Chapter 10 – The stronger wind

Once inside a hotel which happened to be located quite near the Kazekage's office building, Naruto took off his jacket and his mask, after closing the drapes, so as not to be seen. He didn't have anything to do other than maybe rest and take a shower, so he chose the latter. Every Suna hotel explained to their guests about the shortage of water supply and asked for them to not take long showers. Naruto wasn't one to disrespect, so he just took a five minute bath and changed his clothes to a more comfy, since he would be sleeping soon.

Suddenly, though, Gamakichi arrived and with him, was a scroll. "Naruto, seriously, I know I agreed to do this for you, but I can't be your damn postman all day. Why did you give the seal to that girl?" – Asked the toad, earning a small apology from Naruto who in turn, explained the reason behind allowing Hana to summon a messenger toad.

"Well, from what you told me, I guess I can accept that. However, you'll have to do something for me in return" - Asked Gamakichi to which Naruto nodded, since he knew the only thing his toad companion wanted and that was chocolate bars.

"From each letter you exchange between us, I'll buy you two chocolate bars, how is that sound?" – Asked Naruto, before seeing the red toad switching to thinking position for a while. While the toad was considering this, Naruto was thinking of how much greedy can the toad be, if four chocolates per letter weren't good enough.

"I accept, since this is the first one, we'll begin our agreement at the second one she sends to you. Well, go on read it, I'll be waiting for your reply" – Said Gamakichi before seeing the blond nod and open the scroll.

Hello there Naru-kun,

I just wanted to tell you that I managed to place the seal accordingly and now we've settled our level of communication. Well, I wanted you to know how nice it was to finally be with you and I couldn't be happier. Plus teasing my little brother by telling I was seeing a hunter-nin and seeing his face of anger, really did a number on my stomach…I laughed for hours.

Also, I told my mother about our day (of course not all of it) and she was happy for me. She wanted to meet you, though she knows it won't be possible seeing as you're a hunter-nin, but she's very supportive of everything.

How about you? Where you are now? I'll wait for your reply.

Hana

Naruto laughed a little bit at the image of Kiba acting like the protective little brother and snarling in anger once he heard about Hana dating Naruto. Picking up a blank scroll, he wrote back to Hana about his position and that he was hunting a new missing-nin that was last tracked near Suna. He also displayed his share of laughter at picturing an enraged Kiba, hoping also to read further teasing acts at Kiba. As to Hana's mother, Naruto wrote explaining that he never met Tsume, but he heard great things about her abilities both as kunoichi and as a mother from raising both his friend and the one he was dating right now. He finished the reply asking for a favor for Hana to supply the messenger with four chocolate bars, explaining that the toad was greedy and wouldn't do it for less.

He gave the reply to Gamakichi and appreciated for the help, before seeing the toad vanish. After that, Naruto went straight to bed and closed his eyes in seconds, before being transported to Kyuubi's mindscape, instantly. This happened every time the blond slept, as per Kyuubi's request. According to the fox, while the body would get to rest, Naruto's mind would be used as means to improve his training. Kyuubi used this method to introduce the concept of fire manipulation to Naruto.

===Inside Naruto's mindscape===

"Took you long enough to come here, Naruto. I actually thought you'd take a while to write that letter to your mate" – Stated Kyuubi, followed by a snicker as he knew Naruto would be hard pressed not to say anything after he used the word 'mate'.

"What the hell are you saying ero-kitsune; we had only one date, it's not like we're going to settle down or anything" – Explained Naruto, though he was surprised that he was questioning his own words right now. At first, the girl was nothing but aid in a mission to capture one of the missing-nins, however when she appeared next, wanting to meet him, Naruto felt something different.

The fox, seeing his jailor in deep thinking, could only smile in return. However, the reason of Naruto being here was for the training of the boy's mind. Aside from teaching the blond to get stronger and more powerful, Kyuubi happened to possess a wide-scale knowledge regarding shinobi aspects. Also, as a hunter-nin, Naruto would be some times, required to deal with an opponent in a different way than blunt force and using jutsus and Kyuubi had the perfect topic in mind to teach Naruto.

