Chapter 25: Plans in Motion

The sound of wet feet smacking against the tiled floor made Naruto sit up, arms flailing. He must have dozed off, the soothing trickle of the shower acting like a lullaby. Rubbing out the grit in his eyes, Naruto turned his attention to the bathroom door after hearing it creak open.

Kurenai stepped out and Naruto couldn't help but stare at her and marvel at how tightly her clothing clung to her body: her red tank top exposed a generous amount of her cleavage and her black shorts were cut off at mid-thigh.

It was like she chose that outfit specifically to appeal to him. Naruto knew that she knew that he was taking in the sight, eyes roving across her body hungrily. She didn't reprimand him, like he expected she would. All she did was sit on her bed and place the towel draped along her shoulders on her head, rubbing her hair with it.

She wasn't facing him, letting him see the flawless creamy skin of her back and shoulders. Once she finished, she looked behind her shoulder. The corners of her mouth twitched upwards. "What are you waiting for? You're free to take a shower, Naruto."

Naruto blinked once, then blinked again. Taking a deep breath, he looked past Kurenai and forced the heat creeping into his face to dissipate. "Yeah, sure."

He went to the bathroom and took a cold shower to cool down. He still wanted to find out what Kurenai's problem with him was, and lusting over her body was just going to distract him. Once he felt the cold shower do its work, he turned the knobs and made the water hot, basking in the warm water and feeling all his muscles relax.

Turning off the water, Naruto dried himself off and put on his pyjamas. The room was dark when he left the bathroom, with the only light coming from outside. Kurenai was sleeping, her chest rising and falling in an even rhythm.

He went to bed and closed his eyes, trying to go to sleep. But try as he might, he couldn't sleep peacefully. He tossed and turned, head throbbing from all the tension he was feeling. Not only that, he didn't feel any sort of fatigue whatsoever.

Since he was awake, he sat up and stared at the source of all his current anxiety. Wondering about the reason why Kurenai was irritated with him was something that gnawed at him, something that he couldn't stop focusing on. It started after the Hidden Cloud ninja left them, after Yugito kissed him.

His eyes lit up. Maybe that was it. He couldn't see why that was a problem, since it was only a goodbye kiss and one that didn't even last that long. Or maybe it was something else. Either way, there was no use mulling over possible reasons for Kurenai's behaviour.

"Kurenai?" he whispered, wanting to know if she was awake.

She was, as one eye opened. It was fortunate that she was facing him as she slept, instead of turning her back to him. "What is it?"

Naruto wilted slightly from the snappish tone in her voice, but soldiered on. There wasn't any reason for him to back down. None at all. And Kurenai was the one that said honesty was an important part of any relationship. "Why were you so angry yesterday?"

Kurenai lifted herself up and made eye contact. Her posture was somewhat rigid and Naruto saw a hint of pink lining the bridge of her nose. "It was bothering you, wasn't it?"

Naruto nodded. Kurenai's breath had an unfamiliar, pungent smell to it. "I don't know what I did wrong."

Kurenai smiled and put a hand on his knee. "You didn't do anything wrong."

Naruto frowned, clenching his teeth. "Then why were you so annoyed, huh?"

He saw Kurenai flinch from how he had nearly shouted the question. "I was stressed out. Something about the Cloud ninja annoyed me and I didn't realize how badly my mood was affected until later. I can't tell you what it was that set me off because I'm not sure what it was myself."

Naruto sighed. Something that wasn't the Nine-Tails was telling him that Kurenai was leaving some parts of the story out, but it would have to do. She clearly didn't want to have the discussion and he knew a lost cause when he saw one. "Fine."

Kurenai gave him a parting smile before laying down on her bed once again. "I didn't mean to stress you out."

She closed her eyes and didn't say another word. Naruto lay on his bed and thought. He'd try to get some rest, try to focus on the mission when he woke up and ask Kurenai again when they were finished, or wait until she was ready to tell him. He already spent too much time thinking about his girlfriend in a negative light. More than enough time, in fact.

Fortunately, Naruto was able to fall asleep by meditating for a few minutes to calm himself down. While he was busy with that, he took the time to examine his chakra supplies and smiled after seeing how much Yin chakra he had. It was only a matter of time until his Yin and Yang chakra were completely balanced.

