Naruto, Deidara, and Temari travelled down a small dirt road, headed off towards the town Sasori had told him about. Naruto gently ran his fingers through his unruly spiky blonde hair; he was bored out of his mind! Deidara seemed to be brooding over something and Temari could have cared less. Naruto cleared his throat and tried to start some conversation
"So…Do you have any idea if there are any Shinobi in the town we are heading too onii-san?" Deidara scoffed "Beats me but if there were it wouldn't be much of a surprise hm. We will either see Iwagakure Ninja or a slight chance is that we may see Hidden Cloud Ninja." Deidara stated, his anger subsiding slowly but surely.
Naruto gulped "Why Hidden Cloud Ninja…?" "They made a treaty that allowed the other to send ninja throughout their territory freely. It is one of the major hints that there will soon be a war hm!" Naruto tilted and blinked his cerulean eyes "Huh…? What makes you say that?" Deidara began to speak but Temari swiftly cut him off, surprising the two blondes who had simply assumed she wasn't listening or just decided to not care
"It's obvious…" the thirteen year old stated dully. Deidara smirked "You're a child, what would you know about politics hm?" Temari seemed to give a slight smirk, indicating that Deidara couldn't be any farther from the truth
"It causes tensions to grow because of the friction in gives. When Kumogakure (The Land of Lighting) and Iwagakure made the treaty it prompted unrest because now there was a possibility Kumogakure could strike through Iwagakure and vice versa. And I would imagine each of the nations has already mobilized troops in case of a surprise assault. And one slip from either Iwagakure or Kumogakure and they will bust into full blown war which in term will cause The Sand Village to also get really bold with their assault on Iwagakure. And Konohagakure is questionable, they may try to remain neutral or they may join in. The Mist will go for whoever they can get their hands on." Temari explained, rattling off sentence after sentence as if it were some odd hand piece of knowledge that everyone knew.
Naruto looked at her with a deadpan expression, also leaving Deidara slack jawed "How do you know all that hm!" Deidara yelled momentarily losing his cool, which was reasonable when a teenager could explain the current events going on in the World better than an ex-Shinobi. Temari's smirk widened "I am not an idiot. I may have lived on the streets for a long time but that doesn't mean I am not intelligent."
Naruto was still in utter shock at how well informed and knowledgeable the blonde teenager was, Deidara managed to compose himself "So it seems like my little brother picked some decent company." "So I have a question." Naruto bluntly stated after a few moments of quietness. "Hm?" "Who is the Leader of Konohagakure? I know they are controlled by the Uchiha but I not even the Kazekage would tell me his name." Naruto questioned.
Deidara sighed and shrugged "No clue hm. Konohagakure is a very secluded village to say the least. It usually wouldn't be so hard to figure out but they could have multiple ones, as hard as it is to believe." Naruto stared slack jawed at his older brother "Multiple Hokages!? How though!?" Deidara let out an irritated sigh "I was getting to that Naruto! No need to be so loud hm…But since they are a clan I would only presume that the heads of the clan are the ones who control all that goes on…Maybe that could be one of our mission, get some info on The Hidden Leaf hm!" Deidara exclaimed, as if he had a great idea.
Naruto only rolled his eyes at his older (and crazy) brother. Soon the trio entered the village; they noticed there were a few Shinobi here and there, nothing to pressing or crucial though. "Say Deidara, what is the name of this town anyways?" Naruto asked looking over to his brother whom was busy staring at buildings; wondering if he could blow it up and with what explosives
"Hm…Now that you mention it I am not all that sure…" Deidara said still deep in thought. Within moments of that, a large boom resounded through the streets; knocking Deidara out of his deep state of thought and making Naruto yelp. Deidara and Temari blinked looking over to the kantana wielding twenty-six year old "Did you just yelp…?"
Deidara asked raising an eyebrow, a smirk slowly forming upon his face "W-what!? Of course not! Hey stop smirking you ass! I just sneezed!" Deidara rolled his eyes
"Sure, sneezed"
"You wanna go Blondie!?"
"You're blonde to you buffoon!"
"Shut up!"
