Soul of Fire

Special Chapter: Infiltrating Akagahara (Crimson Four-Leaf Clover Mission)

I awoke to Naruto's loud yelling from his room. I quickly snatched up Soul Calibur and dashed out of the room, across the hallway and into the master bedroom. What I saw, I didn't expect.

Naruto looked like he had just rolled off the bed and onto the hard floor. Next to him was Konohamaru, arms folded and looking quite serious.

"Konohamaru? Why are you here?" I asked, secretly wondering why I was the only one who woke up to Naruto's yelp.

"I came here to tell you that you and Naruto-nii-chan have been appointed the leaders of the Konohamaru Corps," said the kid. Naruto rubbed his eye, still sleepy.

"Huh? What?"

'I'm part of the Konohamaru Corps?' I thought as the kid continued to talk, saying something about a red four-leaf clover. Wait a minute… a red four-leaf clover?

'Ah, I remember this episode,' I thought. I then turned to Konohamaru while scratching my white hair. "Hey kid, how bout you let us get cleaned up and then we'll talk missions." He thought about it. 'What's there to think about? We'll do it even without your consent.' I grumbled in my head.

*********

(Cue song Kaname no Kitchen by Toshihiko Sahashi from Fullmetal Panic Original Sound Track 1)

Twenty minutes later we had showered and had gotten dressed. We were now sitting in the living room. I was sipping a cup of coffee, Naruto was slurping down his morning Ramen and Konohamaru was drinking some apple juice I picked up yesterday.

"So what's this Konohamaru Corps?" asked Naruto as soon as he finished his food.

"A newly established renovation corps of Konohagakure no Sato (Hidden Village in the Leaves)."

"Let me guess. You only have yourself in this group plus us two now, right?" I asked, knowing full damn well that was the case.

"Yeah, you two are the Leaders and I'm the lieutenant general," admitted the small kid.

"By the way, how did you find us here?" I asked, curious as to how he knew where to find us, even though I had a feeling.

"I asked Jii-chan where you two were staying," was the answer I was somewhat expecting.

"I see. Konohamaru, it is vital that you do not tell anyone where we are living, ok?" I said, completely serious. He noticed the tone in my voice and started to look very nervous.

"I can understand Sarutobi telling you as he thinks you're trustworthy, and I don't mind that. But if you have to tell any friends in the near future, either myself, or Naruto, must clear them first. This does not mean that you bring them here to be cleared. Just come by the house yourself and if we're not here, then just leave a letter in the post box."

Konohamaru nodded. "Jii-chan said for me not to tell anyone about you guys living here." I sighed. 'If Sarutobi said that, then Konohamaru will abide by it.'

"So, about this mission?" asked Naruto.

"Yes, an important but dangerous mission awaits us," he stressed.

"That's right. You said something about the crimson four-leaf clover. Why are you looking for something like that?" asked Naruto.

"Yes, well…" Konohamaru then started to explain.

(Cue song Tabi no Tochuu by Kajiura Yuki from Erementar Gerad OST 1)

"There's this girl in the academy that has caught my attention. Her name is Yoshino Kaede. She's very cute, has a good personality, and is a charming girl. But…" It was here that he told us what he overheard from the three girls. It seemed that Kaede was moving to another town in the Fire Country. One of her friends explained the significance of the crimson four-leaf clover; about how, if you acquired one, your wish would be granted.

By the end of this story, the kid was bawling silently. I placed my hand on his shoulder. "You like this girl?" asked Naruto as I comforted the kid to stop crying.

Now two things happened. The first was Konohamaru turning a bright shade of red. The second was my mouth falling open. 'How is it that he recognised Konohamaru's feelings for this girl, but can't seem to notice Hinata's feelings?' I thought in wonder before closing my mouth.

"So you want to grant that girl's wish?" asked Naruto. The kid nodded. He then got on his hands and knees. "You guys are the only ones who can help me out with something like this! Please!" he pleaded.

I sighed. "Get up Konohamaru, of course we'll help you out. Besides, this clover resides in the middle of Akagahara, the old Chunnin test site. This will be a good test to see how far we've come." I then turned to Naruto. "Right Otouto?" Naruto grinned that foxy grin of his. "Believe It!"