"Ok Naruto, stop wondering about Hana and let's focus on a topic I want you to learn. It's called pressure points" - Stated Kyuubi, earning an eager nod from Naruto who took a sit on the ground and looked up since Kyuubi was quite big. "A pressure point in the field of martial arts refers to an area on the human body that may produce significant pain or other effects when manipulated in a specific manner. By knowing where to hit other than simply hitting the opponent, you can either cause pain beyond measure or even immobilize a certain area of the opponent's body. You'd do well to remember your fight against that fake hunter-nin Haku a while back, right?" – Asked Kyuubi to which Naruto nodded.

"So, Haku used needles and placed them at specific parts on your body in order to incapacitate your body movements. Also, remember when he put the Uchiha traitor on a false-death state by placing one needle at a precise point right below the neck. As a hunter-nin, you'll be required to have this knowledge as it will be an advantage in the future, now to learn where the pressure points located are, you'll need to memorize what I'm about to explain to you, because although no human is the same as the other, the pressure point's location remain the same…" – Explained Kyuubi as he began to drill information inside Naruto's head as to the many places to strike and if possible, teach the blond about the use of needles.

===the next day===

When the sun rose, Naruto immediately felt its warmth and woke up, while holding his head from the immense headache he was feeling right now. Learning pressure points were hard but not impossible to learn, however when Kyuubi changed the subject to teach the blond the art of using needles to hit precise target points, the blond wished he could've shut both body and mind to keep him away from the huge pile of information that was battling to make space on his mind. Quickly dressing his hunter-nin attire and the mask, Naruto left the hotel room, before suddenly, he was face to face with his company on this mission, Temari while holding a basket of breads of different types.

"I was hoping you wouldn't be late to leave the room Hunter-san, I thought I'd get to hold this bucket for hours" – Said Temari, earning a nod from Naruto. I wonder if Gaara put her up to this or is this some weird way of Suna displaying their hospitality for Konoha. – Thought Naruto as he accepted the bucket of bread and placed his mask sideways in order to eat the bread and to keep his identity safe to the girl.

"I would suspect that she did this in ways of getting you on the sack later...he he he" – Laughed Kyuubi while inside the blond's head, earning a sigh in dismay from the blond, who actually thought that the damn fox was satisfied after his 'meeting' with Hana. Not now, damn fox.

"Temari-san, I have to admit I feel a little bit humble from having the sister of the Kazekage, serving a no-one like me some breakfast. I wonder about Kazekage-sama's intentions" – Asked Naruto, not entirely sure what to make of this type of situation. Surely, Gaara was on to something with this and Naruto was too much frightened to think his long-time friend might be setting up something between him and Gaara's sister.

"Beats me, Gaara just asked me to assure you had a nice time in Suna. I didn't know what he is planning with this, but since he is the Kazekage, I guess I didn't have a say in the manner. Well, since you had your breakfast hunter-san, we should get moving fast. We are at the tempest week of the month, meaning that we'll have to avoid quite a lot of hurricanes before reaching the end of the desert" – Explained Temari to which Naruto nodded, before wondering why the girl said the part about leaving the desert.

"Where is he located? I thought he was residing within Wind Country?" – Asked Naruto with clear annoyance as he crossed the forsaken desert needlessly.

Sensing the man's frown, Temari assumed he was rather angry from having to cross the desert without any need to it, but she explained that a recent recon mission returned with Mishimoto's real location and he is currently residing within a small village near River Country. "If we travel faster, we'll take a day and a half to cross the desert and one more day to reach his location. I don't think he would move from that position as I'm sure he spotted our recon team, so he will logically assume we still didn't give up the chase. It will be up to you to face him and render him unconscious. Think you can live up to the task?" – Asked Temari.

Naruto for his part frowned but his reaction remained the same. In the end, it will all be decided on who has the stronger wind.

"I won't intend to give you an answer before I get to face the man in combat. Nevertheless, if Suna's best couldn't fight him, then I'll be hard pressed not to believe his wind abilities to one of the best in all of the elemental nations. In the end, the battle will be decided on who got the stronger wind between both of us" – Explained Naruto, before seeing a nod from Temari who couldn't help but agree with the hunter-nin's words and be silently impressed.

She knew a fair amount of her village's hunter-nins going as far as to date one in the past. All of them, with close exceptions, became arrogant with their abilities, stating that no matter how much dangerous the enemy could be. This hunter-nin, though gave her a realistic answer, while also, telling her that he, also, possesses a wind affinity.

