Disclaimer: I don't own dis. I own notting. NOTTING!
Author's Note: A bit of forewarning, this first part of the chapter is a bit of a "Last time, on Dragon Ball Z…" kinda thing where we read the last few paragraphs of the last chapter. This is done on purpose, as it pertains to the chapter at hand…anyway lol, I figured I'd let you all know so as to curb stomp any possible confusion/hate, since those two things usually go hand in hand. Now, like I said last time, Chapter 12 is the beginning of the Iwa Arc, in this chapter we will meet Kurotsuchi and some other Iwa ninja, yaay? Now, this came up a while ago and I'm not gonna bother looking up who it was that said this, but I remember someone saying they were disappointed that Naruto got his ass beat by Ryujin since he was a Jonin and all. I figure I might as well explain my rational, if you would please jump back several years ago during Part 1 of the Naruto story: Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma got their asses beat by Itachi and Kisame. So, that to me shows the obvious gap in skill between an A-Ranked ninja and a S-Ranked. That, and I wanted to make my own little equivalent of Itachi in my story in the form of Ryujin, who is this bad ass dude who can act as a measuring stick for Naruto. Now, onto the chapter. Enjoy!
-x-
Chapter 12: Promises
-x-
Just outside the Northern Gateway of Kiri, stood two groups. One was a group of seven consisting of Team Hiruzen with two new attachments, Haku Yuki and Mangetsu Hozuki. Across from, just within the city limits of Kiri stood the Fourth Mizukage, Zabuza, Suigetsu, and Haku's mother Hidemi.
"The Fourth Hokage is sending a team of our own to serve as an Ambassador team. You should expect them within the week." Hiruzen said. "And don't worry about your own," Looking at Mangetsu and Haku, "We shall make sure they are treated with the greatest of care."
Yagura nodded, "Likewise." Stepping forward, Yagura stood in front of Naruto, his hand out for a handshake, "I expect great things from you young Namikaze."
Naruto smiled and grasped hands with the Kage in a firm handshake, "I won't disappoint you, sir."
"I know you won't."
-x-
Meanwhile. Miles Outside of Iwagakure
-x-
Earth Country, a place well known for its mountainous regions and drastic weather cycles, from incredibly blazing summer to the bitterly frigid winter, residents of the sturdy country were quite known for their stubborn resilience. Miles outside of Iwagakure, on the mountain terrain that surrounds the Major Village of Iwagakure, stood four people, all of whom wearing matching camouflage cloaks and plane white masks. These four were members of Iwagakure's ANBU force. Standing at the front of the group was what appeared to be the captain of the squad, the only what of telling being the that his mask was red instead of white. Taking a few steps forward, he came to a stop before slowing crouching down. Taking a moment, the squad captain looked what one could only assume were the remains of a person. As he stared at the sprawled out legs with barely any torso, he raised his right arm and gave a waving forward motion.
"Check the area. See if we can't find the rest of the bastard."
The three subordinates nodded quickly and separated, each looking for either the remaining remains of the man or to see if anyone else faced a similar fate.
After several minutes of searching the ANBU captain heard one of his comrades on the radio, "Sir…you might want to take a look at this."
Quickly finding where the man was, the captain entered a clearing to find him standing over the body of someone the captain recognized instantly.
"Is this-" The subordinate, codenamed 2145, started to say.
"Yes it is." The captain interrupted, looking down at the body of the Koharu Utatane, the former right hand woman of the Third Hokage. Now the captain knew who that body may belong too, one of her guards while she and the Tsuchikage began discussions of all five Major Villages forming an alliance. The talks had gone well, with the Tsuchikage having seen that not joined the alliance would've been suicide, as Iwa would've more than likely been targeted first. With the successful talks, Koharu felt that she had done what she could, and that the rest should be laid in the hands of the Kage themselves, informing Minato of Ononki's wish for the Five Kage to have a summit before the year's end. Leaving Itachi Uchiha as Konoha's temporary ambassador.
A sudden realization hit the ANBU captain as he stepped away from the rotting corpse, "2173, 2159, stay on the look-out for Asuma Sarutobi, he was on the mission along with Mrs. Utatane."
After a few moments 2173 responded, "…I think I found him sir."
The captain rushed to 2173's position, quickly finding him crouching in front of a tree. Sitting in front of that tree was the body of a headless Konoha ninja. The captain could see 2173 was looking at what appeared to be the ninja's identification papers. Seeing that her captain was there she quickly handed the papers to him. With a quick skim through, the ANBU captain found that the body did in fact once belong to one Asuma Sarutobi, the second son of the Third God of Shinobi.
