drugged, and now she was waking up tied to a tree. Yep, today was most certainly the definition of a shitty day.
It really didn't help that the crazy purple haired woman had purposely tied the ropes too tight in certain…areas. She would have to add that one to her kill list later. For now though, she was stuck as their prisoner. When she thought about it, things could have been much, much worse for her. All things considered of course. The team that captured her could have been made up of particularly desperate men to whom her age would mean very little; but that was a worst case scenario. What she had seen of her captors so far wasn't exactly comforting her though.
As far as she could tell, she was stuck with a powerful freak of nature who seemed to have had some form of mental breakdown, an emotionless jinchuuriki who was able to effortlessly overpower aforementioned freak of nature, a sadistic and perverted woman, and some level headed ANBU woman who thankfully seemed to be in charge of the rest of them. Kurotsuchi wasn't sure how long she had been out for, but judging from the smouldering remains of a fire, she'd guess several hours at least.
Looking around, Kurotsuchi was able to spot three of her four captors. She could see the ANBU woman resting against a tree on the other side of the clearing, her sword resting in her lap. She wouldn't put it past the woman to have ridiculous reflexes with that thing, so it would be best to keep an eye on her. Not too far from her was the purple haired pervert, who was sprawled out carelessly next to what remained of the fire. The woman's attire, or rather lack of, made for a rather explicit image due to the way she had sprawled herself out.
The freak of nature, and possibly mentally unstable one, was resting up against a tree much like the ANBU woman, with his own sword, that Kurotsuchi had not seen him with before, resting against the tree next to him. The Iwa kunoichi rolled her eyes at the boy's lack of preparation. The ANBU woman was clearly ready, even while unconscious, for anything. The purple haired woman, although seemingly carefree, was actually just as prepared as the ANBU one, with kunai held loosely in her hands as she slept. The blindfolded boy though, was simply relaxed, as if he felt that he didn't need to be on edge for anything at all.
Kurotsuchi thought that he would have learnt not to be so cocky considering she had almost killed him earlier that day, or at least she hoped she had almost killed him. Considering she had come out of the rubble in far worse shape than he had, it was arguable about how effective the trap was on him. It unnerved her slightly that he was able to shrug off such a fall so easily and still have the energy to have a mental breakdown right in front of her. Perhaps Konoha shinobi were just as insane as some of the stories said they were.
"You want someone to talk to?" Naruto asked emotionlessly from beside her.
Kurotsuchi jumped, or at least tried to; it proved difficult when you were tied to a tree. She glared at the blonde boy with the fox styled mask who had somehow managed to sneak up on her without her noticing. It seemed she would need to invest some more time into her training if she was being caught off guard by kids younger than she was. This one freaked her out more than the perverted woman, and for good reason too. She didn't think she would be able to forget the malicious and oppressive aura that he had exuded when he swatted his teammate down like a fly.
She was no real stranger to the concept of a jinchuuriki or the Bijuu themselves, but she was not prepared for how suffocatingly powerful either of them could be in person. She was somewhat thankful that Iwa's jinchuuriki were kept away from the village, even if it wasn't exactly by their choice. Kurotsuchi took her chance to observe the jinchuuriki, and she wasn't entirely impressed. Although the kid had proven his power by taking down the one she claimed was a freak of nature, he didn't seem to give off any notable vibes of power. If anything, the kid was giving off a calming aura.
"Well?" the blonde questioned again.
The girl glared at him. "So, you're the jinchuuriki for the Kyuubi" she commented blandly. "I was expecting someone…more"
Naruto shrugged. "I wasn't expecting you either, considering your practically Iwa royalty" he replied dryly.
Kurotsuchi sneered. "Royalty? Hah, flattery will get you nowhere kid" she growled.
"In case you hadn't noticed, but the crazy purple haired one and my brother are the seduction members of this team. Albeit my brother has a tendency to fail miserably in that field," the jinchuuriki droned tiredly.
A calm but slightly awkward silence swept over the camp once again as Kurotsuchi tried to ignore the blonde that was casually standing next to her. Unfortunately, her curiosity got the better of her and she ended up with several questions running through her mind that all begged to be answered. One question, however, was close to screaming at her and she knew that it was the first thing she had to find out if she could.
"What was it?" she asked quietly.
Naruto turned to look at her lazily. "Do you wanna elaborate on that?" he drawled.
"Before you stopped him, what was that feeling? It wasn't killing intent, but it was similar. It was so…sickening, I felt like I was going to vomit. I've never felt anything like that before" she said hesitantly.
Naruto sighed deeply. "That was his chakra, nothing more, nothing less" he answered simply.
Kurotsuchi's eyes widened slightly. "He's a jinchuuriki as well?" she asked in shock.
The blonde shook his head in amusement. "No, he isn't. But if you ever say that around him, I'm sure he'll thank you for the compliment. As for his chakra, well, that's just how it is. A few years ago it started to gain a sicklier aura to it until he ended up with what you felt today"
Kurotsuchi smirked smugly. "You seem pretty confident in telling me all of this about your dear brother. Aren't you afraid that I'll tell my grandfather and have him hunted down?" she asked threateningly.
"Not really. If he was awake right now, I have no doubt that he would be explaining the same thing to you. I'm certain that you witnessed at least some of his abilities when you were in that tower, so telling you that his chakra feels gross doesn't really make much of a difference now does it" he said casually. "That and I have a feeling that the old man will have certain things erased from your memory concerning all of us. Nothing personal of course, we just can't let you run around telling everyone that Konoha has a shinobi who can throw Kekkei Genkai around as if he was in a food fight"
"Old man?" Kurotsuchi questioned with a raised eyebrow.