A while later, Naruto and Temari left the hotel and went directly towards the city gate. After presenting the documents of the Kazekage's mission, thus registering Temari's exit towards a mission. The Kazekage created a system that would allow him to know who was inside the village and who was out, also pinpointing how much time it would take for the ones out on missions to return to the village. After clearing everything, Naruto and Temari stood towards the direction of River Country throw the desert and Temari used her hand to point to a certain direction.

When Naruto looked, he was surprised to see three hurricanes side by side as they danced along the desert in the northeast position. "We need to feel when the wind shifts its direction. After it, we'll have close to thirty seconds to get as further away as possible from the place, before the hurricane is formed. We'll need a lot of chakra to travel as fast as we intend to as well as dodge the hurricanes" – Explained Temari to which Naruto nodded, before both of them charged towards River Country.

===In Konoha===

One of the deep and dark places of Konoha, where no man, in their sane mind, would want to be right now was the Anbu torture and interrogation department led by Konoha's interrogator Morino Ibiki. There was a reason for this, because the man's methods rivaled no one. Brutal, but efficient, Ibiki could either make the interrogated spill all his life or drop dead from not being able to hold the pressure for long. Countless people came here and all of them ended up spilling their entire lives to the man. However, one man was different. Takara Shinobu was brought in for questioning by orders from the Hokage from suspicion of being a rat for Akatsuki. According to the man's file, Kakashi and a chunnin named Sai followed him for a while, before discovering that the man was sending information to a man named Pein, which happened to be the Akatsuki's leader.

The problem was linking this man to his leader, Danzou. Below a two-way mirror, three people laid there discussing the next course of action. Kakashi, Tsunade and Ibiki were trying to figure out what they could discover about this man and what information did he pass to the organization. "I've encountered tough subjects to crack, Tsunade-sama, but none of them is anyway similar to this one. It's like Danzou transformed him into a mindless individual" – Said Ibiki, after explaining that methods that rely on emotion wouldn't be effective against someone emotionless.

Both Kakashi and Tsunade nodded at the Tokubetsu interrogator, indeed when Sai first came to their lives, he was similar in every sort of way. Emotionless, just with the mission in mind and nothing else; it took Naruto's attitude to change Sai's behavior into turning friends with both him and Sakura. However, if this man truly has no emotions, then Ibiki wouldn't be the best candidate for this interrogation. His method relied on messing the man's mind, pretty much destroying them to get the information Konoha needs.

"Ibiki, who would you consider for replacing you with this guy? If your reports are true, then we would need a different approach" – Asked Tsunade earning a nod from Ibiki who in turn begun to think for a while.

"On the spot, I would consider my sensei Yamanaka Inoichi, he could get inside the man's mind without the need of torture/interrogation, however I don't know if it would work, because the Yamanaka clan jutsus rely on a cooperative mind and it might me dangerous if Sensei were to try against a man trained by Danzou...I will regret to say this, but we are in need of a more 'physical' approach" – Explained Ibiki, earning a look in wonder from both Kakashi and Tsunade, before Kakashi flinched instantly.

"Another interrogator in my department has a different kind of approach which relies in the body. While one without emotion, he has tact and is not immune to pain. The one I'm thinking about uses pain as a method for extracting the information she needs. Her range of options begins with kunais to poisons that could kill a man in seconds" – Stated Ibiki, earning a sigh in dismay from Kakashi who in turn knew who said woman was.

Tsunade, for her part, looked at the man and issued to call her, pretty much clueless as to the woman's identity. Ibiki nodded and vanished for a couple minutes, before bringing his companion.

"Tsunade-sama, I brought the interrogator as per your orders" – Said Ibiki before seeing Tsunade look at him, before her eyes were bigger then saucers. ANKO!!!

===At Konoha's hospital===

At the hospital, Hana was there visiting Kurenai. The woman was already nine months pregnant and she felt something strange upon entering a market so she rushed to the hospital, only to discover it was a false alarm. However, seeing as Kurenai could have the baby any day now, she chose to remain at the maternity section of the hospital for the duration of her little Asuma's birth. Linked with Kurenai's belly, was a tube that would send the signal for the doctors and tell them when the baby would be born.