"What do you think happened to his head sir?" 2173 asked.
"More than likely traded in for the man's bounty. Last I checked it was pretty big." 2159 answered, just then arriving on the scene.
Looking at 2159 the captain said, "Keep looking men, there were four people in that Konoha team. Two more to go."
The two Iwa ANBU nodded. Just as they were about to take off in search, the captain grabbed ahold of 2173's shoulder, signaling her to wait, "Return to Iwa, inform Lord Tsuchikage of what we've found."
2173 nodded before she took off in the direction of Iwagakure.
"We've got a live one sir!" 2145 said over the radio system.
The ANBU captain sighed in relief, at least one Konoha ninja survived the attack.
-x-
A Week Later at Konoha
-x-
"Congratulations on a job well down. You've done your village a great service."
The four Konoha Jonin bowed to their Kage, "Thank you, sir!" They said in unison.
"Hiruzen, if you could stay behind? The rest are dismissed."
"Of course Minato."
The four of them nodded.
"Naruto, Kurenai, I'll need you to wait outside. I'll call you when I need you."
Looking at his father quizzically, Naruto nodded again before following after his team. Just as he stood in the doorway, he looked back at his father to see him looking at Hiruzen with a face full of regret. Naruto wasn't able to look any longer as the door was closed by one of the guarding ANBU.
Looking at Kurenai, Naruto said, "What do you think that was about?"
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"…never mind."
The two sat in the waiting area in a comfortable silence until the door opened to reveal the elderly Sarutobi. The man's face was blank as he walked to the two seated Jonin. As he got closer, the two could see that the old man's eyes were filled with nothing but sorrow.
"Kurenai, follow me please."
"Hiruzen what's goin on-"
"Kurenai. Follow me please." Hiruzen repeated with a certain amount of finality tickling his voice.
Nodding quickly, Kurenai got up from her seat and followed after the elder ninja.
"Naruto, the Hokage will see you now." The nearby receptionist said.
Getting up from his seat, Naruto made his way into the room. As he walked in, he could see that his father was facing away from him in his chair, starring out into the village. On his desk was a single shot glass, with remanence of left over sake licking the bottom.
"You needed me, Lord Hokage?"
Minato didn't turn to face his son as he said, "Yes Naruto, I know that you've just returned from a mission, but I have another one for you of great importance."
"What kind of mission, sir?"
Minato turned around to face Naruto, his game face in place, "As you know, I sent a team to Iwagakure with the same mission parameters as your own: to form an alliance with Suna, Kumo, and ourselves. For this mission, I sent the elder Koharu Utatane for the negotiations, with a guard squad consisting of Hayate Gekko, Raido Namiashi, Itachi Uchiha, and Asuma Sarutobi. According to the report, the negotiations had gone as well as they could have, with the Tsuchikage requesting a Kage Summit take place by the end of the year. It was decided that they had done all that they could, with Itachi agreeing to stay behind as a temporary ambassador between the villages until we could send an official one to insure that Iwa doesn't back out of anything until the Summit occurs. The team was on their way back to the village when they were ambushed by an unknown group of ninja, killing Koharu, Hayate, and Asuma. Raido was the only one to survive, but has yet to wake up while in Iwa's care."
Naruto stood in shock at hearing this news. He didn't know Koharu very well, but he had worked with Hayate on several occasions and Asuma had been a key factor in helping him with his wind chakra control. Getting his emotions in control, Naruto waited for his father to continue.
Seeing that his son wasn't going to say anything, Minato continued, "Tomorrow I will be sending two teams. One, a squad consisting of two ambassadors and two guarding Jonin. The other, a squad who's mission is to track down whoever it was responsible, and if possible, kill them. I want you to be a part of the tracking squad."
"I except sir." Naruto said without hesitation.
"You leave tomorrow at dawn."
-x-
Outside the Hokage's Office
-x
Making a bee-line to his home, Naruto thought over everything he needed.
"Alright, I'll need to stock up on some supplies when I get home, that and I'll have to let Mom know that I'm leaving again. I doubt she'll like it but I doubt it'll be anywhere near as bad as how Ayame will react."
That line of thought stopped Naruto is his tracks.
"Oh shit…Ayame."
Naruto had totally forgotten about her. How could he have been so stupid?! He had promised to take her out for dinner when he got back, and he'd already ditched on her a couple times before.
It was then that he remembered Haku, and what he thought they were going to do. What he wanted them to do. He had completely and utterly forgotten he was in a relationship with his favorite ramen girl. Guilt washed over him as he thought of what to do. It would be stupid of him to not tell her…but every nerve in his brain told him it was stupid to even bring it up.
