"Uahh!" Naruto yelled as he almost tripped over a root. He felt sweat run down his face as the relentless pursuer was coming closer. He could speed up but he knew that his opponent was faster and more determined than him. He looked around and felt a stab of panic as he saw a silhouette descending on him.
Not even second later a kunai pierced his throat as the golden-eyed horned beast roared in fury.
"… Take that, you cock-sucking, fox-fucking, shithead!" Tayuya yelled, stabbing a pile of dirt that used to be an earth clone henge'ed as Naruto.
"Tayuya-chan, I think that's enough." Fu tried to calm her fiery teammate down. "It's been two months already."
"Zip it, Minty!" She kicked the pile for good measure. "That fucker will get my flute rammed down his ass when he gets back!"
"Ohohoho! Never took you for the ass to mouth type, Tay-chan. Kinky! I like it!" Anko bellowed, looking curiously at the usual Tayuya-clone-turned-Naruto-hunt.
"Shut up! Get your goddamn head out of the gutter, you perv!" Tayuya spluttered in outrage.
"It's not me who announced that she would put a thing she puts in her mouth into someone else's ass." Anko giggled, producing a stick of dango out of nowhere. "I know you are at the tender age where your hormones are going nuts, but at least keep your urges hidden, geez."
"I'm doing it in the fucking forest only!"
"I'm sure all of Konoha can hear you doing it in the forest." Fu interjected, making Tayuya turn beef read.
"Very fucking funny, beetle box!"
"Okay ladies, enough of making out!" Anko jumped down, lading between them. "We got things to do before Fu-chan starts her official Jinchuriki training so let's spend it like a good team, even if we're short of one person who is surely to be a very unfortunate person when he comes back!" she chipped cheerfully. "After all, why would he leave such amazing team with even a more amazing sensei? Kukukuku! Such stupidity must be punished!" Anko pulled a little blonde orange doll and started to stab it with a senbon.
Fu often wondered if she was the only sane person left in Team Outcasts after Naruto's departure. "Anko-sensei, you're doing it again..." Fu said with a sigh.
"Oh, sorry, got lost in the fun a little." She licked her lips, "So back to it! This will be the last of our two months long training session, so I want to see how much you two have progressed!"
By training Anko meant torture, true and genuine torture. She had been making various scenarios for them each, placing them both at gigantic disadvantages. A lot of the time, they raged from chakra exhausting to taijutsu only training to even actual combat practice versus several ANBU shinobi that Anko somehow roped into her crazy ideas.
It was hell. The girls were so bruised and battered that they stopped even caring about covering it anymore. The rest of Konoha 12 stopped asking why Tayuya's black eye hadn't faded after two months.
"Okay chibis, here's the thing, all of our training wasn't designated entirely to give me the pleasure of tormenting you." Anko began folding her arms under her breasts. "As you probably noticed every time you were at some sort of gigantic disadvantage with more powerful, or more numerous opponents, or both at once. As you probably guessed… it was designed for the sole purpose of teaching you how to defeat stronger opponents. Sometimes you succeeded… other times you hilariously failed."
"Grrrr…" Tayuya growled baring her teeth.
"Sit girl! Anyways, somehow you managed to progress through all that and start to think on hand on how to outsmart your opponents, which is crucial in case if you ever run into a stronger shinobi. Even for you, Minty! You may be able to punch through rocks, but a person like Hokage-sama can punch through the mountain."
"I can punch through the mountain if I try really hard!" Fu protested.
"Sure, sure, whatever floats your boat." Anko waved off. "My point is that you always need to be prepared to fight a superior opponent. So that is why I made had THAT person come to fight with you two!"
"What do you mean THAT person?" Tayuya asked. "You've thrown a squad of fucking ANBU on us, who can be worse than those fuckers?! You don't have a pull to involve the Hokage!?" Tayuya asked, somewhat fearfully.
