"I have alerted Orochimaru of your upcoming mission."
That had NOT been expected. That sentiment was expressed on Naruto Uzumaki's face when he turned to face his loyal knight. His half-dressed and wild-haired form did well to supplement his expression.
"How did you do that? You haven't left my side since I learned about it?"
The small smile that graced her face after his question told him he wasn't going to get anything close to a straight answer. He rolled his eyes at this. Despite her undying loyalty, Kimimaro could prove to be vexing with her secrecy at the time.
"I have my ways."
There it was. He smiled to himself at his own prediction before returning to the task at hand, dressing himself in his armored clothing. From the side of his eye, he could spot his knight eyeing him with that intense gaze of hers. He had no doubt In his mind that she was dying on the inside from not being able to dress him herself. Despite how hard she had argued for it, he had drawn the line there. He loved her resourcefulness but there were things he had to do for himself.
"Master Orochimaru has deemed it necessary to inform you of several key figures in Wave in preparation of your mission."
It became hard to focus on clothing himself when a stretched out scroll was placed directly in front of his face. He attempted to read the thing without interrupting his dressing process but found that tying the loop of his pants while reading a swaying document was harder than he imagined. He gave up on his pants with a loud huff while snatching the scroll out of his knight's grip.
"Gato of Gato Company, Zabuza the former demon of the hidden mist, now S-rank missing-nin and his cohorts, the demon brothers. All have been identified as threats by Orochimaru's contacts within Wave country."
His eyes traveled over the scroll while she spoke. When she finished, he threw the scroll onto the bed, allowing it to roll to a close, while he went back to tying his pants. Kimimaro watched him moved in silence. Her tongue beckoned her to speak yet she ignored it. At least, she attempted to. Failure came to her when Naruto reached down to grab at his sword.
"You have yet to say anything. Are you worried, Master? I promise that no harm will come over you. Honestly, you have no-"
She was forced to stop speaking when the pointed tip of the boy's sword became aimed at her face. Her emotions came crashing down upon her while her eyes traveled up the length of the sword to trace the soft smile on her master's face.
"You are right." He started while lowering the sword away from her face. He took special care in attaching the massive piece of metal onto his hip before shifting his focus back to the Kaguya.
"I have nothing to worry about because I fear nothing."
"You are worried about him."
It was true. It was so glaringly true. Why was it, though?
"Do you doubt Kimimaro's ability? I am sure she can defend him better than almost anyone else."
She gave a rapid shake of her head. That wasn't it. She had no doubt In the Kaguya's ability to fight for and protect her charge. She had raised the girl to be the ultimate knight. She was a wall, a high rise of impenetrable, cold and merciless death, that no one would get past without suffering through hell.
Kimimaro wasn't the problem.
"Is it the boy? Do you believe he is not strong enough? Will he get himself-"
The reaction was natural, all too natural. She crossed the distance between herself and the Crystal user in an instant before wrapping her hand around the girl's throat. She lifted her from off the ground for a brief moment before driving her back into the ground. All the air in the woman's lungs, along with a mist of spit, was driven out of her mouth onto her assailant's face.
"Never question the ability of my prince nor my faith in him!"
Guren could only nod her head rapidly in the hopes that her compliance would be conveyed. Words left her at the moment, partly out of fear and partly because of the sannin's tight grip around her throat. This wasn't how she wanted to go. She should have just kept her mouth close.
The air came rushing back into her lungs when the woman let go of her neck. The noise of her gulping in the air was the sole sound within the room as she remained laid on the ground. On the other hand, Orochimaru had risen up and was now walking back to her throne.
"Send Jugo to Wave. Remind him of Kimimaro's presence and her true loyalty."
Those words. They were terrifying. Even more so than the woman's hand wrapped around her throat and her snarling face inches away from her own. Those words sounded calm and demanding. They sparked a fear in her, an unwillingness to question and a need to follow. That was scary.
This woman was scary.
"Yes, Master Orochimaru."
She could do nothing but bow. Now was not the time. Questioning was the action of a fool at the moment. Obey she had to do.
Anything less would lead to her death.
A wise man once said that if you stare into the abyss long enough, it will eventually stare back at you. Now, a puddle wasn't exactly an abyss but Naruto couldn't help but feel that the thing was staring back at him. It was that sixth sense of being watched. He had grown accustomed to it underneath Kaguya's watch but not enough to grow blind to the feeling.
"Naruto!"
Sakura's yell brought his attention over to his team. The girl looked agitated with him. He assumed it had something to do with him stopping to stare at the puddle for the past minute or so. Her expression was shared with their client, a man of modest build with an immodest sense of alcohol consumption. Sasuke stared down the road, his mind undoubtedly focused on what was ahead. Despite the boy's lack of his activated bloodline, his focus was still set to the future.
His sensei had the most interesting expression. The fact that the man's head was removed from his book was a big enough achievement in itself. What intrigued the boy more was the eyebrow raise the man was sending his way. Kakashi was a man of few emotions. He had learned that during his team in Team 7. A simple raising of the eyebrow showed a lot more than one would believe.
"Well, are you coming or not?"
Was he coming? He took a glance down at the puddle once more.
No. Not yet.