"I have to go talk to her about my new mission…I might as well come clean. It wasn't like I actually did it. She'll forgive me…I hope."
-x-
Outside Ichiraku's Ramen
-x-
"Naruto!"
Naruto had barely made it into the restaurant when he was jumped by Ayame, planting her lips onto his in a quick peck.
"You're back! It feels like you've been gone forever!"
Naruto couldn't help but smile as he hugged the girl, "Yeah sorry about that, I'll tell you all about it later."
Ayame pulled away from him, "You can tell me all the details tonight." She said with a smile.
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck, "Yeah, about that. Can we talk? Like, somewhere a bit more private?"
Ayame's smile dropped in an instant, "Ye-yeah. We can go to the back."
Ayame grabbed his hand and led him through the restaurant to the back door heading to the back of the restaurant away from prying eyes and ears. The two stood there for a moment, the Naruto trying to come up with the words he wanted to say, and Ayame fidgeting in worry.
"Naruto, what's this about?" she asked.
Taking a deep breath and exhale, Naruto answered, "Look…Ayame. There's something I gotta tell ya."
This seemed to have Ayame even more worried, "Okay?"
"…back in Kiri. The-there was this girl. We had gone on a mission together for the sake of the mission we were on and well…geez this is hard…there was a moment where I thought we were going to…"
"…to what?"
"…to have sex. And I think…I think I would've."
"…"
"But we didn't! Nothing happened, I promise!"
"…do you like her?"
"What?"
"Do you like this girl?"
"N-no!"
"Then why did you want to have sex with her?"
"…I don't know."
The two stood in awkward silence.
"Ayame I'm sorry-"
"It's okay."
"…really?"
Ayame gave a reassuring smile, "Yeah, like you said, nothing happened. That, and you were honest enough to tell me about it. I forgive you." Ayame finished by giving Naruto a hug, with Naruto quickly returning it firmly. After a minute Ayame pulled away, "Besides, you can repay me by wowing me with a romantic dinner tomorrow!"
Naruto began to rub the back of his neck again, "Yeah, about that."
"…what?"
"I'm leaving for another mission."
"…"
"First thing…tomorrow morning."
"You're leaving tomorrow?!" Ayame shouted, "But you just got back!"
"I'm sorry Ayame, but this is really important."
"But you promised we'd go out when you got back! You can't keep blowing me off Naruto, how can you tell me all that stuff, let me forgive you, then ditch me because you have some stupid mission?!"
"I know Ayame, I'm sorry. I know what I promised, and I know that I keep fucking up, but these people killed my friends, I can't just let this slide."
"And what if these people kill you too?! You promised you'd be more careful Naruto!"
"I know-"
"I'm sick and tired of you breaking your promises Naruto! We've been going out for a month now, but I hardly ever get to see you at all! And now, I can't help but be afraid that you'll cheat on me with some random girl you meet on some mission!"
"Ayame…"
"I'm tired of worrying about you Naruto. I…I wish things were back to the way they were before."
"…Before what?"
"…"
"Ayame please-"
"I'm sorry Naruto."
Naruto looked at Ayame helplessly as she tearfully looked away from him, biting her lip to keep the sobs from escaping. Closing his eyes, Naruto nodded in understanding and walked away, brushing by her before exiting the ally into the busy crowd, all oblivious to the goings on of the two young people. With the boy gone, Ayame finally let herself go, covering her mouth with a single hand as, her body began to rack and shake as tears freely flowed from her eyes like a water fall.
-x-
The Next Day
-x-
"Naruto, are you okay."
"Yeah…I'm fine." Naruto said.
Naruto stood in his father's office waiting for the final member of his squad to arrive. His father looked at him worriedly but before he could press the issue his office door opened to reveal a tall man with tan skin, with brunette hair that was greying at the temple, and a goatee. With headband was in the form of a bandanna, and he wore the standard Konoha Jonin uniform.
"Sorry I'm late Minato, Kuna just got back from a mission and she just wouldn't let me go."
"Kuna?" Naruto thought.
Minato smiled, "Yes, your daughter is quite talented Gaku. You should be proud."
"This guy is Kuna's father?" Naruto thought in surprise.
"Yeah, she takes after her old man, that's for sure." Gaku said with pride.
Minato smiled at his old friend, "All right then, now that everyone is here, let's get to the mission details." He said, with him getting a nod from the four Jonin in front of him.
-x-
At the Western Gate
-x-
Naruto stood outside the Western Gate, standing next to Gaku as they waited for their teammates to arrive. The ambassador team had just left, taking a scenic route just in case the people behind the ambush was still in the area.