When he woke up the next day, he got out of bed with a smile on his face, stretching and feeling his joints pop. His headache was all but gone and he had managed to salvage some rest last night, so now he was more than ready to tackle any mission planning he needed to do.

The moment Kurenai left the bathroom, he entered without sparing her a passing glance and got to work: combing his hair, washing his face and brushing his teeth before dressing up in his ninja gear. He walked out and saw Kurenai sitting on her bed in her usual outfit, a genuine smile on her face.

"Someone's energetic," she said. "Did you get a good night's rest?" Naruto nodded. "Excellent."

Before he could respond, he heard a knock on the door and after scanning the people behind it with his sensor, he said, "It's open!" Anko and Yūgao entered and after they exchanged greetings, they made their way towards a table that had been set up between the two beds.

Once everyone found a place to sit, Anko pulled out a scroll from her jacket pocket and rolled it on the table, revealing a map with some writing scribbled here and there, among other markings. "I gathered some intel on the Crimson Hand last night because it bothers me if I don't know what I'm getting into."

From the tone of her voice, Anko was all business as she went on to reveal that the Crimson Hand was divided into three encampments, with the largest and most fortified of them also being the one that housed the Crimson Hand's leader. Contrary to what the mission intel had stated, there were a few ninja among the Crimson Hand.

"So, what do you think, leader?" Anko asked after she finished giving her information.

Naruto looked at the map and began to think, taking Anko's intel and the numbers – that represented the amount of bandits in each camp – written around the encampments' locations into account. This was the first time he was really planning anything like this. The bridge defense plan back in Wave was handled by Kakashi and the ANBU squad, and Sakura primarily took the initiative in the Forest of Death. He wasn't as smart as Kakashi or Sakura, but he knew that the best thing he could do was put his best foot forward.

"The first thing we should do is spread some chaos."

"Why?" Anko asked.

"Because once we do that, they'll call in reinforcements," Naruto replied.

"And how are you gonna do that?"

"My Shadow Clones," Naruto said, his smile slowly becoming a strained one. "While the bandits are dealing with them, I want you three to be positioned at each camp and see how many bandits leave and check if the ninja leave with them or stay behind. Once that's done, I'll have my clones disappear."

Naruto raised a hand to silence Anko before she could speak, which made her raise an eyebrow in response. He then returned to the map. "The point is that once we figure out the bandits' movements, we can set up traps to catch them out. Then when we attack each camp for real, we'll have to deal with fewer bandits in total."

"But we lose the element of surprise," Anko pointed out. "Why warn them?"

"We can't just rush in," Naruto replied, not annoyed by hearing what was a valid question instead of Anko being irritating. "Even if one of us can take down a single camp full of bandits by ourselves, we'll be swarmed by reinforcements and unable to cope. And even then, we would have to attack the main camp and that would make this plan of mine even riskier than it already is."

Anko didn't respond immediately, but when she did, she smiled in approval. "Not bad."

"I agree," Kurenai said.

"So do I," Yūgao agreed.

Naruto smiled at the praise, surprised that his plan was having such a positive response. "I want to leave the biggest camp for last, because it'll still be the most heavily fortified camp even after thinning out the ranks."

Yūgao nodded in agreement. "When do you want to attack?"

Naruto frowned. "I'm not sure. Anko, when do you think we should attack?"

Anko smirked. "Good move, asking me for advice. Anyway, we should attack them at sunset, and figure out their patrols and deployments in the morning."

Naruto wondered if he should disagree with Anko just to spite her, but he couldn't really see any issue with her plan that would give him a legitimate reason to do so. "What do you guys think?"

"I think Anko's plan is the best course of action," Kurenai said.

Yūgao didn't seem like she agreed, with a slight frown on her face. "I think we should switch the times around: twilight for the recon and daybreak for the attack. Our targets will be tired and more susceptible to making mistakes, so disposing of them should be easier."

Kurenai and Anko seemed to approve of Yūgao's plan. Naruto wasn't sure. "We'll run into tired opponents during sunset too, especially if the camp is run throughout the day. If we set traps, I think that it's more likely that the bandits will set off the traps when there's less light, the same reason why it'll be easier for us to retreat."

Instead of being put off, Yūgao only smiled. "Insightful as always. So I assume we'll be doing recon in the morning and attack at night?"