As the two idiotic blondes continued their banter, Temari walked off towards the area where the booming sound originated from. Upon arrival she saw a thing man with grey standing in front of a store "All weapons fifty percent off! Come on come all to Gyo's Weaponry! We are selling all our merchandise!" Temari dashed past the man into the store, eagerly looking for a weapon.
Back to the two blondes~
"I swear to Kami I will blow you all the way to the Mist!"
"I'd love to see you fucking try!- Where'd Temari go…"
Both blondes looked to where the thirteen year old was previously standing and a bead of sweat comically rolled down their foreheads. "Fuck we lost Temari!" Both of them yelled quickly sprinting forward, looking down every alleyway they found. "Gah fuck! How could we have lost her hm!" "It's all your fault!" "We are not staring this again you idiot!" he yelled before slowing down in front of the weapon store; completely out of breath
"D-damn…where'd she…go" he said breathing heavily out his mouth. The old man looked at him with a curious look "Did you lose someone?" Deidara nodded quickly "Yeah…she looks thirteen, blonde hair that is in four ponytails and-" "Oh she's in my store!" the older male yelled, completely cutting Deidara off. Deidara's eye twitched a bit and stormed past the man, Naruto giving an apologetic look to him.
"Oi Temari! You here hm!?" Deidara shouted, the store looked like a tornado had gone through it. There we boxes in every direction and piles of boxes that reached the ceiling. "Yes I'm over here." She called out all the way in the back. Deidara sighed and managed to navigate through the maze of junk, leaving Naruto behind who ended up getting lost.
When Deidara finally made it to the other side of the store he walked swiftly up to Temari "What were you doing! You can't just leave us like that!" Deidara began, but soon noticed something odd. Well two things. First was that she had a massive battle fan in her hands. The second was the man standing next to her…He had dark brown skin and shaggy white hair that entirely covered his left eye.
He wore bandages around his wrist and had over-one-shoulder flak jacket on. The final main feature of him was the sword that was strapped to his back. "I was simply helping her find a weapon. Sorry to be of any bother." He said calmly a small smile appearing on his face. Deidara rose an eyebrow "Who exactly are you?" Naruto who had managed to get through the complex maze of boxes and shelves popped out "I finally found you…guys…."
He said looking eyes with the whited haired Shinobi "Darui…" Naruto whispered as he instinctively put one hand on the hilt of his kantana Darui took a few steps away from Temari and Deidara "You…you're that one kid…The one who did this to me…Naruto!" he said holding up his arm and showing the scar Naruto had left when he stabbed it. Naruto grimaced at the thought
"What….what are you doing here?" he asked, doing whatever he could to hide the guilt in his tone. Now Darui smirked all knowingly "I could ask you the same thing, this is my friends shop." Naruto felt his heart skip a beat…or two. Darui now took a step closer "I thought I'd never find you again…I'd never be able to pay you back…" he whispered as he began to draw his sword.
Naruto slowly began to draw his kantana as well "Are you still a Shinobi of the Cloud…?" Darui smirked and straightened up, gripping his sword tightly as it lay limply by his side "You know it's funny you ask…" Darui suddenly moved like a blur as Naruto was barely able to react and bring his sword up and parry the strike "I am…I am one of the very best! I am the Raikage's right hand man…" he stated with a dark smirk.
Deidara glowered and stepped in front of Naruto "Listen we don't want any trouble here. I don't know why you two are at each other's throats but I am willing to pay whatever you want for that fan…" he said trying to reason with the hostile. Darui seemed to loosen up a little "Fine…I want to fight Naruto…Not in here but outside. I have a few more conditions but do you accept…?" Naruto frowned
"Is there any other way…?" Darui shook his head and began to walk towards the front of the shop. Once Deidara had figured he was out of ear shot and looked at Naruto "Listen, just go and fight him for a few, Temari and I will get out of here!" Naruto blinked and nodded "Alright…But what if I can't handle him? He has gotten much stronger, I can just tell by the power of his strike."