"My daughter told me you're pretty strong brat." Gaku said, trying to clear the air.
Naruto shrugged.
With a raised brow, Gaku said, "Not much for conversation today?"
Naruto sighed, "Sorry sir, I'm just dealing with a personal matter."
Gaku nodded sagely, "Lady problems huh?"
Naruto looked up in surprise, "How do you-"
"Just a hunch." Gaku said with a knowing smirk.
The two stopped their conversation when they felt two chakra signatures coming towards them. Looking to their left, they saw two people land in front of them. Going off the eyes, one was an obvious member of the Hyuga clan. The Hyuga wore a similar headband similar to Gaku's, keeping the man's long brunette hair out of his eyes. The man also wore the standard Jonin uniform, with the only difference being that his color scheme was black instead of blue. Standing just behind him was a girl that looked to be in her late teens or early twenties, with shaggy black hair that was about the same length of his father's. The woman had on a black Chinese style long sleeve shirt with a white clan symbol on the left breast showing that she was a member of the Shimura clan. With standard black pants and ninja sandals, the girl looked rather bland, like someone that could easily able to blend into the crowd. These two were Iroha Hyuga and Hashi Shimura.
"Well, now that we're all here, let's get a move on. We don't want the trail to go cold now do we?"
Before they could take off, Iroha interrupted with a question, "Excuse me Captain Gaku, I don't mean to be rude but, how exactly do you plan to track him without a Nin-dog sir?"
Gaku smirked, "Oh you don't have to worry about that. I've got the best nose in the entire Inuzuka clan. Hell it's even better than my partner Guruko's, god bless his soul."
"Was Guruko your Nin-dog sir?" Iroha asked.
Gaku's smile got a bit smaller, "Yeah, he was a good partner and a great friend. Old bastard passed just last year." Looking at his men Gaku said, "Now, let's get going. Iroha in the back, Naruto to the right, and Hashi to the left. I'll take point."
With that the four took off.
-x-
In Earth Country Miles Outside of Iwagakure
-x-
Snow had begun to fall as the four Konoha Jonin trekked up the mountainous region near Iwagakure. The pine trees, while large, were impossible to use for tree hopping thanks to the flimsy branches, making the journey even longer. The cloaks the four were wearing did little to battle the cold, with the four Konoha natives trying to get accustomed to the frigid climate. There was no conversation between the four, the only sound that could be heard was the crunching of snow beneath their feet and the winds passing through the trees.
Suddenly, Iroha stopped while speaking, "We've got company."
That was all the others needed to hear, with the four getting back to back, shoulder to shoulder, making a square formation. Naruto drew his katana, the blade enveloped in a wispy flame. Iroha and Gaku got into their clan's fighting stance, and Hashi drew a pair of kunai that were quickly surrounded by a sheen of wind chakra.
The four waited in bated breath, eyes peeled for the slightest movement. Several tense minutes later, three shadows dropped down in front of the Konoha squad. Taking off their hoods, the figures revealed themselves to be Iwa Ninja. One was a girl around Naruto's age, with short black hair and rather beautiful pink eyes. Standing next to her was a woman in her mid to late twenties who was rather beautiful in appearance, with chestnut colored hair and eyes, the woman was scowling at the four Konoha Ninja in front of her. In the back of the group was a member of Iwa's ANBU, a captain to be exact going by the man's red colored mask. Seeing that they were Iwa Ninja, the four got out of their battle positions, but still kept their guard up just to be sure.
"Hello Konoha Ninja, welcome to Earth Country. I am Takako Fuji," Pointing to the pink eyed girl she said, "To my right is Kurotsuchi Ryotenbin and to my left is ANBU Captain 2398." Takako Fuji finished pointing at the ANBU Captain before giving a short, rather rude bow to the Konoha Ninja.
Gaku was undeterred by the Iwa Ninja's manners and gave greetings of his own, "It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Gaku Inuzuka. To my left is Hashi Shimura and Iroha Hyuga respectively, and to my right is Naruto Namikaze." Not one to be rude, Gaku then gave the Iwa nin a respectful bow.
Takako's gaze lingered on Naruto for a moment before she said, "Our Tsuchikage has sent us to make sure that your investigation goes without a hitch. We are to take you to where we found the bodies, and then assist you if you need it in apprehending the ones responsible."
Gaku smiled a thankful smile, "We are truly grateful to you and the Tsuchikage. But I do believe we are rather close to the scene of the attack, am I correct?"
Takako nodded, "Yes, we're about a half mile away," Looking at the ANBU Captain she said, "2398, if you would."