He spun to the puddle, his dominant hand slapping onto the hilt of his Odachi as he turned. The sword came free of its sheath with little resistance when he pulled. He sent it twirling through the air, edge cutting through the earth's breeze, before striking it against the puddle.
Excitement rushed through him. A cloud of dust didn't greet him. The sound of metal hitting metal filled the air.
He had found his target.
They sprung from the puddle in tandem. They looked alike, wild-haired, baggy clothing and sharpened claws connected with a single chain. Their eyes spoke of murder.
His eyes reflected the same.
The bolder of the two came at him first. He sprung into the air like a beast and attempted to bring his claw down upon his head. The claw met the flat edge of his sword with a loud screech. Naruto pushed on contact, sending the ninja reeling backward.
His accomplice soon took his place. This one was quick, much quicker than his counterpart, and immediately attempted to cleave through the blond's chest with his claw. Naruto bore his chest proudly at the attack while raising his own sword. The claw's impact was clean but it offered little to the attacking ninja as he found his weapon rebounding off of the boy's armored clothing.
He had been on the opposing end of this situation so many times before while training with Kaguya. The woman's bones made for an annoying and unseen defense. A number of times he had thought he had gotten a clean hit on the woman only for his sword to bounce off of her was frustrating.
His experience would serve him well. With his sword raised and the ninja unprotected, it was a simple act. He brought the sword down upon the man's shoulder. The blade made contact, digging itself a small hole in the available flesh before Naruto pulled. The muscles of his arms tightened, coiling into their bunched form, before releasing all their stored energy. The sword followed the motion of his pulling, enlarging the hole into a diagonal trench that stretched the length of the man's torso.
The smell of blood overpowered the sound of the surviving nin's shout. He bathed in it for the briefest of moments before jumping backward. The last links of the chain passed by his face as the man's gauntlet passed by his face.
He reached out to grab onto the trailing chain but stopped himself when a wave of kunai came sailing through the air. He allowed himself to relax and watched while the masked ninja raised his gauntlet to block the stars. He managed to block a fair few but he didn't manage to block the kick aimed for his face. The underside of Sasuke's foot drove the man's face into the ground. A well-placed punch from the Uchiha knocked the man into blissful unconsciousness.
"That was unexpected."
Kakashi's voice reached him but he paid it little attention. His focus was elsewhere at the moment.
He hadn't managed to kill the man with the attack. The ninja remained alive, sucking in pained breath while clutching at his bloodied chest. The spasms running through his body seemed to grow weaker with each passing moment.
"Naruto?"
He ignored the Kakashi's voice while leveling his sword at the downed man. The two locked eyes for a brief second before he drove the tip of his sword into the injured man's skull. The sword had carved an easy path through the flesh and blood. Naruto pulled the sword loose of the skull, putting it back into its sheath, before turning to face his teacher.
"Sorry about that, sensei." He offered the man a small smile while rubbing at the back of his neck. The man responded like he had done so in the past, with a simple raised eyebrow. He rested his eyes on Naruto for a moment before cutting his focus onto the corpse by the boy's foot.
"I'm pretty sure that one has a bounty of his head. You may want to seal him up for when we get back to the village." The man's flippant response widened the smile on the boy's face. He nodded to his words before turning and kneeling at the dead ninja.
With his more erratic student distracted, Kakashi turned to his client. An unheard sigh slipped past his lips before he began to lumber over toward the man. The mission he had picked in the hopes of having an easy vacation away from the village was turning out to be anything but that.
"Things are never simple. Especially when they involve anything about Minato." He glanced back over to Naruto and saw that the boy was cutting off the head of the dead man. So many questions passed through his head at the moment but he silenced them. They would come later. Right now, he needed answers to more concerning questions.
"So Tazuna, you mind telling us what that was about?"
She watched as they cowered. Dressed in an assortment of robes and bandages, they weren't the most impressive looking bunch. Without any knowledge of their ability, one would certainly question their value.
Knowledge is key. That is what she always told herself and that was the pinnacle of the lessons she designed for her prince. Knowledge changed the value of these people to worthless to invaluable.
"I came to thank you all."
Her voice echoed through the small chamber. Their eyes swarmed toward the sound and she watched as they widened in fear at the sight of her.
"Your sacrifice will serve as the next stepping stone to the fruition of our kingdom."
Her words sent them into a frenzy. She watched as they attempted to summon their bloodline. The beginnings of a gust or a small flicker of lightning flashed through the room only to fade out of existence moments later. The unseen seals lining the interior of the chamber hummed in response to the stimuli.
Their frenzy soon turned into a blind panic.
"Your weather abilities may not work here but they will serve well in Earth country."
Her words were drowned out by the panic in the room beneath her. She stood staring at the room for a few moments before turning away.
Her role had been fulfilled.
"Subdue them how you wish and leave immediately."
The group of ninja bearing the symbol of the Hidden Stone village nodded at her words before descending into the room. The sound of panic faded from her thoughts while her feet carried her away from the room.
"One step closer."
AN: Another chapter finished. I hope you all enjoyed it. PM or review with any questions, comments, concerns, suggestions, etc. Thank you all for reading and have a wonderful rest of the nice.
P.S The clan featured in the latter half of the fic is a real one in the Naruto universe!