As for Hana's conversation, she was telling Kurenai everything about her date with Naruto and how wonderful it turned out to be. She told about how much he looks like the Yondaime added with some feral whisker marks and she told about the conversation they had together. The juicy part of the whole thing was, of course, omitted from fear of increasing Kurenai's hormones, but she told her the rest of their little vacation. Kurenai was indeed happy for both Hana and Naruto, but slightly concerned for her once student Hinata. Even though her confidence risen a bit, when the topic of Naruto came, she would be that same academy student once again. However, seeing that neither Naruto saw this occurring nor Hinata reached him to say it, so it was like it never happened.

"I'm glad that you managed to find someone Hana-chan. Before Naruto-kun, none of the men you dated turned out to be dating material and I remembered you telling me that one even tried to harm your dogs" – Said Kurenai, expressing her concerns to Hana and be glad that Naruto treated her nicely.

"Yes, those were bastards, but not him. Naruto-kun has something with him that you can't help but fall for. You and I agree that his life growing up was horrible and yet, seeing him that day showed me that, instead of taking revenge of the people who wronged him, he understood their pain. In his exact words, he said that his knowledge about hardships in life became subjective, even though no one had to deal with things they didn't cause and that he knew for a fact that people have their own nightmare to think about so it wouldn't do well for him to show everyone how it was for him growing up" – Explained Hana, at the same time, smiling at her friend from being able to meet the real Naruto.

Kurenai and Hana remained talking about Naruto for a while, before the visiting hours were done and she had to go home. Kurenai appreciated Hana for taking her time to visit her, but the Inuzuka chunnin dismissed it by saying it is a pleasure to be of company, before issuing her a goodnight sleep.

Once outside, Hana headed towards her house to get her well-deserved sleep. She remembered sending that message to Naruto and leaving the house not wanting for the reply. She had to go to her office because of an early emergency. However, as he walked casually towards the Inuzuka compound, she remembered her conversation with her mother right after her date. To say Tsume was surprised it was an understatement, at the time when she saw Hana bouncing up and down in joy, she wondered about the date and what happened for her daughter to be so happy.

It took Hana a couple of minutes to explain and Tsume's smile was from ear to ear upon seeing this kind of happiness resurface once again. When Hana was only a genin, the girl was mostly hyperactive and happy while playing with her dogs. However, one event changed that and Hana, after, changed. It was not a negative change as ninja are required to face stressful situations and learn how to cope with it, but Hana's attitude towards things in general changed and she was now reserved. After that date with Naruto, Hana was happier than Tsume could remember and It certainly brought a motherly smile from Tsume.

Back to Hana, she just saw her house on the horizon and immediately began increasing her pace while being followed by her triplet huskies.

===At the Inuzuka compound===

After arriving at the Inuzuka compound, she saw a note at the table from her mother saying that she had to leave for a mission with Kiba for a tracking mission towards Iwa and wouldn't arrive for another three days. Returning the note on the table, Hana got to feed her triplets before going to her room. Once inside, she saw the seal and was happy to see a scroll next to it. Upon opening it, she began to read Naruto's reply to her letter.

Hello there Hana-chan,

I'm currently in Suna as a request from the Kazekage, hunting one of their missing-nins. Don't ask me the reason for my presence here; I guess Suna's hunters aren't so good or something.

Also, thanks for supplying me with material to tease Kiba in the future, I was able to picture his pissed looking face and I wanted to ask if you could supply me more of these type of situations.

As to your mother, I'm afraid I've never met her before, but I've heard great things of her abilities as the top Inuzuka as well as a great mother for raising both Kiba and you. Anyway, I hope to meet her in the future.

I enjoyed our date a lot and I also hope that you could get some getaways from Konoha for us to do it again, the date I mean.

I look forward to meeting you once again Hana-chan, take care.

Take care once again,

Naruto

PS: Oh could you do me a favor? The messenger toad you summon is quite a greedy bastard, so he will require a reward for the messages. Could you, perhaps, buy four chocolate bars to give to him, I don't know where to find them and I can't just go anywhere.

After Hana read it all, she snickered a little bit and remembered that Naruto was born a prankster, hence why he enjoyed reading about Kiba being teased. The final part of the letter was a bit odd, but if Naruto asked her to buy some chocolate bars, it wasn't so hard. Hana didn't know much about toads, but seeing that Naruto knew them, Hana wouldn't question it. She was surprised at what he said about her mother, being the top Inuzuka and a great mother and it only added to things she liked about him. She knew that Naruto was an orphan since birth and must, often, imagine what his life would be if his parents would be alive.