Konohamaru looked very relieved at this. We then bolted upstairs to prepare. I grabbed Soul Calibur and changed it into a replica of Cloud's Buster Sword. I removed the coat and placed the sword on my back, using chakra to keep it in place. I then walked out to see that Naruto had taken his coat off too. We were now both clad in black muscle shirts with black cargo pants and black, steal capped combat boots.

"Ready for some action?" I asked, grinning.

"Hell yeah!" replied Naruto.

*********

(Cue song Yukai na Itazura by Hamaguchi Shirou from Ah! My Goddess TV OST 2)

Meanwhile, at the Team 7 meeting bridge, Sasuke and Sakura were already waiting for their sensei, Kakashi, as well as Naruto and Josh.

Sasuke was leaning on the railing of the bridge while Sakura was standing in the middle, looking a bit miffed.

"Man, Kakashi-sensei's late again," stated Sakura.

"Yeah," was the only reaction that came out of Sasuke.

Sakura seemed to notice that Naruto and Josh weren't around either and started to fantasise about her and Sasuke, again.

"U-um," stuttered Sakura with a blush on her cheeks. "Um, Sasuke-kun…?"

The brooder opened his eyes and mouth to say something to the girl, but at that moment they both heard a few people running down the path. They looked in the direction of the noise and saw Josh, Naruto, and some kid running toward them.

"Morning guys!" called Naruto.

As the group of three caught up, Josh started to explain something.

"We have a special mission in Akagahara so we can't stick around."

"Yeah, we'll try to finish up before Kakashi-sensei comes back, so take care!" supplied Naruto.

"Take care!" said the kid. The three then took off down the road and soon they were gone.

"A special mission?" wondered Sakura out loud.

"Akagahara? Are they trying to go in alone?" wondered Sasuke as well.

"But that place is the forbidden danger area," finished off Sakura.

*********

(Cue song WRO March by Masashi Hamauzu from DIRGE of CERBERUS -FINAL FANTASY VII- Original Soundtrack -DISC 1-)

We had arrived at the fence barring the way to Akagahara. In front of us was a sign attached to the fence.

'Forbidden. All ninja are prohibited to enter. Signed, Hokage.'

"Hmm, I wonder which Hokage?" I thought to myself.

"So this is Akagahara," smiled Naruto before we jumped up on top of the barbed fence.

From there we could see almost the entire field. The place was basically a normal looking forest. In the middle was a green field with a mound of high rock propped up at the back of the field. At the base was a circle of what looked like crimson red grass.

"There it is!" said Konohamaru. "If we go there, we should find the crimson four-leaf clover."

"That seems easy," said Naruto confidently.

"Don't be so sure Naruto. This place is forbidden for a reason. There will be extensive traps in here. You and I will be able to slip past the traps easily from out training, but I'm worried about Konohamaru. Here's what I think we should do. I'll summon Sylpheed and carry Konohamaru over there. He doesn't have much time to find one so time is of the essence. I'll then fly back here and we'll start for the field, while Konohamaru starts looking for the clover he needs. Sound good?" I asked. I got nods from both.

"Ok," I said and started concentrating. When I first summoned, I remembered like I was plucking a string of energy inside me. I felt for the right one and plucked it sharply. Immediately I felt the magic working.

The effects weren't as impressive as before but I quickly felt the white and grey wings attach themselves to my back. I looked over to Naruto and the kid. There were both in awe, Konohamaru more so then Naruto. I reached out with my hand to Konohamaru and he took it. I then beat my powerful wings and we lifted off the fence. Soon we were soaring quickly over the treetops. About 5 minutes later we arrived at the field. After dropped off the kid, I made a few handseals and then placed my hand on the ground, releasing the chakra.

"Seal beacon," I said. A small seal spread out from my hand and rose up a few inches from the ground. A small point of light rose up from the seal and hovered there. I then repeated the same process with slightly different handseals and placed my left hand on top of my right. A different seal glowed on my hand for a moment, before disappearing, leaving the black trace behind. I then waved to Konohamaru and sped back through the air to where Naruto was waiting. I landed on the fence and dismissed my wings.

"You ready?" I asked him.

"Yeah!" he replied back. I smiled and then sent chakra into the new seal I made on my right hand. The seal flashed once before what looked like the minute hand from a clock made out of light blue light rose out of the seal and pointed straight ahead.