Deidara stared at the other blonde for a moment before scowling "You think just because he is strong means anything? He can be as strong as he wants, if he can't land a hit then what does it matter! Just avoid his attacks; I don't care if you use strategy, speed, or just simple tricks hm. It only takes one blow to end someone right?" Naruto blinked at his brother's sudden turn of attitude but nodded his head
"Then you have the edge technically speaking. If you can out maneuver him while he is attacking he won't be guarded and it will be easy to strike him down. You follow hm?" Naruto seemed to smirk and firmly placed a hand on Deidara's shoulder "I got it! Don't worry I'll cover your guy's escape!" Deidara flashed a smirk and looked to Temari offering his hand
"C'mon, I have an idea." He stated. Temari took his hand and looked to Naruto "is that the man you told me about? That one night…" Naruto nodded softly "Yes…But don't worry! If I beat him once I can do it again!" Temari frowned looking uncertain of his words "Don't worry! I will be back! Just hurry and get out of here." He said as he then dashed his way through the maze and out of the store.
As he exited the store he looked around, to see Darui rounding a corner on the edge of the store. Naruto quietly followed, drawing his sword so he wouldn't be caught off guard. After trailing the white haired Shinobi he came to a closed off forest area that was surrounded by trees but had a large square of flat terrain, where Darui stood.
Naruto hesitantly stepped forward in their direction and as soon as he did he saw thick dark green walls surround the area where they were standing, cutting off all his escape routes. Naruto gulped, where there went the plan…Darui smirked and stepped forward "Here are the rules. 1. We cannot kill each other. 2. No outside help, even though your friends have already left; probably using you as a diversion. But oh well, not like that fan was worth very much anyways." Darui stated as he shrugged stepped more towards Naruto. Naruto grimaced "Fuck…he already knew about our plan!" he thought to himself as he felt a bead of sweat roll down his cheek.
"So tell me, are you still a ninja of the Sand?" Naruto slowly shook his head, surprised at how he talked as if this were just a typical conversation. "No I am not. I left the Village a while ago…Why do you want to know?" Darui smirked and began to jog towards him, wielding his sword in both hands "Just curious, come let's talk for a bit." He stated as he swung at Naruto who easily blocked the shot. "He is obviously moving slower on purpose…I can handle this for now…"
Naruto thought as he blocked a few more strikes made at him "So, tell me. Who were your two friends? I didn't mind the young one; she was polite and respectful unlike the other one." He said, talking as if they were having lunch together. "Heh…the young one was Temari. She is my student. The other was my brother Deidara, why do you wish to know?" He said and now taking the offensive and parried a shot then began to strike towards Darui at a slightly faster pace.
Darui smirked and blocked the strikes one after another "Oh I am just curious. Besides starting a battle so serious is such a drag." Naruto laughed a bit "I suppose so…So, you said you were one of the best huh?" he inquired as it was now Darui's turn to take the offensive as he jumped right over a strike and would strike from above.
The two met in a deadlock as Darui was suspended in the air "Hah yeah, I am the Raikage's right hand man as I said. I have become much more powerful over time." He said as he broke the deadlock and brought his feet to the ground and began to start swinging again. Naruto smirked a bit "Glad to hear….I do have another question.
In the shop, you looked like you were ready to kill me, now you are just chatting with me as if we have been friends for ages…Why the sudden change?" Darui fell silent as he stopped swinging and stood there, looking down "Allow me to explain…I knew you'd ask this at some point in our fight…" he began as Naruto brought his sword to his side, listening intently to his opponent
"Back then when you gave me that scar on my arm…It made me realize I wasn't as strong as I once thought. So through all these years you were my motivation to become stronger. I at first used you to motivate my hatred…But I soon saw that it was not the way and that I would be swallowed alive in revenge…I instead forgave you, I do not blame you for this scar, I thank you for it. You helped me see I am not invincible like my younger self foolishly thought. But as for in the shop…Just I thought I'd never see you again so it was easier to forgive you, but when I saw you I remember all the motivation your face gave me for hatred and it just erupted like a volcano. But once I left the shop I remembered that you are part of the reason I am who I am. So sorry for losing my cool…"
Naruto stood there with an awestruck expression but then smiled softly "I see…I am glad I could be the reason for you to become strong…But how about we finish this battle? I want to see how strong you really are!" Darui smiled back, accepting his challenged as he crouched down "For once this won't be a drag…" Darui took off at an incredible speed, swinging his sword upwards at Naruto.