Naruto nodded. "Yeah, it's for the best. Sorry."

Yūgao waved him off. "You're the leader and I'm fully capable of accepting that my ideas might not be the most viable ones. Never apologize for that, otherwise you'll might have to deal with a teammate who'll try to manipulate you into doing what they want."

"Really?" Naruto asked, eyes going as wide as they possibly could. He never experienced any serious problems with teamwork, even when he was a part of Team Seven.

"Yeah," Anko said with a grin. "You'll get all kinds of assholes wanting to push you around and make your life miserable just because they don't like you or they're jealous that you're the leader even though you're a snot-nosed, immature kid with stupid whisker marks."

Naruto looked Anko right in the eye and saw how wide her grin had become. "You mean like you?"

Anko gasped. "Me? How could you accuse me of something so deplorable?" She started to laugh hysterically, before coming to a halt some time after. "Nah, I'm not like that."

Naruto took in a deep breath and ignored the oncoming headache that had come from hearing Anko's hypocrisy. It seemed Kurenai was feeling the same, pinching the bridge of her nose in exasperation. Yūgao only shook her head. "Never mind. I think we should start the mission properly tomorrow morning. What do you say?"

Everyone, even Anko, agreed.

Hours after the mission plan had ended, Naruto was walking alone in the town's streets. Kurenai and the other kunoichi had decided to check out what the shops of this small town had to offer. He had wanted to spend time with Kurenai, but not only did he find shopping boring when he wasn't buying anything necessary, Jiraiya had warned him on more than one occasion to not get in the way of a woman shopping.

So he made up an excuse and said he wanted to do some searching of his own. They bought it and Naruto left. He wondered if they were buying new clothing, and imagined Kurenai trying on different outfits. Outfits that flaunted her virtually flawless figure, like that tank top and shorts she wore last night, or the black dress she wore on their first date.

She also had jewellery on: a necklace and earrings. Now that he thought about it, he hadn't seen Kurenai wear any jewellery beyond those two pieces. He didn't see much, if any other, jewellery around her apartment either.

So for the next few minutes, Naruto searched for a jewellery store while making sure that the others – especially Kurenai – didn't catch on to what he was doing. He hoped that Kurenai would appreciate the gift. Even if she didn't, he still wanted to give her something to show his gratitude for her choosing him to be her boyfriend.

The glint of silver and gold trinkets shining from the display of a corner shop caught his eye and he smiled, hearing a bell jingle as he stepped inside. He had thought about what kind of jewellery he wanted to buy Kurenai and while he wasn't sure, he knew to look for the small details.

Just after he entered the jewellery store, an elderly woman appeared from the back of the shop. Her skin was sagging in places and her hair was a silvery gray, but her eyes were a sharp brown and shone with the experience and wisdom of someone who lived to tell a long tale.

Her lip curled in what must have been distaste, since Naruto couldn't fathom a reason why she would do that otherwise. "Hmm, what is a ninja as young as you doing in a place like this?"

"I want to buy something for my girlfriend," Naruto replied.

The woman moved to the counter before staring right at him, possibly right through him. "Is that right? Are you sure you're not here to cause mischief?"

Naruto shook his head. There was absolutely no point of doing that. "Never."

The woman's sharp gaze softened, a smile cracking on her lips and her posture becoming less crooked and more inviting. "In that case, what can I get for that girl of yours?" She pursed her lips after seeing Naruto look at her with a wary glance, having not moved a single step. A harsh sound shocked Naruto and the woman retracted her hand, having snapped her fingers to get his attention. "Come now, child, you need to communicate if you want me to help you."

Naruto blinked before moving towards the counter. Admittedly, the woman's change in mood threw him for a loop, but now that she was more agreeable than before, he was sure he wouldn't come across any problems whatsoever. He looked around and saw rings of all kinds sitting in glass cases. He knew that they were used for marriage proposals, so they were out. Kurenai already had a pair of earrings and he didn't know enough of them to buy a set anyways.

He had began to idly drum the glass case while searching the store for what he wanted. It was seeing the brightly coloured bracelet on his wrist that gave him an idea. Shikamaru gave it to him after the exams had ended and he knew it would always be there. All he had to do was look at it if he wanted to be reminded of his bond with his best male friend.

That was it.