"What's that for?" asked Naruto.

"I placed a seal beacon where I dropped off Konohamaru. This seal on my hand points to the location of the first beacon I placed, so we'll never get lost." I explained.

"Cool," said Naruto, and with that, we made our way into Akagahara.

*********

Back with the rest of Team 7 an hour later, Kakashi had just arrived at the bridge.

"Sorry, sorry. An old lady asked me for directions as I was coming here…" he would of said more but Sakura cut him off with a yell of "Liar!"

"Where's Naruto and Josh?" asked the lazy teacher.

"They mentioned something about a special mission," explained Sakura.

"A special mission? I didn't hear anything about one," wondered Kakashi.

"We don't know if it's true or not, but they said that they were going to Akagahara," finished Sasuke.

"Akagahara? Is that so? If that's true, Naruto and Josh are going to die, for sure."

Sakura gasped.

*********

We were now roughly three quarters through the forest. It had taken one hour so far and we had yet to set off any traps.

The both of us were highly skilled in stealth and trap detection from sneaking into the Hyuuga compound for two months. So far the traps were at chuunin level and so we were able to sneak past easily.

Just then we reached the green field. However the traps didn't end until we reached the crimson clovers. Konohamaru was working on finding the clover he needed, but it seemed that it still eluded him. At the middle was a small statue of Buddha.

We quickly joined Konohamaru in the search, but no luck.

But 30 minutes into the search, Konohamaru found one underneath the statue. "I found it!" yelled the kid. We came running over to find him reaching in and straining hard to grab it.

"I can't reach it!" yelled Konohamaru in despair.

"Okay," said Naruto and started to move the statue. I gave him a hand and we pushed hard.

"I got it!" yelled Konohamaru in triumph.

"You did it," congratulated Naruto.

CRASH!

We looked over to see that the statue had collapsed on its side.

"Whoops," I said, grinning in an embarrassed way.

Then all of a sudden, things started rising out of the ground. They looked like marionettes fuelled with chakra, enabling them to move.

(Cue song Face It! by Yoko Shimomura from Kingdom Hearts Original Soundtrack Complete -Disc 7 ~ Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories-)

I turned to the kid. "Quick, give me the clover; I'll seal it so it won't get damaged!" I called urgently. He complied and in less then five seconds the clover was sealed and the scroll in my ninja pouch. By this time we were completely surrounded.

*********

Kakashi, Sasuke and Sakura were at the border of Akagahara, looking confused.

"This sure brings back memories. I took the Chuunin Exam here," said Kakashi. "But there's no sign of anyone entering here. The traps haven't been set off." The teacher turned to his two students. "Are you sure Josh and Naruto said that they came here?"

"Yeah, I'm quite sure," confirmed Sakura with a nod from Sasuke.

"Well that's weird," said Kakashi. He took out a pair of binoculars and scanned the area. "Ah, found them. This isn't good. Everyone of the marionette ninja squad has been activated. But I guess it'll be good training for all of you."

He then turned to the two kids. "I will give you your mission! Go rescue Josh, Naruto and Konohamaru!"

"What?" asked Sakura, looking very nervous. Sasuke wasn't the same.

"Akagahara, eh? This is good training for the Chuunin Exam."

"Sasuke-kun…" slumped Sakura.

"Then go," prodded Kakashi.

*********

I drew my crystal sword and turned to Naruto.

"Bro, you take Konohamaru and get him a safe distance. I'll hold them off until you get back."

Naruto gave me the thumbs up, gathered Konohamaru in his arms and jumped off. A few of the chakra puppets started to move after them but I Shunshined in front of them and beheaded them instantly.

(Cue song Theme of CRISIS CORE "Chaotic Battlefield" by Takeharu Ishimoto from Crisis Core -Final Fantasy VII- Original Soundtrack)

"You're mine!" I said and jumped into the fray. I released my seal and started destroying them easily. I got into a sword lock with one and pushed all my strength into overcoming it. I then quickly let off the pressure and gave the thing a roundhouse kick to the head. I moved onto the next batch and focused energy into Soul Calibur. When the next one came within range I sliced it down the middle. When the sword hit the ground I released the energy inside and saw five lines of energy shoot out of the sword, skim across the ground and hit five puppets. The energy shot up at contact and pulverised their targets.