"You wish the Hokage was involved. What I have prepared for you is much, much worse! Kukukuku..." The girls exchanged a nervous look.
"What can be worse than fighting the Hokage-sama—wait a minute!" Fu spoke slowly, feeling a sweat start to form on her forehead. "You can't mean THAT GUY!?"
"Bingo, Minty, you get a plus 1 awesome point, so it's now 327:0 in your favor! Tay-chan, you better get to work or you'll be a lame ass forever!"
"You wouldn't fucking dare…" Tayuya uttered with her eyes wide.
"Already did..." Anko's grin became strained for a moment. "You can come out–!"
"YOSH!" before she managed to finish, a green blur appeared next to her with that similar, impeccable black hair and pearl white teeth that produced lights of their own. The one and only Green Beast of Konoha—Might Guy!
Fu and Tayuya opened their mouths with silent screams as the dread started taking them over.
Anko smirked, "Alright then! Beat them up as we talked about it."
"I will see to it that every single skill they have will be used to their fullest!" Guy promised with a thumbs up.
"HOOOOOO! Show them, Guy-sensei! BADUMBADUM!" Lee exclaimed, coming out of nowhere, beating a drum furiously. Behind him is Neji and Tenten waving little flags with a chibi face of Guy on them… they wanted to die. And next to them were the rest of the Konoha 12 teams, plus their senseis for some reason.
"Why the fuck did everyone come here?" Tayuya snapped at Anko.
"Don't ask me… I only spoke with Guy."
"Such things would be a wonderful example for the rest to learn the value of proper teamwork!" Guy folded his arms. "That's why I convinced the rest to come and see the results of your training, which I will implement with my own team!"
"You're the best, Guy-sensei!" Lee bellowed, slamming the drum furiously while his other two teammates considered going Nuke-nin.
"This is going to be amazing." Sakura whispered to Ino's ear.
"Guy-sensei is going to massacre them, hihihi!" the blonde giggled.
"Well, one of them needs to be knocked down a peg or two," Sakura added, unaware that Tayuya's very sensitive ears caught that, making the girl give them a dark glare.
"Be sure to watch carefully, you might learn a thing or two." Kakashi told his team.
He didn't need to add the word teamwork because this was right now a defunct term in Team 7. After the formation of Team Outcasts and the arrival of Sai, any semblance of unity among the team collapsed. The best he could get from them was each individual fulfilling the task presented to them in order to gain results. But any other team exercises that required cooperation either failed or had inferior results in comparison of them working alone. The team lacked the glue that held them together, and with Sai filling Naruto's shoes, they only seemed to be driven apart even more.
That saddened Kakashi as he viewed it as his failure to at least create the feeling of comradeship between them. So he dedicated himself to try to make them stronger individually for as long as he could. Especially Sakura since she was already one leg into gaining an apprentice under the Hokage herself. And Sasuke seemed content with the level of training he was provided with since after each session he could barely go back to his home on his own.
Sai, on the other hand, told him that he was getting training from different source and reading porn in public was not a skill he wished to learn. With that thought, he looked at the two unfortunate girls who were about to face Guy. He had to admit that he wasn't expecting Tayuya to fit so well along the rest. While Fu easily wormed her way into the group, the fiery redhead somehow managed to secure her position as well, whenever she wished it or not. He now regular saw her along with the rest whenever it was dinner or just regular chatter.
Despite looking like she wanted to be anywhere but there, Kakashi noticed that she rarely missed such meetings on her own accord. And no, Kakashi was not stalking her. Not at all! He was simply observing from the shadows.
Another funny thing was that Sasuke suddenly remembered how to speak around her. Kakashi had a sneaky suspicion that the boy might be interested in Naruto's teammate in a fashion other than the mean of gaining strength... more like in the idea of rebuilding Uchiha clan kind of way. Which he found funny since Tayuya seemed to make a sport out of insulting him at every step of his goal.
