Unknown Talent

Jutsu

Kyuubi

Kyuubi's Thoughts

Thoughts

Normal Monologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto

Naruto's eyes widened in shock before he stole another glance at the menacing man encircled in the warrior's round. He definitely looked like the type of guy that would kill anyone, but the outside isn't always what it seems.

"Hiraku, calm down. Think of the mission, we aren't supposed to get caught, remember?", Sasuke's voice called through the mike, attempting to cool the glowering brunette off. For a moment, it looked as if the boy hadn't heard him, but after a few seconds, the shaking receded and his quick breathing had returned to normal. Naruto exhaled a breath he hadn't known he was holding in.

"My fellow warriors, the time is now!", a large, booming voice rang out amongst the silence. The three turned their attention back to the camp, and the burly man had just begun to speak. "We will take over the Kamakura's land, storm their fortress and capture those rotten kids that have messed with our plans for so long!", he continued grandly, a crazed smirk stretched across his face, revealing cracked, yellow teeth.

"Damn! Has he ever heard of floss?", Naruto whispered, obviously disgusted.

"Hasn't been invented yet.", Sasuke muttered in reply. Naruto just grunted.

"But, before that, we have a matter of business to attend to. Bring out the prisoners!", Commander Kyoto bellowed. A scrawny soldier ducked into a nearby tent and then returned moments later, dragging a woman along behind him. She was chained by the hands with a thick rope and a young boy was clinging to the bottom of her dress so tightly, his knuckles were a ghostly white. The warrior brought the woman to stand in front of the commander and forced her to her knees. Kyoto grinned at her, a gleam of murderous intent shining in his eyes. He then turned his gaze to the shivering child and crouched to his level. The three in the bushes tensed, ready to spring if they had to.

Kyoto stared the kid right in the eye and held his penetrating watch. After a few seconds of this, the small child began to whimper and he tried to hide behind his mother's arm. This only got a chuckle from the commander. He abruptly stood upright and faced the crowd once more.

"Seize the boy.", he stated simply to one of his fighters. One with shoulder length blonde hair strode up and grasped the boy firmly around his waist. He hauled him over his shoulder and brought him back to stand among the line of Muromachi combatants.

"Mommy!", the child cried, tears streaming down his face, mixing with the dirt that was plastered to his cheeks. He began to kick and scream, whining for his mother.

"Ah, shut up.", the man holding him custody snarled, delivering a blow to the boy's head. This only caused him to bawl harder.

"Don't you hurt him.", the mother spat, a hardened look in her eye. Commander Kyoto smirked, amused by the display before him.

"Oh, don't you worry about your son. He will be a great addition to our army when he grows of age.", he laughed. The mother whipped her head to face the gruesome man.

"He would never join you. We are loyal to the Kamakura forces only!", she growled darkly. At the mentioning of his arch enemy's name, his amusement disappeared and a repulsed expression replaced it. He lashed out with his hand and struck her across the face as hard as he could. The woman fell to the ground with a sharp thud, and a small, pained cry escaped her lips. She slowly crawled back into her sitting position and glared at Kyoto straight in the face, a small trickle of blood crept from her mouth. Kyoto marched right up in front of the woman and shot her a hard, searching stare.

"I will give you one last chance, seeing as I'm so merciful. You will join our army.", he seethed, his patience nearing its end. The woman gave a short laugh and a confident smirk crossed her face.

"Never will I join you.", she breathed. Kyoto huffed in frustration.

"Then your choice shall seal your demise!", he hollered. In a flash, he drew a large katana from its sheath at his side. He whipped out, stopping it short at the side of the woman's neck.

"Mom!!", the boy cried again, his eyes wide with panic. Hiraku shifted in his position and stared right at Naruto. The two exchanged glances for only seconds, but the meaning behind the look explained it all. Naruto pulled out a smoke bomb while Hiraku drew his sword. Sasuke immediately understood what they were planning to do, and he too, drew a kunai.

"Prepare to die!", Kyoto screamed, rage carved into every part of his face.

"MOMMY!", the child sobbed. Kyoto's sword came down, swinging swiftly towards the woman's neck. Just as it was about to make contact…

BOOM!!

A cloud of smoke rose up in front of Commander Kyoto. Completely bewildered, he jumped backwards, trying to escape the unknown attack he had just seen. Through the smoke, four kunai sailed toward the commander, all of them aimed at the vital points of his body. He blocked all but one of them with his sword, the stray missing the major artery in his arm by an inch. The small blade dug through the man's armor, and buried itself deep into his flesh.