Naruto smiled and didn't dodge to block or parry it but sidestepped it and focused his chakra for a moment "Wind cyclone!" he yelled as put his palm against Darui's side. Darui tried to move away but was soon propelled quickly at the barrier wall. "It won't hurt…I can probably rebound off the wall back at him…" Darui thought as he flew towards said wall.
What he didn't expect was Naruto to move quicker than he was being blown. Naruto dashed right past him and jumped onto the wall and rebounded off, heading towards Darui's back "Fireball jutsu!" Naruto yelled as he sent a fireball Darui's way. Naruto smirked as he landed "I gottcha!" "I don't think so…" he heard a voice from above.
Naruto looked up and was met by a foot to the bridge of his nose. Naruto was slammed into the ground as Darui smirked, standing over him. "How!? It totally hit you! You didn't have time to use a substitution jutsu!" Darui smirked "I flipped over it; with the strong wind pushing me it wasn't hard to manipulate my body to barely dodged it and backflip right above you.
Naruto smiled "Damn…I didn't know you were that strong! But I have managed to learn a jutsu from an old opponent of mine. Now let's just see if I can do it right…" he muttered before making the same hand sign as Baki did "Wind sword jutsu!" he yelled as did what Baki did, swinging his finger in the direction of where he wanted the blade to go. Darui blinked as he was sent flying upwards.
Naruto smiled and sat up, it was not nearly as strong as it hadn't even manage to cut Darui but he could still use it none the less. Darui landed easily with a smirk "Not bad, but I thought you were a fire type user?" Naruto smirked and stood "Oh I am, but allow me to show you a special little combination I know!" he yelled as he began to charge Darui. Darui remained still before smirking
"Storm release!" he yelled as black lighting began to encircle him. Naruto blinked, well this was new…He stopped short of the protruding black lighting and looked at his white haired opponent "So I see you really did get stronger…" Darui only laughed "Yes, but this battle is starting to drag on, let me just end it now, it may hurt a bit!" he yelled and focused all the black lighting into his body, closing his eyes. Naruto growled and stepped back as Darui's eyes shot open and black lighting flew out of his mouth, heading right at Naruto and taking on the form of a dragon.
As the lighting made its way towards Naruto, they both sensed a new chakra that was not Deidara's or anyone else Naruto knew. Darui looked out of the corner of his eye and saw the Raikage watching from outside the barrier 'The Raikage is here! Now is my time to shine and prove my power!" Darui thought and figured the lighting should have contacted Naruto by now.
Darui smirked and cut off the chakra and let the rest just exploded. Darui made to look up incase Naruto had made a hasty evasion and was proud to see that he did not. "This round goes to me…" he stated as he began to sheath his sword but from the smoke the lighting made came a Naruto, charging him with a wide smirk. His shirt had been torn off, his pants were shredded and his chest was torn up but he was still going full speed.
"Jeez, you are a pain…" he said as he blocked a feeble sword strike from Naruto "How did you manage to keep conscious throughout that…?" Darui questioned as he made him and Naruto engage in deadlock. Naruto smirked "I barely made it but I brought up my chakra armor to defend me, it didn't hold forever but it was more than capable for allowing me to keep going…" Darui smiled and shook his head "Nice attempt but you are weak and exhausted now, I can feel it in your strike. Just give in."
Naruto sighed, hanging his head in shame"Hey it's ok, I just win this round is all. Sorry." He said as he began to push Naruto back in the deadlock. Darui then heard a sound he didn't expect, laughing…"I guess I am a good actor…" he whispered softly before he swung his free hand up
"Wind sword jutsu!"
"That isn't enough-"
"Fire sword jutsu!"