"Okay! Enough of the chit-chat, I got stuff to do today, so let's get on with it." Anko said, interrupting the chatter.
"Yosh! Such moments are peaks of youth!" Guy slammed his fist against his open palm. "Come on girls; show me your burning passion!" Guy took a stance, awaiting the first attack. The girls exchanged a look with understanding passing between the two.
Fu dashed forward while Tayuya jumped back, indicating the now standard MO. Fu, using her inhuman strength and fortitude, engaged the enemy while Tayuya weakened them with her genjutsu, making Fu's job easier.
"Haaa!" Fu charged forward, eager to clash with Konoha's master taijutsu specialist.
Guy, of course, avoided such a straight forward attack with ease, allowing Fu's punch to harmlessly pass through while grabbing Fu's extended arm and throwing her up in the air. Yet the mint haired girl wasn't a bit worried as wings sprouted from her back. With a buzz, she hung above the Jonin, going through a degree of hand seals.
"Suiton: Daiteppōdama!" Fu took a deep breath before shooting a large bullet of water out of her mouth.
Guy smirked, dodging the bullet with ease. A second later he jumped in the air and engaged Fu in lightning fast CQC. The Nanabi Jinchuriki was good, yet Guy was still leagues above her, and only thanks to the perks of being a container of a tailed demon saved her rear. That meant that she could take a few hits and not worry about pain... much. Also, for some weird reason, gravity didn't seem to apply to the spandex wearing Jonin as he descended irritatingly slowly while exchanging punches and kick with her.
'Does that suit allow him to fly?' Fu mussed, trying to keep up with the man. In surprise move she wrapped her tail around Guy's ankle and with mighty pull the threw him at the ground. He landed on all fours, instantly jumping from the spot as Fu driven her feet in a place he was second ago. Like a human nail she sank into the ground up to her waist.
"A little help here!" Fu exclaimed, trying to get out. Guy moved too quickly for her, "Tayuya!?"
Seconds before the impact, Guy suddenly made a flip and started to move erratically. While Guy was occupied, Tayuya jumped out and unplugged Fu from the ground. She put her flute to her mouth and started to play her melody. The tunes filled the air as unsuspecting shinobi fell victim to the terrifying genjutsu.
"KYAAAAA!" Sakura and Ino screamed at the same time, covering their eyes. Everyone paused, looking at them. Even Guy, while evading the invisible attacks, paused while moving. No one bothered to point it out.
"Oh… for Kami's sake!" Anko face palmed and broke the genjutsu hold on the two unfortunate kunoichi. "Focus on the fight, will ya!?"
"It was just a fucking joke." Tayuya shouted with glee.
"You psycho!" Sakura exclaimed. "What kind of person are you!?"
"How could you think of something so disgusting?" Ino added with tears streaming down her cheeks. "I won't be able to sleep for a week!"
"Tayuya, what did you do?" Anko asked with exasperation.
"Oh no, the opponent is too strong, we need to really focus on him!" the redhead uttered in a drone like way, turning her back to the spectators, only to come face to face with Guy.
"You should never turn your back on your opponent!" He kneed her in the stomach, sending her flying high enough to see a pile of her chameleons beaten to a pulp. Making a mental note that her summons are pretty weak against a CQC specialists, she flipped in the air and started playing again. Fu, on the other hand, engaged in fierce combat with Guy again, this time calling onto her Jinchuriki power to match the man.
"YOSH! Your flame of youth is burning brightly!" Guy exclaimed with excitement. He lunged forward, doing an insanely fast spin kick, almost turning himself into a one-man tornado. Tayuya frowned while playing her infamous Melody of Death. Her genjutsu seemed to have absolutely no effect on the Jonin, which was impossible!
It had to be some kind of trick... that or he was actually too thick to fall for any genjutsu. 'No such stupidity is impossible!' Tayuya thought, actually noticing the reason Guy was unaffected. Even while engaged with a powered-up Fu, he was making a kai sign every second, disrupting her jutsu.