The old woman seemed to notice the gleam in Naruto's eyes as a soft chuckle escaped her. "Call it a hunch, call it woman's intuition, but I've been doing this for long enough that I can immediately tell you know what you want to buy."

"I want... a bracelet, a simple one that can endure a ninja's life. One with yellow and red gemstones, and with her name engraved on it."

"Anything else?" Naruto kept quiet for a few moments, wondering if he wanted to add anything else. He shook his head after. The woman went to go and pick out a few bracelets from her inventory, choosing two to present to him. One had more intricate detail, with flowers engraved on the links of the bracelet. The other one was plain in comparison, but was also cheaper.

Both were apparently capable of withstanding a blow from many things, but he was warned that a blade enhanced by chakra wielded by an experienced practitioner of kenjutsu or an equivalent attacking method would be enough to destroy the bracelet.

The more expensive bracelet was within his price range, so he chose that one. The woman smiled in response. "You'll have to come back tomorrow. I'll have your order done by then. I just need her name."

Naruto smiled. It wouldn't do him any harm to tell this old woman his girlfriend's name, if only because she wasn't a part of the Hidden Leaf Village. "Kurenai."

"Well, Kurenai is a very lucky girl to have a young man who cares about her as much as you do. I can see it in your eyes: you're smitten with her, aren't you?"

Naruto nodded, a rosy blush brightening his face up. "Yeah. I'm really lucky to have her." And hopefully, he'd be lucky enough to heal the rift that had come between them.

A few days later, Naruto and his team were sitting around a table in a hotel room in a town closer to the Crimson Hand, busy with the final preparations for their attack. The map they were using was in front of them and a few additions had been made to it. Arrows pointing to and away from camps, with numbers written next to them indicating the amount of reinforcements each camp would send to a camp under attack.

As expected, the camps were heavily fortified and used competent tactics to ensure their protection, explaining how they were able to skirt the borders of other nations without suffering heavy amounts of casualties. Naruto was surprised to find out that the main camp would not only send reinforcements to the camp they attacked – the smallest camp in this case – but also send a platoon to check on and reinforce the remaining camp.

On one of these raids, Naruto had nearly been caught after he got too close to a group of bandits he was planning to escape from. One of the ninja caught wind of his movements and had moved towards him, his group following close behind. He had realized his mistake immediately, but instead of panicking, he decided to roll with it and turn the situation into an advantage.

Yūgao had been hiding in the trees, watching over Naruto in case he got himself into trouble. She was about to step in, but after he disappeared from view with a quickly-cast illusion, she proceeded to follow his lead. The group of bandits entered the clearing where Naruto had been and the ninja, a plain-looking brown-haired man, looked around carefully.

Just after one of the bandits complained about being led around on a wild goose chase, Naruto reappeared behind them, gaining their attention and forcing them to chase him. Yūgao stayed her hand, wanting to see what Naruto was going to do. Other than the ninja, who had scanned the area before giving chase, the bandits took the bait immediately. Meanwhile, Naruto ran to Yūgao's position, explained that the bandits were chasing his clone, and made their escape almost immediately after.

It had accomplished a few things. For one, the bandits only paid attention to Naruto, not Yūgao. They only seemed to assume that Naruto was only skilled at making clones and was alone. Naruto's decision to run instead of fight had helped them avoid a drawn-out fight that would have rapidly escalated before they were ready. They would engage on their terms, not on the bandits' terms.

"So, any questions before we head out?" Naruto asked. His team shook their heads. "Good. Let's get going."

Kurenai stood up first, but Naruto didn't see her send him a look of concern before she left. Anko left soon after, not even giving Naruto one last jab. Naruto looked at the map one last time before rolling it up. His hands were shaking and a nervous sweat had broke out on his skin.

He felt Yūgao's hand clasp his shoulder softly and turned to face her. "You're worried, aren't you?" she asked with a gentle smile on her face. "I know what it feels like, but just focus on the mission ahead. If all goes well, we should be back in the Leaf Village before morning. If it doesn't," she pointed at the radio headset in her ear, headsets that they all had, "we can try again some other time."

Naruto breathed in deeply, exhaling soon after. "Yeah, I know. I'm just worried about them, you know?"

"They can take care of themselves," Yūgao said. "Trust them to do their job."