Darui blinked and watched as the fire and air mixed with one another and exploded right in front of him. Darui managed to jump back from the explosion and only be burned slightly "How! How do you have that much chakra!?" From the smoke of the explosion Naruto spoke "I was gifted with a large chakra reserve…But feel privileged, I have come up with a new type of style, just now actually. So feel special to be the first to feel the power…the power of Dreadnaught Style!"
the blonde yelled as he seemed to shoot out of the smoke, the orange chakra armor covering his body. Darui couldn't react fast enough as he was knocked into the air by an uppercut. Naruto followed him up, managing to somehow float.
"What! How…?" he asked weakly as Naruto smirked "Since I began to use my wind element I noticed I can float for a small amount of time…But now let me show you what I can do in that time!" He yelled as he began to through right hook after left hook at Darui's back, hitting pressure points and causing Darui to cough up blood i and grunt in pain.
Naruto flipped him around and smashed Darui's face against his knee then smirked and lifted him to his eye level and delivered a sturdy head butt right to the bridge of his nose that sent him flying back against the barrier wall groaning in pain. Right below him was the Raikage who watched in interest. Darui slowly opened his eyes and saw Naruto heading right in front of him, all the chakra leaving his body and building up on his right fist.
Darui tried to move but the right hook of Naruto's connected with his chest, the power so strong that it completely shattered the barrier. Darui fell to the ground, nearly outcold as he landed, breathing heavily, Naruto falling right beside him. It had taken all of Naruto's chakra to do that and he was hardly able to move.
Darui said nothing but softly looked up to the Raikage "Boss…Sorry…" The Raikage stood and picked up Darui with one hand "Tch…Nice display but you lost to some rouge Shinobi? Pathetic Darui. Simply and utterly pathetic. Darui only looked down as his boss held him in the air. "Hey…Stop it…" Naruto said growling slightly, trying to move.
The Raikage looked at him with a smirk "Heh, you're still awake? You have spunk I'll give it to ya. But stay out of this." Naruto growled "He at least fought like a real Shinobi…He was nowhere near pathetic!" The Raikage dropped Darui harshly "So you are telling me this. My best Shinobi lost to some rogue, and I am supposed to believe he is still the best? No, I know plenty of other Shinobi who could defeat you with at the flick of a finger!" he yelled and smirked
"Now shut up brat." Naruto growled "Fuck….You…" he began before the Raikage delivered a swift kick to his ribs, causing Naruto to cough out blood. "Boss, please stop…" Darui said slowly standing up. The Raikage glanced behind him and snarled "Shut up brat!" he yelled and back handed him and sent him flying back into a tree. He then turned to the defenseless Naruto "Now time to end you runt…" he said cruelly and raised his foot to stomp on the young blonde.
His foot crashed down but something didn't feel right…He had gone right through the kid, he was hollow! "Gah, why must you be so vulgar and violent?" Replied a voice from behind. The Raikage whipped around and saw Sasori accompanied by Deidara and Pakura. Pakura had Naruto slung over his shoulder, as well as Darui.
"You! Don't get in my way and put my student down!" Sasori smirked and stood at full height "Sorry but I am relieving you of your teaching position. If that is how you treat a student then I am ashamed…" The Raikage growled "I will give you five second to give me back Darui before I kill you all!" "Hey Deidara is it ready?" Sasori asked ignoring the fuming Raikage.
Deidara smirked and nodded as he made a hand sign and summoned a huge white clay eagle with ease. Pakura swiftly put both of the injured and outcold males onto the clay eagle and would hop on herself. "Ok they're on, I'll get them home and then come back to help you once I get them situated!"
"Ok but don't worry Scorch Princess, me and my man are more than enough to take on this gigantic steroid monster! Now release hm!" The eagle flew off before Pakura could give a snide comment to Deidara and much to the Raikage's displeasure. "You two will pay for that…" Deidara stepped beside Sasori with a happy smirk "You ready to rock'n'roll my man?" "Yes. I have always wanted to test the power of one of the five kages…"
Next time, Sasori and Deidara vs. The Raikage! Stay tuned for the battle between these two forces!
Author Note: I know the Raikage wouldn't be so harsh but I have my motives, don't worry. It's all crucial to my plan. I have a plot, don't worry my friends.