I smirked and turned to the next batch. This time I focused my elemental chakra into my sword and jumped high into the air. I whirled the sword around until it looked like a spinning blue disk. I then released the energy and blue fireballs shot out of the spinning sword. Each one connected with a puppet. Each one was engulfed in blue flames. After roughly 20 fireballs I stopped spinning the sword and landed on the ground. I looked around and grinned. "Half finished."

I then spotted a rather large group and again jumped into the air. I took a deep breath and placed my right thumb and pointer finger to my mouth. I then breathed out and a bright blue flame exited my mouth and consumed the small mass of puppets. "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!"

The final group was a large one. Roughly 50 of the buggers were clustered together. Charging the group would not be wise, even with my enhanced speed. I placed Soul Calibur onto my back and got into a Kamehameha stance. I didn't put much energy into the attack, already knowing how destructive the move was.

"Ka, me, ha, me, HA!"

The beam shot out of my hands and headed for the group. As soon as it came in contact the beam exploded, sending wooden limbs and heads flying everywhere.

A silence fell on the battlefield, save for the birds chirping in the distance. I looked over and saw Naruto running over to me. Konohamaru was close behind him.

"Hey Naruto! You missed out on all the action!" I called out. He smiled as they stopped near the edge of the red field. I turned to the fallen statue of the Buddha.

"C'mon Naruto, help me put this statue back," I said. He nodded and we, with the help of Konohamaru, replaced the statue to its original spot.

I then summoned the Sylpheed wings and turned to the two boys. They complied and I transported them back to the edge of the area, a little slower since I was carrying Naruto and Konohamaru.

By the time we got back to Konoha, it was early afternoon. Konohamaru seemed to know where to find Kaede and so I unsealed the clover and handed it to the kid. We then followed him to the East Gate and it seemed we got there just in time.

Konohamaru walked up to the blue haired girl and handed the clover to her.

"This is the crimson four-leaf clover," said the kid. "Kaede-chan, make a wish."

She took it and smiled. "Konohamaru-kun… So you got this for me." She then closed her eyes, as if praying.

Several meters away I stood with Naruto. "Is that really going to grant a wish?" asked Naruto.

"I don't know," I said. "The old Chuunin test was to get to the centre of Akagahara and back safely. Those who did were accepted as Chuunin. I think that the wish to become Chuunin created the legend of the crimson four-leaf clover as time past."

"I see, that makes sense," replied Naruto.

"Kaede! We're going to go soon!" called the girl's mum.

Konohamaru cried out in despair. "Why didn't it work?"

(Cue song Saa, Kao wo Agete Goran by Kajiura Yuki from Erementar Gerad React OST 2)

"No, Konohamaru-kun, my wish came true," assured Kaede.

"What?"

"Because, if I have this, it would be the same as you always being with me," finished Kaede, blushing. Konohamaru blushed as well.

"Thank you, Konohamaru-kun," whispered the blue eyed girl as she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek. "Bye."

And then the wagon left with Kaede on the back, waving goodbye. Konohamaru also rased his hand in farewell.

We both walked up to the kid and placed our hands on each of his shoulders. "Aren't you glad now, Konohamaru?" said Naruto.

"Thank you Naruto-nii-chan, Josh-nii-chan," said Konohamaru. He wiped the tears that were threatening to spill and smiled up at us.

I smiled back. "C'mon kid. We'll treat you to some ramen at Ichiraku's, what do you say?"

His smile got bigger. "Yay!"

*********

1 Hour later

(Cue song Hekomi Mashita ga from Onegai Teacher - Soundtrack Collection)

"Huh? Where is everyone?" asked Kakashi at the edge of the red clover field. Sasuke looked at their teacher in annoyance.

"I thought you said they would be here. What do we find? Obliterated remains of stupid puppets and burnt grass." Sakura also looked annoyed, but not to the extent of brooder boy.

"Strange… I guess they left already," said Kakashi in a lazy voice.

"Now we have to go back through there?" asked Sakura. Kakashi nodded. "But it took us over an hour to get here."

"Well, come on. No time like the present!" Kakashi said as he made his way to the trees once again.

"A fact you seem to keep forgetting," grumbled Sakura.