===At the Anbu torture and interrogation department===

Ibiki, Tsunade and Kakashi were watching Anko's method of torture and Tsunade actually thought her hemophobia was resurfacing once again. Anko proved to be quite a vicious woman as she injected Takara with enough poison that his skin was beginning to burn like acid, but yet the man was still holding his tongue. Blood was all over the man's body and a few drops fell on Anko's coat, but she wasn't one to lose to this guy.

Back behind the windows, the three watchers were almost quitting their attempt on linking the man to Danzou. This Takara person wasn't human, he felt no pain. Nothing they attempted on him was enough for the man to stutter the information. Instead, the only sound that left his mouth were paining sounds and laughter as a way of mocking the interrogators.

"I'll give one last shot before you'll meet the shinigami, asshole. Tell me who do you work for, you peace of shit" – Shouted Anko, before once again hearing the man laughing at her expense, angering the woman greatly. Grabbing a kunai, she charged at the man with the sole intention of stopping the weapon near the man's neck and so she did, but with no avail. The man didn't show a hint of fear, just instead kept looking at her while laughing once more. Seeing this, Anko sighed in dismay. She knew of a rat inside the ranks that was working for Akatsuki, reporting to them about Naruto's position, so she wanted to help. Naruto was the one responsible for bringing the only family Anko still has and she wanted to do something for him, but this man was hard to crack (make it impossible).

"Well, you'll die in a couple of minutes, anyway. At least if we're not able to take any information out of you, we'll be satisfied to see you convulsing in pain, before falling limb on the floor. It'll be real nice, you know, all the blood spattered around, you limp body on the ground, bleeding" – Said Anko, before turning her back on him and headed back to the room.

Once inside, she looked at those inside and sighed in dismay. She actually thought the man wouldn't be able to resist the n number of poisons she injected through his veins, but to her and everyone present's dismay, the Anbu Ne agent was tougher than all of them thought. "Ibiki, Anko, we need this man alive...give him the antidote and lock him up, we'll have to come up with different methods of persuasion" – Said Tsunade as she turned and left the premises.

Anko and Ibiki nodded and went inside the room as Kakashi vanished with a shunshin.

===With Naruto===

Naruto and Temari made a small camp and Naruto was just observing a panting Temari as he pretty much swallowed her food without even wasting time in chewing. The two of them crossed the desert while escaping the hurricanes, but at the cost of terrible tiredness at least on Temari's part. Naruto, though, was unscathed and even his breathing was irritably normal. The woman thought about getting mad at him for not being at all tired while she was on the verge of collapsing from tiredness. The two of them crossed the entire desert in less than a day and managed to escape what Temari referred to be the worst hurricane week ever. While they managed to escape one that was forming, another one would form immediately at the place where they would soon be, obliging them to use chakra on their feet the whole time.

In fact, the only reason Temari didn't collapsed from lack of chakra was because of her rather large reserves (at least high enough for a jounin kunoichi). After finishing her plate, she looked at the masked hunter-nin in front of him and tried to study him for a while. Along the way, he didn't show any hints of displeasure which could be caused by either high chakra consumption or heavy strain in his leg muscles for using them so much as they did. He was just doing this as he was a highly experienced suna ninja who crossed the desert way too many times. She was also curious to the fact that her brother Gaara knew the man even though he was wearing the mask the entire time.

Naruto for his turn certainly appreciated the trip. Wind was his element after all he used the already existing wind in the atmosphere to move faster, thus avoiding the hurricanes without resorting to using much chakra. He considered Temari's angry look at him and wondered if she thought of taking advantage of the wind force around the hurricanes, but seeing that she was deadly tired, Naruto guessed not. "Temari-san, I would advise you to get some rest for tomorrow. Don't worry I'll take the night's watch" – Said Naruto, before hearing a faint snort from the blond suna kunoichi.

"Don't you dare think of me as weak hunter-san, you don't need to take the full night's watch; I'll rest for four hours and then I'll cover the area while you get to rest" – Explained Temari, before looking at Naruto as in daring him to say otherwise.

Naruto for his part didn't mind it one bit, but also he would refuse to bring himself to argue with an angry kunoichi, specially seeing how much of a temper she has. So Naruto just nodded and shunshined within a small typhoon and instantly appeared on top of a tree nearby. Temari once again snorted at the guy before heading towards her tent.