The Captain nodded before turning around and began walking running towards what the Konoha nin could only assume is where the ambush occurred. The group of seven made a silent run up the mountain, with the Iwa Ninja not seeming to mind the cold weather, acting as though it wasn't there.
Running next to Takako Naruto said, "Is the ANBU captain the one that found the ambush site?"
Looking at the Namikaze for a split second, Takako looked away as she answered, "Yes, he and his squad found the bodies while on a standard patrol."
"The report said that it looked like they were ambushed by at least two people."
"What are you getting at kid?"
"I'm just wondering how three Jonin were ambushed and killed by two people, especially when the woman they were guarding was a known sensor."
"Are you suggesting that Iwa is behind this attack?"
"Not at all. I just think that it's possible there were more than two people, and that one of them is capable of getting around a sensor."
"It's a possibility."
The group of Ninja soon stopped with the ANBU Captain saying, "This is it."
Gaku walked forward, taking several long sniffs, "The blood stains are still visible, and I recognize the scent of both Utatane and Gekko, but just barely. There are other scents I can smell, but they're rather fresh, a week old at least. Utatane and Gekko's are a least two weeks old."
"Can you smell Asuma's or the people that ambushed them?"
"No. Maybe if we get closer I can. Iroha, look and see if you can find any battle damage in the area, that might give us a clue."
Iroha nodded and activated his Byakugan. The Hyuga stood in silence as he skimmed the area for any signs of battle damage. After a minute the Hyuga gasped in shock, "Sir we-"
The man wasn't able to finish, as a beam of energy shot through the man's temple, killing him on the spot. The Hyuga wasn't the only one to get hit, as ANBU Captain 2398 got a bolt of energy though the chest, knocking him off his feet and on his back.
"SCATTER!" Gaku and Takako screamed, as a barrage of lasers blasted through the area. The five remaining Ninja jumped and maneuvered around the energy beams. As the barrage ended, Naruto looked around to find his squad mates. In his search, Naruto spotted a man in the sky, heading towards the ground like a meteorite. Naruto's danger senses went haywire, and not wanting to disobey his senses, Naruto scrambled away from the human meteorite. His senses proved true when the man landed and the ground beneath him literally exploded. Naruto was thrown off his feet by the force of the explosion sending him into a nearby tree.
Shaking the cobwebs, turned to see the man that fell from the sky walking out of the crater he had formed. The man was a brute, with a shining bald head and a thin penciled in handle bar mustache. Standing twice as tall as Naruto himself, with tree trunks for arms and legs. The man wore an all-black sleeveless Karategi with an orange sash wrapped around his waist. Seeing that the man hadn't spotted him, Naruto fished through his kunai pouch. Fingering the kunai he was looking for, Naruto reeled his arm back before firing the throwing knife at the giant. The kunai was halfway there when it veered off course into the outstretched hands of a man with shaggy red hair with similar clothes as the giant and a purple sash around his waist.
The man smirk at the brute, "Seems I've saved your hide Tama-"
The man's bragging was interrupted by the kunai in his hand exploding in a rather viscous ball of fire. Naruto didn't take the time to celebrate his victory as he made a tactical retreat.
-x-
Several Miles Away from the Ambush
-x-
The sound of trees passing him and the crunching of snow was all he heard as he ran from the ambush.
Dammit. Dammit! DAMMIT!" Naruto thought.
Needing to catch his breath, Naruto came to a halt behind a rather large tree, taking a rest in a crouching position. The blond wasn't allowed much of a reprieve as he heard the crunch of snow behind him. Quickly drawing his blade, he pressed it against their throat, only to notice a kunai pressed into his abdomen.
The two Ninja glared at each other before Naruto said, "Registration ID, now."
Hashi narrowed her eyes, "Hashi Shimura, Jonin, ID Number 011348. Your turn."
"Naruto Namikaze, Jonin, ID Number 012607."
With that, the two withdrew their respective weapons. Hashi gave a sigh of relief as she plopped down next to the blond, "Iroha, he's-"
"Yeah, I know. What about Gaku? Did you see what happened with him?"
"No, after the explosion, I lost him."
"What the fuck happened?"
"From what I can tell, there were at least 4 of them. One was using Storm Release to pick us off. I'm pretty sure the guy that fell out of the sky was using an Explosion Release technique."
Naruto soaked that information in, "I managed to kill a man that used what looked like Magnet Release, he called the Explosion Release user Tama."
Hashi looked at Naruto in surprise, "Tama? As in Iwa's Eruption Tama? Former Captain of the Explosion Corps and now S-Ranked Missing Ninja of Iwagakure?"
