Chapter 28: Team Kakashi and others
Disclaimer: I own Naruto …...in my wildest fantasies!
"This smells like a trap," Tsunade grumbled, "for all you know, more of Akatsuki will just be waiting at Tenchi Bridge to ambush you. Orochimaru is the perfect bait for Team Kakashi right now."
"Then we'll just defeat them again and escape," Sakura said.
"It's not that simple. Kakashi and Chiyo were the ones who defeated those Akatsuki, not you and Naruto. Chiyo is no longer with us and Kakashi will be laid up for a week, at least," Tsunade pointed out, "six days left on the clock, guess we'll have to reform Team Kakashi for now."
"Tsunade-sama!" Shizune cut in.
"What is it?" Tsunade asked, not liking where this was going. It was always the same thing lately.
Shizune gathered her courage, hoping her pleas would be accepted this time. "We shouldn't send Team Kakashi. And if you insist on sending Sakura, reform the team without Naruto-kun on it."
"You and Sakura are some of the few shinobi I put all my trust in, that is why she and Team Kakashi are going," Tsunade stated.
"Then you can send my team instead!" Shizune insisted.
"Your team isn't trying to retrieve a friend, Naruto and Sakura are. To them, it isn't a mission, it's a promise," Tsunade explained.
Shizune remained silent for a few moments. "But Naruto-kun..."
"You've heard what I've had to say, what are your thoughts on the matter, Naruto?" Tsunade asked.
"I'm off to find a teammate," Naruto said from above, surprising both Shizune and Sakura, then jumped over their heads and took off.
"Always rushing off. Brat didn't even let me finish speaking," Tsunade muttered to herself in an affectionate way. "I'll try to find someone to fill in for Kakashi, make sure Naruto knows that, Sakura."
"Hai!" Sakura said.
"Tsunade, we need to speak with you," Koharu said as she walked up.
[A few moments later, a private room]
"What is this all about?" Tsunade asked.
"We have been spoken to on a few occasions by Shizune," Homura started as he nodded to the woman, "you should not send Uzumaki Naruto on missions that have even a remote chance of him coming into contact with Akatsuki. We also believe that he should be in a four man team composed of high ranking shinobi, preferably jōnin or ANBU, so we can guard and monitor him properly."
"He should actually not have so many missions. If possible, we should restrict his movements, keeping him within a few miles within Konoha's limits," Koharu said.
"All rejected," Tsunade stated.
"Tsunade, we know that you know Naruto is a Jinchūriki. Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't leave the village at all unless we need him to," Homura said.
"I'll accept the four man team aspect of your suggestions, but none of those restrictions will not be put on Naruto," Tsunade stated, "regardless of where he is, they will come for him. With him on the move, the chances that Akatsuki will come after him will be lowered." She didn't mention that, if Naruto were to remain in Konoha, Akatsuki would probably raze Konoha to get to him.
"But-" Koharu tried.
"Naruto's special ability with others will eventually become one of Konoha's greatest assets, not the power of the fox," Tsunade finished.
Homura stared dead at the woman. "You need to remain firm on matters and not keep changing your stance," he chastised.
"I also don't want him in harm's way!" Tsunade shouted.
"Can you guarantee that Akatsuki won't take Naruto? If they manage to get the Kyūbi, they will pose more than a significant threat to Konoha!" Homura shot back.
"They won't take him," Tsunade stated.
"And if you're wrong?" Koharu asked.
"If Konoha and the Land of Fire is put in danger because of my decisions, then I will save it, even if it costs me my life," Tsunade swore.
"If you're that willing on this matter, then we will relent, but we do have some... minor details to ensure Naruto's safety on this mission," Homura said.
"Such as?" Tsunade asked.
"There is another who will be more able to explain," Homura said.
"Danzō, you may enter now!" Koharu called.
"Danzō? That means you want a Ne ANBU on the team," Tsunade said as she turned to watch the man hobble in.
"Tsunade-hime," the bandaged man greeted.