Once he saw Temari entering the tent, Naruto sighed in dismay upon seeing that he was stuck with this troublesome woman for the duration of his little mission.

"You know, there are tons of things you could do to ease her up, I mean you and I can feel the pent up energy she was releasing. I bet she doesn't get any of it back home" – Said Kyuubi, earning another sigh from Naruto.

"I really thought you'd quiet down after what me and Hana did, but I was sadly mistaken, I guess once a pervert always a pervert" – Mumbled Naruto as he made a couple of kage bunshins and settled them towards key positions around the camp, so that they would be able to alert the real one in case of an enemy present.

"Well, although Hana is one fine piece of meat, you'll have to admit that this Temari person is also just as nice...plus, as to your thoughts, I'm pretty sure I explained to you already that monogamy is not my thing" – Stated Kyuubi, before seeing Naruto agreeing with a nod.

"Temari is the Kazekage's sister and I know that any man who even looks at her the long way would have to face his sand...I guess he's over-protective." – Said Naruto, as the conversation continued for a while.

When Naruto's time ended, he dropped of the tree and went to the tent to call Temari. He could simply forget about the plan and just remain watching but he had a gut feeling that a proud and stubborn Kunoichi would like this at all, so he went to wake her. After some time calling her name and no answer, he opened the tent in order to see if the woman was sleep or something. However, the sight was very funny as Temari was not only sleeping, but also drooling. Well, I guess she would be even angrier if woke her up. – Thought Naruto before going back to his tree to remain the night watch.

===the next day===

Slowly opening her eyes, Temari found it strange that the first rays of sunlight reached the tent. The hunter-nin was supposed to wake her up for her time watch, but instead he never did. The nerve of that guy, she snarled in thought. Grabbing her fan, she stormed out of the tent, only to see the hunter there seating on top of a tree log making some morning stew. "Good morning Temari-san, I hope you like stew for breakfast, it's the only thing I can do right now, slept well?" – Asked Naruto, though he knew that the woman would want some explaining as to why he didn't wake her in the first place.

"Bastard, why didn't you wake me up? I thought we agreed to have shifts" – Asked Temari, though a part of her was thanking the man for not waking her.

"I tried to, believe me. I called you up a few times and then when I saw you inside the tent, you're pretty much drooling in your sleep. I figured you're too tired from the trip, so I just returned and let you sleep. Besides, if I did wake you, you wouldn't be able to rest at all, thus being a hindrance when we find the missing-nin" – Explained Naruto, though waiting for Temari to be pissed at his commentary, but then he saw her face expression becoming more relaxed which meant he ended up doing her a favor. It was after she came willingly and sit next to him, that he realized that what he did, ended up being beneficial to her in the long run.

Had she took her shift at night, she wouldn't be at her best against Mishimoto. Being a jounin at such an early age always spoke highly of Temari's skills both in Suna and Konoha. Her fuuton abilities rivaled only the elite and she was well in her way of becoming a master at her own element. Being that said, it would be quite a blow to her pride if she was beaten by Mishimoto because she wasn't able to have a full night rest. After picking a bowl that was offered by the hunter-nin, she drank it like a soup. While not as good as home cooked meal, Temari found the stew to be quite tasty on his own right and asked the Hunter-nin.

"Being on the streets for so much time pretty much forces you to depend on yourself. So, anything from supplies, food, water and the likes you have to gather on your own. I had to learn how to cook because if i were to eat at public places, I would draw too much unwanted attention for myself, plus the fact that if I were to eat in restaurants, I'd have to go after A to S ranked enemies and that is something I'm not prepared to do yet. Eat up and then we'll track Mishimoto" – Said Naruto to which Temari nodded and drank the rest of the stew, before asking for more.

A while later, Naruto and Temari arrived in River Country in hopes of finding the bastard. Naruto was cursing Temari's presence because he couldn't summon Gamakichi to aid him from fear of the girl discovering his identity and ruin everything. So, it ended being his hunter-nin tracking skills and Temari's information of Mishimoto to track the guy. According to Gaara, the guy urged for a challenge so it was likely he wouldn't waste time in hiding or even using genjutsu to hide his presence from others.