"You've heard of him I take it." Naruo said.
"That man is a monster. He became notorious for his brutality during the war. It got so bad, Iwa banished him at the end of the Third Great Ninja War."
"Damn."
"And from what I can remember from the Bingo Book, there's only one Missing Ninja with the ability to use the Storm Release with that kind of skill, Eagle Eye Keiko, A-Ranked Missing Ninja of Kumogakure."
"I recognize that name. She became famous for killing a Lightning Country politician supposedly from over half a mile away."
Hashi nodded, "These people are dangerous, way more powerful then what we could have ever expected. It's no surprise they managed to take down that team."
"So, what do we do?"
Looking west Hashi said, "I say we make a run for it. Iwa should be twenty miles west. If we're quiet and if we hurry, we should be able to get there while avoiding detection."
"What about Gaku? He could be alive; we can't just abandon him."
"And if he isn't? What then? We'd be loitering in enemy territory for no good reason."
"No good reason?!" Naruto demanded in a hushed voice, "He's our comrade! Not only that, but a friend of my fathers. I can't return and tell him I left his friend to die!"
Hashi scoffed, "And what if in your search for Gaku, you get both of us killed?!"
"If you don't wanna die, then go to Iwa! I'm going to look for him." Naruto said before spitting at her feet in disgust.
With that Naruto ran off in the direction he came before.
Hashi shook her head, "Stubborn brat." With that, Hashi began her trek towards Iwagakure.
-x-
Later with Naruto
-x-
"Fucking Coward!" Naruto screamed in his head as he ran down the mountain pass, "Leave it to a Shimura to abandon a comrade!"
With that thought, Naruto realized he had no idea where he was going. Cursing his bull headedness, he decided to take a break next to a boulder. Catching his breath, Naruto collected himself. Taking a breath Naruto tried to clear his mind. This proved hard to do when he felt his stomach grumble. With a huff, Naruto pulled out a protein bar and shoved it in his mouth, having enough experience with the dirt flavored bar to know it's best to eat it quickly.
As he munched on his mouth full of protein, Naruto couldn't help but think, "God I wish I was home. Then Ayame wouldn't be pissed at me…as much, and then I could be having a nice bowl of ramen right now."
-x-
A Month Ago at Training Ground 17
-x-
"Huff…huff…huff…" Naruto was bent over, hand on his knees as he tried to catch his breath. Standing straight and putting both hands behind his head, he stood in the middle of Training Ground Seventeen surrounded by craters filled with dying flames of his own creation. Finally catching his breath, he made a fist and brought it out in front of his body.
"One more time."
Naruto's face scrunched up in concentration as his fist in front of him was lit aflame. Sweet began to build at his temple, as the flame grew more intense in heat by the second. Slowly, as the flaming fist grew in temperature, it changed in color as well. From reddish orange, to blue, and finally to a blistering white. Feeling as though it was enough, Naruto jumped into the air several yards before bringing his fist down into the ground just as he had done so many times before.
"Inferno Style: Hiken!"
The moment his fist hit the earth beneath, the flames exploded from his hand, causing the ground to shake and splinter with flames shooting out beneath the cracks. The shockwave reached out several yards, 20 at least, before stopping. Naruto was hunched in the epicenter, once again trying to catch his breath.
"WOAH!"
Looking over, Naruto saw Ayame standing behind the fence at the entrance of the Training Ground. Looking at Ayame, Naruto couldn't help but wonder what she was doing there. While not exactly illegal for civilians to be there, most of them usually avoided the Training Grounds due to the fact that they weren't exactly the safest place for them to be.
"Ayame? What're you doing here?"
"Your sensei, Obiro or whatever, said you've been here training all day. So, I figured I'd bring you some ramen!" Ayame said with a smile while presenting a bag of ramen in her hand.
Naruto smiled, "Thanks, I'll meet you over there! It's probably not a good idea to come over here."
Ayame looked around at the destruction he had created before looking at Naruto with a nervous smile, "Yeah…probably."
A few minutes later, Naruto and Ayame were sitting in the grass next to the fence outside the Training Ground, with Naruto thoroughly enjoying his meal. As he finished his bowl, Naruto took notice of Ayame not eating anything, only watching him with a cute little smile.
"Didn't you bring any for yourself?" Naruto asked.
Looking at him in surprise, Ayame answered, "Oh, um no! When you're around it as much as I am, you get kinda tired of ramen." She said assuringly.
Looking down at his empty bowl, Naruto couldn't help but feel like a dick. Why did this girl have to be so polite?!