"Actually, I also got someone to assist us, to be my personal agent," Homura said.
"What?" Tsunade asked as she faced the man. Even Koharu was surprised.
Danzō looked at the man, a frown on his face. "I assure you that my agent will be enough, I'll even pass his reports on to you."
"While I do trust you, I'd rather have...another set of eyes on the field, ones that answer solely to me," Homura said.
"Where are these 'eyes' of yours?" Tsunade asked.
Homura adjusted his glasses. "I'm not entirely sure, but Team Kakashi will meet up with them later on."
[Elsewhere]
'Who is that?' Naruto thought as he walked past a youth who was almost fully covered up. Creepy...
The teen pushed himself off the tree. "Naruto, it has been a while..."
Naruto looked back. "Uh, who are you?"
"...It is me," the teen said.
"Who?" Naruto asked again.
"We may have not seen each other for a few years, but that is no reason to forget an ally's face. You are beginning to hurt my feelings, Naruto," the teen stated.
"That weird way of speaking! You're Shino!" Naruto shouted. Shino didn't use contractions too often and he just sounded bored almost all the time.
"Why could you not recognize my face?" Shino asked.
"What face? You're all covered up!" Naruto shouted.
"Shino! You're early!"
Naruto looked back to see Kiba...and a HUGE dog!
"Kiba!" Naruto called out.
"Hey! If it isn't Naruto!" Kiba cheered as he hopped off his dog, "I'll never forget that smell!"
"You recognized me by...scent?" Naruto asked, not believing it.
"WOOF!" the huge dog barked in greeting.
"Hey, is that who I think it is?" Naruto asked while pointing at the dog.
"Huh? Of course it's Akamaru," Kiba said, "but you, you got taller, eh?"
"Forget about me, Akamaru is huge!" Naruto said as he pointed at the dog, "are all dogs like that?"
"Akamaru's big? Hmm, I guess he is a little big," Kiba said.
"A little? He used to ride on your head! Even you think he's huge, right Shino?" Naruto asked.
"You recognized Kiba and Akamaru..." Shino said.
"What did you do to depress him so much?" Kiba asked.
The sound of sandal covered feet moving in haste reached their ears.
"Huh?" Naruto gasped as he looked back, wondering what it was.
Hinata had quickly hidden when she saw Naruto, who she recognized instantly. She was wondering how to approach him.
"Hinata! What are you doing over here? Just come say 'hi' to me!" Naruto said as he appeared less than five inches from her face.
Hinata lasted about three seconds, long enough to imagine him kissing her, then she was floored.
"Hinata! Why'd you faint?" Naruto shouted.
"What the hell? She's always passing out around Naruto!" Kiba shouted, proving that he was just as dense as Naruto.
"You recognized Hinata too..." Shino muttered.
[A little while later]
"They had a mission, damn. Where can I find someone who isn't going on a mission?" Naruto asked himself, then realized he knew the perfect, mission free, lazy bum.
A few moments later, Shikamaru sighed. "I already told you that I'll be tied up because of the chūnin exams, remember? Even if we are friends, I can't just ditch this like a troublesome history class." When he saw Naruto's expression, he sighed again. "I'd like to help you, but I just can't. With that Godaime breathing down my neck, it's like you taught my mom your troublesome Kage Bunshin."
"I'll help you!"
Naruto turned to see Choji standing behind him, food in hand of course.
"Shikamaru, here's the lunch your mom made for you. Don't worry, I didn't eat any," Choji said.
"Choji! You can really help me?" Naruto asked.
"Choji, you have a mission, remember?" Shikamaru asked.
"We can't ignore Naruto's request for help, he's out friend. I'll talk to Asuma-sensei about it," Choji said.
"Asuma-sensei will never agree to it, his boss is Tsunade after all," Shikamaru said.