Tayuya cursed, hiding her flute and running through the signs. "Heads up! Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu !" she warned her teammate before shooting a large fireball out of her mouth.
"Ha! Impressive for someone so small!" Guy commented. "Now it is time to get little bit more not serious! HAAAAAAAAAA!" Guy started to glow with chakra."Kaimon! Open!" The burst of chakra coming from the ninja ripped the dirt off the ground near his feet.
"Holy–" Fu began, feeling the power coming off the man.
"–Fuck!" Tayuya finished for her.
Guy vanished in thin air, only to appear in front of two shocked kunoichi. "KONOHA PUNCH!" He socked both of them in their very surprised faces, sending them flying.
"OOFFF!" Both of them made funny sound as they hit the tree. Fu jumped on her feet almost instantly as her Jinchuriki cloak protected her from getting seriously hurt. Unlike poor Tayuya who hit the tree with full force, cursing the poor plant with all her might... which wasn't much considering she was lying face down on the ground.
"You mother fucking... summoning jutsu!" Tayuya summoned a horse sized chameleon. "Get that bastard!" The summon creature obeyed and vanished, most likely attempting the same strategy as its comrades
"Grab his leg and pull him from underground! That should give Minty a chance!"
"Yes, mistress," the chameleon replied, scuffing forward.
At the same time Fu was viciously slashing Guy with her water blades, growing more and more frustrated each time her blades hit nothing but air. The reflexes of that man were impossible. Males shouldn't be that flexible.
"Don't lose focus!" he nagged, hitting Fu in the shoulder. "You are strong, but without a calm mind, you will never win a fight!"
"Take that!" Fu used her tail to hit him, actually surprising the Jonin. He blocked it with his forearm but was not expecting for the thing to wrap around his writ. He swung his leg to kick her off, but felt that something wrapped around it too.
"Pull!" Fu shouted, jumping backwards while the chameleon retreated it tongue. The action caused Guy to be suspended in mid-air. "Now Tayuya!"
"HIYAAA!" the fiery redhead jumped, screaming bloody murder, attempting to punch that stupid face.
"HOOOOO!" Guy used his inhuman strength and with mighty roar, pulled.
"What?" Fu uttered dumbly, unused to being overpowered. Instead, she should be trying to change trajectory since a rather large, invisible object was flying towards her. She collided with the chameleon, hitting her face with a particularly hard part of the creature.
"SHHIIITTTT!" Tayuya soon impacted with the Fu-chameleon mass and all of them fell down in a crumbled mess. With a puff of smoke, the summon was gone, leaving two beat up girls moaning in pain.
"Well, it went better than I predicted." Anko uttered, looking at the pile of misery that happened to be her apprentices, "Glad that you didn't go easy on them, Guy."
"Results are brought through sweat and blood! Still, I have to admit that those two work quite well, they had me now and there... good work," he gave the poor girls a thumbs up.
"I fucking hate you..." Tayuya mumbled. "My ass..." She moaned rubbing her sore behind.
"I wanna go home!" Fu lamented, trying to move from one uncomfortable position to another.
"Geez what a drag, I hope you're not planning the same for us, Asuma-sensei?" Shikamaru asked dearly, hoping that it wasn't the case.
"Don't worry, there's no need for such inhumane methods," he chuckled, taking a deep inhale with his cigarette.
"You got what you deserve!" Sakura shouted at Tayuya.
"Shut your tap or I'll add fucking Orochimaru to the mix next time!" she threatened, albeit, from the lying position, it looked more comical.
"Okay, seriously, what did they see?" Anko asked.
"You really wanna know?" Tayuya managed to keep a straight face. "I'm not sure you can handle it."
"You know the funny thing is I know you're baiting me, but I'm rather curious about what have you come up with Red."