The village was sparse at best, some local villagers were found taking care of their agriculture. It wasn't as crowded as in major villages, so both Temari and Naruto would be able to simply spot the man they are looking for. The description was easy to follow, just see a man with a giant iron fan on his back. Mishimoto's appearance didn't stand on the crowd, so it would be down to finding the big fan and hope for the best.

It didn't take long and they reached the end of the village, although no sign of a man carrying a giant fan on his back. However, just before the two turned to get back and search for more, both of them sensed the shift in the air current and jumped on instinct. Their action proved to be the right one as just after they jumped, a huge gust of wind passed through the area, sending everything in its path flying. Just as Naruto and Temari landed on top a little oak house, they heard the man's voice.

"Huh I'm honored to have your presence here with little old me Temari-sama. I was hoping Suna sent someone more worthy of fighting me and they sent you, how disappointing. Maybe, the Kazekage is being mad or something? That or he's too scared to come himself and deal with me, personally" – Said Mishimoto as he fully opened his fan and eyed Temari's companion. "Ah, look what we have here, a hunter-nin from Konoha. I've got to tell Temari, it seems the Kazekage is really desperate to plead help from Konoha with an intern affair. Doesn't matter, though, you two will add up with the number of fools that become victim of my battle fan"

"Man, this guy don't stop talking, my ears are hurting already, let's show what we're made of Naruto" – Said Kyuubi within Naruto's mind, earning a nod from Naruto who in turn asked for Temari to stand aside.

"What are you talking about? You can't hope to beat him alone, I'll help" – Shouted Temari, earning a nod in the negative from the hunter.

"The Kazekage called me for a reason Temari...It's my mission to deal with him. I prefer to fight my enemies alone, so don't interfere unless I'm done for" – Said Naruto, before he took his sword and charged Mishimoto with speeds that astounded the Suna jounin.

Mishimoto, though, wasn't easily fooled by speed alone and did a strong swing of his battle fan, thus increasing the gust of wind and sending towards Naruto, who jumped out of the way, before looking at the man for a while. Because of the battle fan, i'd assume he is a long-range fighter so it wouldn't be wise for me to charge straight at him. My approach would have to be different and I know just the way. – Thought Naruto as he channeled a bit of Kyuubi's chakra, before making the hand seals.

Katon Karyuu Endan (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Missile Jutsu). Instantly, Naruto expelled from his mouth a thin layer of white fire towards the enemy before the fire became stronger. Mishimoto cursed at the fire technique and used his battle fan to create a wind diversion to make contact with the fire attack and explode. After the contact was made, smoke filled the area and Mishimoto couldn't see a damn thing. Right now, he knew the hunter-nin's plan to come closer by creating some smoke, but he realized too late as Naruto was already on his side with his sword on his hands, attacking.

The man wasn't known for his close-ranged skills so much, but a lot of enemies tried to take him from close-ranged, only to be killed afterwards and the hunter-nin wouldn't be an exception. Mishimoto used his battle fan in order to block Naruto's sword swings to the best of his abilities, before doing a back-flip and doing another swing with his battle fan for the technique Fuuton Dai Kamaitachi (Wind Release: Great Whirlwind Jutsu). Suddenly, Naruto saw in front of him, a huge mass of small wind swords ready to cut all over his body. Molding his chakra fast, Naruto managed to make a barrier of wind around him, thus escaping from the incoming slice attacks that would kill him for sure.

Immediately, Naruto made some hand seals for Fuuton Kaze no Yaiba (Wind Release: Wind Sword Jutsu) and threw it at Mishimoto, who did a back-flip and avoided the attack.

"I'm afraid I misjudged your abilities hunter-san, not only do you possess a fire affinity, but you're also proficient in fuuton ninjutsu. That's quite rare to occur, since they are opposites" – Said Mishimoto as he remained with his battle fan prepared for a new swing, while watching Naruto's actions. The blond for his part, used his speed and within moments, was right in front of Mishimoto, not even giving time for the man to use his battle fan to keep the distance. Naruto figured that if he remained close enough, Mishimoto wouldn't be able to use the devastating fuuton attacks. Using straight taijutsu this time, Naruto was able to land some blows to the man's stomach, before flipping in mid-air and landing a nice roundhouse kick on the man's face, thus sending him flying.