"But…how could it penetrate my armor?", Kyoto wonder out loud, gripping the kunai firmly and trying to pry it out. Wrapped around the handle of the blade was a chakra seal, giving it the effect that would make it possible to cut through any and every material. He glared back at the column of smoke rising into the sky.

"Who's there? Come out and show yourself you coward!", he shouted, the need for revenge surging through him. After a minute or so, and with no reply, the smoke dissipated, revealing...

Somewhere in the surrounding trees—

Naruto landed with a grunt, the woman gripping his jacket fiercely. Sasuke set down right next to him, the boy cradled in his arms. Naruto released the terrified captive and Sasuke did the same.

"Mom!", the boy wept, dashing swiftly into his mother's open arms. They grasped each other tightly, breathing hard. The woman glanced up at the two shinobi and gave then a warm smile.

"Thank you, thank you so much.", she whispered, sincere gratitude glowing in her eyes. They nodded in return and Naruto offered a smile to the whimpering boy that was staring at them.

"How can I ever repay you two?", she asked.

"Ah, we don't want--wait, two?", Naruto replied, but stopping short upon realizing a very important detail. The woman nodded, confused. Naruto surveyed the clearing, searching for a hint of the brunette boy. There was no sign of him anywhere.

"Damn it Hiraku!", Naruto yelled in frustration. He hopped onto a nearby tree branch and faced the direction of the clearing. Before he shot off, he glanced back at the three still on the ground.

"Sasuke, get them somewhere safe.", Naruto demanded quickly before dashing off with chakra enhanced feet.

"Leave some of those guys for me!!", Sasuke shouted after the blond. He then turned back to the matter at hand. He placed the woman on his back and gathered the small child into his arms. He looked back and gave the terrified female a convincing smile.

"Hold on tight. You're in for a hell of a ride.", he warned before taking off across the forest floor.

Muromachi campgrounds—

The smoke cleared, revealing Hiraku, his sword drawn and hatred radiating off him. Kyoto smiled, in both anger and surprise.

"Ah, Hiraku. Just couldn't stand to see a boy's mother killed off?", he asked, throwing the blood-covered kunai into the dirt at his feet.

"Shut the hell up, Kyoto.", Hiraku growled, practically spitting the commander's name like it was venom.

"But you know, lucky for that one, she got away.", the commander sneered, inspecting his fingernails as if they were really intriguing.

"I said shut up, dammit.", Hiraku repeated, his muscles tensing and his body sliding into a stance.

"Oh, if only you had this kind of strength when your mother was in this position. Maybe she might have lived.", Kyoto shot, going for a low blow.

"SHUT THE FUCK UP!", Hiraku roared, springing into action. He ran swiftly towards the man before him, his sword held tightly at his side. Kyoto only stood in stillness, a small grin on his face. This only infuriated the Kamakura warrior more, and a battle cry ripped from his mouth. Just as he sword's point looked as if it would land a blow, Kyoto thrashed outward. In one swift and skillful move, Hiraku was unarmed, his sword sent flying to the opposite end of the field. Not ready to throw in the towel yet, Hiraku threw out his fist, trying to land a strike to his face while he was so close. Kyoto's hand flew up, and blocked the punch easily. Not to be discouraged, Hiraku swung out his leg, only to be blocked by the commander's knee armor.

Hiraku was now all tangled up and rendered useless. Unfortunately for him, Kyoto still had an arm handy. Unable to block, Kyoto jabbed him sharply in the neck, cutting off the brunette's air supply. He was sent sprawling onto the ground, clutched at his chest, trying to breathe. Kyoto calmly picked his sword off the ground and slowly walked over to where the boy was trying to stand. He held the point of the blade right over the boy's heart, and smiled cruelly.

"Say hello to your mother for me.", he snickered. Thrusting backwards with his arm, he set up to drive the sword completely through the boy's body. Bringing it down, Hiraku closed his eyes tightly, praying for a quick and painless death.

The sound of metal hitting metal rang throughout the clearing. Hiraku dared to open his eye a crack, to see what had stalled the evil man from delivering the death blow. The sight before him shocked him to no end. Standing protectively in front of him, was the last person he expected to see. Wielding his sword, the boy was now skillfully crossing blades with the most talented sword's men throughout the entire land. And Hiraku was pretty sure the warrior had never touched a sword before.

"Thiswas so not part of the plan.", Naruto grunted, a cocky smile stretched widely across his face.

Hope you like it! Don't forget to R & R!

Next Chapter: Forbidden Love