"Well…I guess I owe you."
Ayame once again looked at Naruto in surprise, "Wh-what?"
Rubbing the back of his head, Naruto said, "Well yeah, you've treated me to dinner, so now I owe you one!" Naruto said matter of factly.
"D-dinner?" Ayame stuttered with a blush.
Giving a big smile Naruto said, "Yeah."
"…L-like a date?" Ayame said hesitantly.
It was Naruto's turn to look at Ayame in surprise. While he hadn't meant it as a date, now that it was brought up, Naruto couldn't think of any reason for it not to be. Ayame was pretty, she was smart, and she was really fun to talk to. And it didn't help that he'd known her forever.
His smile even bigger Naruto said, "Of course." Taking a moment, Naruto waved his hands in alarm, "If you want it to be that is!"
"I'd love to!" Ayame blurted out with a blush.
-x-
Present Time
-x-
"That was a fun date." Naruto thought fondly.
Realizing his mind was wondering, he violently shook his head before once again trying to clear his mind. Several seconds later. Naruto reached out with his senses, searching for the chakra signature of his team captain. His face wrinkled in concentration, Naruto sensed with all his might before finally getting the signature he was looking for.
Looking east Naruto said, "Found you."
With a dash, Naruto thought, "Okay, with Gaku's signature I also felt four others. One I recognized as Hashi's, and it seems like she's stopped for some reason. The three I didn't recognize were all next to Gaku's, which means he's either being chased by or is fighting them. Hold on Gaku, I'll be there as soon as I can!"
With that Naruto increased his pace as much as he could.
-x-
With Naruto at Gaku's Location
-x-
After nearly twenty minutes of nothing but a straight sprint to Gaku's location, Naruto finally felt Gaku's chakra signature coming up. Slowing his pace, Naruto made sure to keep his presence unknown, no point getting caught until he actually reached Gaku.
Creeping forward, Naruto perched himself on top of an over-hanging boulder, giving him a bird's eye view of what was going on in the open space down below. With a quick search, he found that several areas in the area appeared to have a strange looking mist covering it with the areas covered appearing to be melted.
"Boil Release…" Naruto thought.
It was then that Gaku made his presence known, having been thrown into view by an unknown assailant. Stepping out of the tree line, Naruto could see a man with dark red hair with the same clothes as Tama only with a dark red sash around his waist. The man had a smirk on his face as he walked down towards the downed Gaku. As the man made his slow stride towards Gaku, the Inuzuka got up, facing away from the man but Naruto instead. Looking up, Naruto could see that the man was worse for ware, with a nasty looking mark covered a majority of the left side of his face. After a moment, Naruto realized that it was Gaku's own melted flesh. Looking up, Gaku looked up, and only able to see the boy's head peeking out behind the rubble, made eye contact with him before slowing and subtly shaking his head. Turning around, Gaku glared with his remaining eye at the arrogant man in front of him.
"So…the man can stand. Impressive. After what I did to your face, I surprised you're not rolling around in complete and utter agony."
Scoffing, Gaku said, "It takes more that this to make a Konoha Ninja falter. Don't count me out just because you've got a little help."
His smirk still in place the man said, "Hmph, with or without Haruma, your death by my hands is inevitable. Besides, I've told Haruma to turn his attention to finding your teammates. So, it's just you and me."
"Good."
With that, Gaku's chakra spiked, with his features instantly changing into a more feral appearance, with his canines sharpening and his fingernails growing into claws. His transformation complete, the Inuzuka charged towards the red head in a surprising amount of speed. The man was caught off guard by the sudden change in speed, leading him to easily getting a fist driven into his stomach. Gaku wasn't finished however, as he used his momentum and the fact that the man was bent over his arm to throw a left hook just along the ginger's jaw, sending him stumbling back. Knowing he had to keep going, Gaku kept up his barrage, using his claws to swipe at the man's midsection and upper chest, sending blood splatter and shredded flesh and cloth flying. The man screamed in agony, clutching his chest out of instinct. This proved fatal however, as Gaku grabbed ahold of the man's collar, brought him close, then sent a fisted barrage to the red head's face, pummeling him without mercy. His hand itself now bloodied and bruised from punching a hole into the man's face, Gaku let go of his collar. With nothing holding him up, the man collapsed. Huffing, the middle aged Inuzuka tried to catch his breath as he stood over the bloodied man at his feet. Patting around his hip, Gaku remembered that his kunai pouch had fallen off after the explosion that separated his team. Looking back down at the unmoving missing nin, Gaku could see that he was still breathing, if only barely.