Naruto was about to make the hand seals for a fire technique when he saw the man using the momentum and flipping his body in mid-air, before using Fuuton Daitoppa (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough Jutsu) straight at Naruto. The blond was taken by surprise and was hit dead on, before sent flying towards the trees. Mishimoto smiled at yet another ruined attempt of Suna to kill him and turned to Temari now for the second round. The hunter-nin managed to inflict some damage to the man's muscles, but he was able to use his swing, since Temari wouldn't come close-ranged from being the same type of fighter as him.

"So Temari-san, you and I have the same style of fighting, so it would only seem fair to settle this by seeing who's got the stronger wind, wouldn't you agree?" – Asked Mishimoto, before seeing Temari snarling in response. The woman was at awe from seeing the hunter-nin's abilities and actually hoped that he would take Mishimoto down, but when she saw the Daitoppa sending him flying, her hopes were gone and now she had to fight this man.

Just as Temari was about to use her battle fan, she heard the hunter's voice.

"I thought I made myself clear when I said that you're not to intervene unless I 'm done for Temari-san. This man is my prey, so if you step away and let me handle him, I appreciate it" – Said Naruto as he appeared next to Temari with his arms crossed.

Mishimoto for his part wondered why the hunter was still alive after being sent flying with astonishing speed to the forest nearby. By looking at him, though, Mishimoto couldn't find a single wound on his body.

"You're quite smart and took me by surprise, but I won't happen again, I assure you" - Said Naruto, before taking his sword once more and vanishing straight at the opponent, who pretty much dodged the sword swing by pure instinct. Mishimoto was astounded to see that the speed doubled and couldn't follow the hunter-nin. This is bad, if I can't see him, that means he can sneak close and deliver the killing blow, I'll have to resort to using more chakra for my techniques and hope to keep him at a safe distance.

Naruto didn't waste time and after the missing blow, he charged once more and attacked Mishimoto who had to place his battle fan in front of the sword so as not to be sliced in half. However, he left his side open, which is why Naruto took the advantage and flipped his body, aiming a strong and chakra channeled kick straight at the man's stomach, before sending him flying. Mishimoto struggled even to breathe as the air left him. Also he could hear the sound of ribs breaking hence how his body was aching now in numerous places.

Naruto stood in front of the man as he was using his hands to hold his stomach in a failed attempt of stopping the pain. Naruto's kick injured him so badly; the man was struggling to even get up. "Don't bother trying to get up, Mishimoto. I ended up hitting one of your body's pressure points that happened be located within the middle of the stomach, the abdomen. This sensitive area, when hit with chakra, sends immeasurable waves of pain through your whole body, thus hindering its movement from fear of over-exerting your muscles. How does it feel to be like this, useless against an enemy? I'd gladly kill you now, but I'm not allowed to do so, hence why I'll send you to unconsciousness, sweet dreams" – Said Naruto, as he placed two fingers just below the man's right ear into a certain position on the man's neck. The man instantly closed his eyes and fell limb on the floor.

===At Suna===

Inside the Kazekage's office, two days later, both Naruto and Temari were in front of Gaara reporting the success of Mishimoto's capture, thus pleasing Gaara greatly. "Congratulations on a job well done, Temari you're excused for the time being. Hunter-san I'd like to talk to you for a moment" – Asked Gaara to which both nodded and Temari left.

"Pressure points, Naruto? Please explain" – Asked Gaara, earning a nod from Naruto who took his mask off and looked at his friend.

"It was the only way to subdue the bastard without killing him, I'm afraid. I'm still learning the art, but I was already able to locate one and hit it. Mishimoto doubled in pain the second he landed on the ground" – Explained Naruto, earning a nod from Gaara who in turn, wrote the letter to Tsunade explaining the whole thing and sent it to Konoha via one of his personal messenger hawks.

"So, where to now? Do you have a next target in mind?" – Asked Gaarato which Naruto nodded and showed Gaara the picture of his next target.

"The man's name is Hitaro Matsuyama and was a jounin level ninja by the time he fled the village after stealing some money from Konoha's vaults. I'm heading to Tea Country and look after him" – Said Naruto, earning a nod from Gaara who handed him the bingo book.

"Well, then, thanks once again for your help and I hope to hear from you again some other time" – Said Gaara to which Naruto nodded and vanished, only to appear on top of the Kazekage's tower, looking towards his next destination as the sun was just setting for the day.