Naruto chuckled nervously and scratched his head sheepishly. "Yeah, that's what I call the Hokage. It's become a little waiting game to see how long it takes before he finally snaps at me for it"
"And he lets you get away with that?" she asked disbelievingly.
"So far, yes" the blonde answered unsurely.
'I should probably keep an eye on the old man for a while. I can't help but feel like he will use my official genin status against me as some form of twisted revenge. If he makes me catch that cat he will regret it' Naruto thought suspiciously.
"You tree huggers are too soft. Even your esteemed leader lets his shinobi get away with too much; it's almost laughable how relaxed your brother is even after I tried to kill him" she muttered.
Naruto quirked an eyebrow at that, not that she could see it of course. "Would you be willing to attack him if you were free?" he asked curiously.
Kurotsuchi frowned at that. All things considered, she wasn't entirely sure if she would attack him. If he was able to survive the trap then it stood to reason that he could survive whatever she would be able to throw at him in her current state. She wasn't confident in her ability to take on a guy that could snap and go crazy on her at a moment's notice like before, and she highly doubted that the jinchuuriki kid would be willing to stop him again.
"No, I guess not" she replied in a defeated tone.
"Good, cause I really don't want there to be a war between our villages just because one girl decided to get herself killed" the blonde said dryly.
The girl chuckled mirthlessly. "Well aren't you just a big ray of sunshine"
"Using sarcasm is ineffective. I suggest you change tactics, unless you want to talk to Izo again, sarcasm actually works on him sometimes" Naruto said casually.
Kurotsuchi deadpanned at the boy. "You guys are all weirdoes, except for the ANBU woman, she seems at least normal" she said in a dull tone.
Naruto couldn't help but grin behind his mask. This girl was going to regret saying that. "It's good you think that, because she's got next shift. Word of advice, do not try to ignore her, it'll only make her double her efforts" he warned calmly before walking towards the masked woman.
Naruto stopped a few feet in front of Kana and leant down to pick up a small rock. Without even pausing in his movements, the blonde lazily threw the small rock at the masked woman, to which Kurotsuchi couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at. A soft clanging noise echoed through the clearing as Kana unsheathed her sword and swatted the stone away with disturbing ease. Kurotsuchi had to give the woman credit; it took quite a lot of dedication to develop those kinds of reflexes, or multiple life or death situation. She wouldn't rule out the latter, but she would definitely keep her eye on the woman.
"Could you not have woken me up in a more appropriate way?" Kana drawled tiredly.
"Nope. It's your shift, and the girl is awake. I figured you would be able to make better company than me, you know, with girl talk and all," Naruto said with a shrug.
"Couldn't you have gotten Anko? She's a girl too" the woman whined.
"I don't want to be blamed should our resident psychopath decide to do…unpleasant things to our very important prisoner" the blonde stated.
"Ok, I get it. You go to sleep, I've got things covered" Kana mumbled as she stood up and stretched.
Naruto nodded before walking over to a particularly soft looking patch of grass, which was strategically positioned away from the crazy snake lady. Kana shook her head at the boy's antics as he continued to send cautious glances to their purple haired teammate. Eventually, the blonde lied down and relaxed…mostly. Kana shrugged before sauntering over to the less than cheerful Kurotsuchi, sitting down next to the girl with a deep sigh.
"So" she began awkwardly. "Do you like to read?" Kana asked curiously.
Kurotsuchi stared at the woman blankly. Compared to her calm and collected attitude earlier she was acting far too…pleasant for the Iwa kunoichi's liking. "I…suppose" the girl answered apprehensively.
Kana nodded her head happily. "Are you familiar with the works of the legendary Sannin, Jiraiya?" she asked cheerfully.
"Uh, no" Kurotsuchi replied unsurely.
The older woman gasped in shock as she stared wide eyed at the girl. "Well that simply will not do. I fear that I must educate you my dear, on the literary excellence that is Icha-Icha!" she exclaimed.
Kurotsuchi watched as Kana reached into her weapons pouch and pulled out a small orange covered book. The girl's eyes widened to comical proportions as she remembered why that title sounded so familiar. 'That's the book that I always catch gramps reading in his office; the one that he always giggles at' she thought in surprise.
"Now don't worry if some things don't make perfect sense, you are still very young after all so I don't expect you to understand absolutely everything. If you have any questions please don't be afraid to ask me, ok. I'll be happy to explain anything as best as I can" Kana said cheerfully as she opened the book to the first page.
'This must be some twisted torture method, it has to be. What kind of women do they raise in Konoha, and why are they all perverts?' Kurotsuchi thought in a panic.
Kana simply smirked from behind her mask. 'This is going to be beautiful. I get to destroy yet another girl's innocence. In your face Anko!' she cheered mentally.
"Welcome to the dark side my dear. We have more fun," the masked woman whispered mischievously.
And so began the longest night of Kurotsuchi's life. She still wouldn't be able to manage anything more than inane muttering for several hours, even when under threat of agonizing death from Anko to shut up. Naruto and Izo made the wise decision to remain silent after waking up; they knew what had transpired, Kana's perverse, and slightly mad giggling had explained everything clearer than glass. Thin and amazingly fragile glass, much like what was left of Kurotsuchi's sanity. Poor girl never stood a chance.
A/N:
Well guys, i hope you enjoyed this chapter. I intend to start bringing in the more humor orientated type stuff soon, hopefully my idea of humor will be well received. I'm also planning to gradually increase the length of my chapters for the sake of reasons, along with putting my authors notes at the end of my chapters from now on since then it's not annoying anyone at the beginning.
Any and all reviews are appreciated, as are questions and/or suggestions. If you are going to complain or just out right hate on my Fanfic, then please do it in a constructive fashion of some sort, even if it has to be in Latin.
Anyway, until next time i guess.