He was nervous, but he put in too much work to back out now, and a part of him was excited to see his plan unfold for real. Like Yūgao said, he would just have to trust that Kurenai and Anko – who had both been ninja for longer than he was alive – could do a mission like this without dying.

He stood up. "I'm ready."

The plan was simple. Kurenai would attack the smallest camp by herself, drawing out reinforcements from the main camp. At first, Naruto planned to attack the middle camp, because it was closer to the main camp and the terrain it was on being easier to navigate through. But after learning that the main camp would send more bandits to the smallest camp instead, they changed plans.

After the smallest camp was attacked, Anko would attack the medium-sized camp, drawing more bandits from the main camp. In total, they would deplete a third of the main camp's forces, making their job easier.

Once Naruto and Yūgao reached the main camp, they took their positions and waited for the messenger to arrive, with Naruto creating a few clones who subsequently disappeared into the forest to wait for their signal. Naruto worried that the messengers from the camps that were being attacked would trigger the traps he had set too early, but Anko had convinced them that her summons – snakes – would guide the messengers around the traps.

Soon enough, the messenger rushed towards the camp unharmed, just as Anko said he would. "The Ogama camp is under attack!" he said once he reached the two bandits standing guard in front of the camp's entrance. Naruto wasn't sure why there weren't more, but in the end, it meant less work for him.

The guards exchanged a glance before drawing out the swords at their hips. One of them pointed the sword at the messenger. "What's the password?"

The messenger shook his head and took a moment to regain his bearings. "The Fire is more profitable than the Lightning, but the Lightning is slower to strike."

The guards sheathed their swords and let the messenger through. Naruto and Yūgao shared a nod, knowing that since Ogama was the village closest to the Crimson Hand's smallest camp, Kurenai had already done her part. It didn't take long for a large group of bandits to run out of the camp, clad in dishevelled clothing and wielding weapons of all kinds.

The messenger from the other camp followed the lead of the other one: arriving, saying a different password and leaving along with the reinforcements. Once they couldn't see, hear or sense them, Naruto loosened his hands and went through hand seals.

The guard on the left blinked rapidly and once he looked at his fellow bandit, he drew out his sword and screamed, "I'll kill you!" The other guard was too shocked to defend himself as the enraged guard slashed and stabbed, carving deep gouges on the victim's skin before cleaving his head off, ignoring the spray of blood that had covered his head and shoulders as he continued to hack at the deceased guard.

The guard's fellow bandits soon approached him after hearing the guard's furious bellow, but that wasn't the greatest decision as the guard looked at them and adopted the same manic expression he had when hacking at the former member of the Crimson Hand. He charged at the nearest bandit, who was able to block his initial strike, but was overpowered by the guard's sheer ferocity and quickly succumbed to the same fate his predecessor suffered.

Before he could attack yet another bandit, the outraged guard was stabbed by all the other bandits in the immediate vicinity and dropped to the ground lifelessly. They looked around frantically, confused as to why the guard suddenly snapped, but then their eyes shot wide in abject fear and they ran deeper into the camp, shouting about demons and foxes.

The Genjutsu he had used were a success. The one he used on the guard was designed to make him see his partner kiss someone he found desirable, playing on his memories and stirring up his rage. Then, Naruto layered another Genjutsu that was inspired by the rage and bloodlust he felt whenever he tapped into the Nine-Tails' chakra. It did the trick and sent the guard into a frenzy. He wasn't expecting it to work as well as it did, but he wouldn't complain about the results being better than he anticipated.

The other Genjutsu he used on the group of bandits created the image of predatory foxes not unlike the Nine-Tails: shrouded in an orange fog with menacing red eyes, fangs and claws as real and sharp as the greatest pain they ever felt.

While some of the fleeing bandits managed to run far enough, the rest weren't so lucky as four of Naruto's clones shimmered into life right in front of them. Hands flashed through seals and four gales of cutting wind sliced through the bandits and took them off their feet, forcing them to lie in rapidly forming pools of blood.

He gave Yūgao the signal and they rushed out of their hiding spots, jumping into the fray. Yūgao took on a group of bandits a fair distance away from where Naruto's clones were and went to work, dispatching bandit after bandit with each swing of her katana, barely staying in one spot as she danced like a floating leaf in the wind. That was why she was with him: her skill combined with her sensory ability would let her come to his aid in case he needed it.