"Okay..." she could not pass up such an opportunity. She started directing her chakra straight into Anko's ears
The Snake Mistress almost whistled as the surrounding area turned from a forest to an exclusive red themed room. The room was dimly lit and the heavy red curtains almost blocked the light from outside. The furniture was rich and soft with pictures on scantily dressed women on the walls. In short, Anko was in a brothel.
"Very classy, Tayu–" she paused when suddenly, out of nowhere; a light illuminated a couch which was shrouded by darkness. On the said couch sat two men, namely Kakashi and Guy both dressed in green spandex.
"Looks like we can begin, Kakashi-kun," Guy said sweetly, slowly leaning towards the other man, catching the hem of his mask with his teeth.
"Oh Guy, you naughty boy..." Kakashi giggled, putting his hand on Guy's thigh.
"KAI!" Anko broke the genjutsu. Now she needed her brain bleached. She looked into Tayuya's eyes and saw the look of pure, unrefined evil in them. Not to mention glee, a whole load of glee.
"That little–" Anko moved forward, fully intending to put Tayuya through the worst experience of her life, but was stopped by the sudden appearance of a Bear ANBU.
"All Jonin, present with the addition of genin Tayuya, you are summoned to the Hokage-sama's office," his tone betrayed that the matter was urgent. Suddenly, the entire idle atmosphere died.
"Hai!" they replied in unison.
"What about us?" Sasuke asked, very displeased that he was excluded from whatever was happening.
"Await further instructions." ANBU replied simply.
"Maa, maa, I'll tell you everything after I'm back." Kakashi prevented any outburst from the young Uchiha.
"Hn."
Without further ado, the Jonin, plus Tayuya that was being carried by Anko, left the forest leaving the genin behind. After a few minutes, they arrived at the Hokage's meeting hall, where the Hokage addressed her subjects. The group noticed that other high ranking Jonin were present too, including the upper echelon of ANBU and Ibiki, the Head of T&I department.
"I don't like that." Kurenai commented.
"Yeah, Hokage-sama, doesn't call all the big guns on short notice like this. Something's up..." Asuma rubbed his beard.
"And why the fuck am I here?" Tayuya groaned at the prospect of spending a lot of her time on some boring meeting. "Can't I just go home?"
"Hokage-sama asked specifically for you, my little hellfire... what did you do?" Anko dangerously narrowed her eyes.
"Nothing! I have no fucking idea what this is about!" Tayuya exclaimed, waving her hands.
Before Anko managed to grill her further, whispers erupted through the room as the Hokage, along with all the main clan heads and Danzo, entered the room and stood at top of the railing.
"Silence!" the Hokage ordered with a visible frown on her face. As predicted, the simple order was fulfilled to the letter. One could hear a pin drop. Tsunade looked at the crowd, scanning the room with her eyes, stopping for a second on Tayuya. The girl gulped but held her gaze.
"Today, I, along with the council, have come to a decision." Tsunade began. "I summoned you here today because you're the very elite of our shinobi force. You're squad leaders, department heads, and powerful ninja." She took a breath, visibly fighting against something. The tension in the room, due to Hokage's bizarre behavior, was through the roof.
"Today we have come to an agreement over a matter we fought over for many months." The faces of the clan heads and Danzo looked like they were made of stone, betraying no emotions. "We decided that it is high time to strike back at our enemy who so cowardly invaded our beloved village all those months ago..."
Tayuya felt her stomach sink as her jaw started to slowly open.
'No... You've got to be fucking kidding–'
"We're invading Otogakure!" Her voice washed over the stunned ninja like waves. "Konoha is going to war!"
A/N
You're not dreaming, you're not drunk nor high...the Tales are back!...sort of. In recent year I found a stable job that sadly is quite demanding and I don't have as much time as I used to have to write but I plan on finishing that story! So guys and gals I hope to see that you still remember this and leave a review to say hello after so long!
I hope you enjoyed the fist chapter of this arc!