"Well, I guess I'll be taking you back for interrogation then."
"I think not."
Quickly turning around, Gaku was surprised to see Tama and Keiko standing behind him. Tama himself was lazily leaning against a boulder, with Keiko standing a few feet off to the side. Unlike her teammates, Keiko wore a plain yellow mask over her face, with only her white hair pulled in a loose bun peeking through. Her clothes were the exact same as her teammates, with her sash colored a dark grey. Her arms were folded under her bust, looking rather impatient compared to rather relaxed teammate next to her.
Gaku turned to fully face the two before saying, "And why's that?"
Shrugging, Tama said, "Well for one, Keiko and I are going to kill you and your team along with the rest of that Iwagakure team as well. The Tsuchikage's Granddaughter was on that team if I'm not mistaken."
"And secondly?"
The answer Gaku got was Tama appearing behind him and his teammate that was on the ground. The man's massive fist was enveloped in chakra as he slammed in down on his prone teammate.
BOOM!
The force of the explosion sent debris and Gaku flying, with Naruto being forced to duck behind his boulder in order to avoid getting pelted by any debris sent his way. Peaking back down, Naruto looked to see Tama walking out of a smoldering crater.
"Secondly, The Kekkei Genkai Brigade has no room for trash. If Shun was too weak to take down some nameless Konoha Jonin, then he didn't deserve to be one of us to begin with." Tama said with absolute finality while looking at the struggling Gaku, who's back was now completely shredded from debris and burns from the heat of Tama's explosion. Looking over at Keiko Tama said, "Am I wrong?"
Keiko shook her head, "Not at all Tama."
Reaching to his ear, Tama pressed into what appeared to be an ear bud before say, "What of you Haruma? You were the one to recruit him after all." Tama was silent as he listened for a response. Taking his hand away from his ear Tama said, "That's what I thought."
Struggling to his knees, Gaku huffed in pain and exhaustion, "Who….who are you people?!" Gaku glared over his shoulder at Tama, "Well?!"
It was Keiko who stepped forward. Her pace was slow and deliberate, purposely agitating Gaku even more. As she finally made her way over to him, she stopped at his side. No warning came before her fist came down on his cheek, roughly bringing him on his hands and knees as he spat blood and teeth onto the ground. His reprieve was short, as Keiko's leg found itself in Gaku's side. The kick had enough strength to send Gaku tumbling before he came to a stop at Tama's feet.
Using his foot, Tama rolled Gaku over so that they were facing each other.
"I've said it before, we're the Kekkei Genkai Brigade. That is all you need to know."
With that, Tama raised his leg, his foot covered in chakra, just as his fist had been before, with it hovering threateningly over Gaku's head.
Naruto had had enough. Even if Gaku had one last card to play, Nauto couldn't risk it. He had stayed put because of Gaku's silent order to, but there was only so much he could take before he had to act. He would not allow him to die.
Time seemed to slow down as Naruto got up from his perch above the fight going on below. As Tama brought his leg up Naruto channeled chakra to his own legs in order to rocket himself towards the explosive giant. It was as he was about to jump into the fray, as Tama's foot began its descent towards Gaku's limp body, that Ayame's voice blasted in his head.
"And what if these people kill you too?!"
That single sentence brought Naruto to a complete stop.
"You promised you'd be more careful Naruto!"
Naruto could only watch in horror as Tama's foot dropped down on Gaku's chest.
"I'm sick and tired of you breaking your promises Naruto!"
BOOM!
-x-
Chapter End
-x-
Sorry for the late response everybody. Due to life, I was force to write this chapter in sections. Thanks to work, school, family emergencies, a very sick dog, and Netflix, I've had a very distracting month. My next chapter should be out sooner than this one was, two weeks at the latest. About the Kekkei Genkai brigade, all of the sashes are the colors of their respective kekkei genkai's symbols' colors. It's on the Naruto Wiki, just google kekkei genkai on your phone. Oh, from now on, I'll be referring to them a times as the KGB (yes I know what I did there) so as to not have to time up Kekkei Genkai Brigade as often as I'd have to otherwise. As for Ayame and Naruto, I did that because I couldn't see any other way to have them in a relationship that would be able to move the plot along at the same time. If I'd gone the long way and done their relationship from the beginning, it would've taken around two chapters of filler when I really just wanted to move the plot along. Don't worry, the next relationship won't be like this one where I barely write about it and it only lasts for a month. Who it'll be is decided and set in stone, you're free to guess but I can only think of one reviewer who'd get it right.
Please give your thoughts, your criticisms, your praise. Please Favorite and Follow my story and myself. Please love me!