Naruto and his clones faced the oncoming force of bandits and stood their ground. The clones managed to split the force apart, enough that only a quarter of the bandits remained to fight the real deal. The largest bandit smiled at Naruto and showed his surprisingly white teeth before running towards him, brandishing an axe.

He pulled out a kunai and met the bandit's charge head on, moving his shoulder out of the way and executing a well-timed leg sweep to send the large man toppling on the ground, flicking his wrist to bury the kunai deep within the bandit's throat. He only spared a glance at the man as whatever life force he had faded entirely before drawing out a handful of shuriken and flinging them at the approaching horde.

The ones that weren't stopped in their tracks continued to run at him and he got to work, focusing entirely on attacking without thinking about how many lives he would – and was – ending. He stepped out of the way of slashes, bent around stabs and twisted around grapples and lashed out with bone-breaking kicks targeting the ribs or kneecaps, kunai stabs that hit arteries or vital organs or tricking them with strategically timed illusions to slip out of view and have the bandits target each other, accidentally or otherwise.

More bandits came to take the place of their fallen comrades and Naruto continued to fight, blowing out a wind that was scythe-like in its shape and cut through the entire force in a shower of blood and dirt. That was the advantage of Wind Style Ninjutsu: it was difficult to detect without a chakra sensing technique, with the only indications of it otherwise being the distortion in the air or dirt and grass being flung upwards.

The next wave of bandits fought smarter, taking advantage of Naruto's momentary distraction from having his clone's memories returning to him to surround him. He ducked and waited for the bandits to retract their weapons before jumping upwards and away from any bandits. Just before he could touch the ground, a spear flew his way and he avoided it with a quick Replacement jutsu, repaying the bandit by throwing a kunai and impaling his heart.

The bandits continued to approach and even as he continued to take them out, the remaining ones managed to force him further and further away from Yūgao. One of the bandits brought his hands down in a two-handed smash, which was blocked and countered by Naruto stabbing both of his kunai into him. He then used the bandit's corpse as a shield to block the weapons sent his way. Once he kicked the body forwards, he slapped his hands together and unleashed a gust of crushing wind with the Gale Palm jutsu.

No more bandits came and the memories of all the bandits, all of the people he and his clones killed came back to him. It was necessary, to protect his village and all the people who would be targeted by the Crimson Hand if they were left unchecked, but it still sickened him to kill so many. Their blood seeped into the ground and made the brown a dark red. A foul smell emanated from the bandit's corpses and the moonlight shone on their bodies.

He swallowed audibly and breathed out. The mission wasn't over until he had the leader of the Crimson Hand's head. Just then, he felt a chakra signature appear right in front of him.

"So, you're the one responsible for all of this," the man said. He was the ninja that Naruto had seen on his nearly botched raid, with slicked back, shoulder length brown hair and a beard hanging from his chin in the shape of an oval. His dark-green wardrobe was similar to most of the bandits' clothing, but had less wear and tear and looked like it was made of better material.

He had a smile on his face that was at odds with the current situation, and was practically radiating confidence. "I imagined that Hidden Leaf ninja would come our way, but to think that they would send one of their most promising genin to kill us." He chuckled, low and foreboding.

Naruto moved into a Taijutsu stance, waiting for when this ninja would attack.

"Naruto Uzumaki, the Blade of Illusion." The ninja's chakra, which previously had a nondescript, earthy feel, spiked and killing intent flared. "I should be able to take care of you before your partner finds me. For someone who I've never heard of, she is quite skilled. But I'm getting ahead of myself."

The ninja took the weapon strapped to his hip and spun it twice before extending it, revealing it to be a bō-staff. "I'm Zokusei Yamasaki. And you won't kill another member of the Crimson Hand after I'm done with you."

Author's Note: Why is Blade of Illusion rated M? Because of the first chapter's content. For the people asking for lemons, I'm going to say no. At the moment, there isn't any point to having lemons appear in the story other than wish fulfillment. For the people asking me to have Kurenai be pregnant with Asuma's child after Naruto returns from a hypothetical timeskip, that won't happen. I don't write that sort of thing.

Speculation is fine, great even. I might listen to a reasonable suggestion. But don't ask me to write what you want.