"Wow, you never take a break when it comes to eating. You're an even bigger fatass than before!" Naruto said in a playful way. He was one of the few who could call the rotund ninja a 'fatass,' mainly because the three often poked fun at each others 'bad' points. Shikamaru was a slacker and dreamer, Naruto was an idiotic prankster and Choji was a fatass. It was all fun to them.
Or so Naruto thought.
Choji backhanded Naruto, shocking the blond. His shock was gone when Choji drove his large fist through a... a lion made of ink? Another one came down and Choji crushed it out of existence.
"There's the source," Shikamaru said as he nodded towards a pale youth sitting on a roof a good distance away, regarding them with cool, analytical eyes.
"I've never seen him, but he seems to be wearing a Konoha forehead protector," Naruto said.
"Attacking an ally while not training, that's treason and he needs to be captured to answer for his crimes," Shikamaru said, then got ready to use his jutsu, "Naruto! Go get him, I'll cover you!"
"Right!" Naruto shouted as he ran, knowing that he was the faster of the two attackers in their group.
"Chōjū Giga," the youth muttered as more ink beasts leapt off his scroll and went for Naruto.
"Naruto, get down!" Shikamaru shouted. When he saw his friend was out of the way, he released his jutsu, "Kage Nui no Jutsu." His shadow extended and rose off the ground, becoming needles to stab the lions.
Naruto jumped up and, using his new kunai delivery device, swung his kunai at the youth, who blocked it with a tantō with no tip on the blade. "Who are you and why did you attack me?" Naruto demanded.
"You're weak, guess that means there's nothing dangling between your legs," the youth said with a smirk.
"Who are you?!" Naruto shouted.
The youth broke the lock and avoided the shadow that Shikamaru had extended towards him. "We'll meet again, Naruto-kun," he said as he prepared to vanish.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.
The youth looked over, just in time to be punched back down onto the roof near Naruto.
Tap!
"Who..." Naruto half asked as he stared at the youth's attacker.
A lightly tanned young woman stood there in a one sleeved, dark green jacket with a high collar and an almost knee length, slit skirt. The jacket sleeve was connected to the jacket torso by the arm pit section of the sleeve. She wore a pair of almost knee high brown boots that each had a dagger mounted on the side. A long sword with a dull black core and a long dagger rested on her lower back. Dark red hair that reached her shoulders and bright red eyes were her main defining features, aside from the scar across half of her forehead.
The pale skinned youth frowned as he lightly glared at his attacker. "Identify yourself," he said.
"Shut it, brat. I have no interest in you, just the Uzumaki," the young woman snapped.
"Me? Who are you and what do you want with me?" Naruto asked. He seemed to be asking that a lot today.
"I'm Akane, a bounty hunter. Most call me the Shinku Kariudo," the woman, Akane, said as she lightly bowed, "as for why I'm here, I need to know if you'll interfere in my newest hunt."
Shikamaru was stunned. It couldn't be that immortal witch! There was no way Naruto was being targeted by the Crimson Huntress!
"Your latest hunt?" Naruto asked.
"Orochimaru of the Sannin" Akane stated as if she were talking about a simple mouse.
Naruto realized that this woman, indirectly, wanted to help Naruto. If Orochimaru died, it would be that much easier to bring Sasuke back! "Listen, I-"
The woman's dagger came out, pointed towards Naruto. "I don't care for your goals, just that you draw close to my target. Raise your blade, lest you wish to die."
Naruto brought his kunai up, barely in time too as her weapon flashed out and nearly hit his throat. Naruto shoved back, finding it easy as the woman backed off, avoiding Naruto's weapon. Naruto went on the attack, hoping to disarm the woman, but she deflected his attempted disarm into the roof shingles and then punished him with a kick to the face, effectively disarming him.
"Is this all you can do?" she asked.
'Is she a ninja?' Naruto wondered. She didn't wear any identifying symbols, so maybe she was a missing-nin.
The youth moved forward, only for the woman to duck his blow, then she bolted forward with a quick swipe to his side. He reached to where he had been hit, encountering liquid. He quickly looked at his hand, seeing it was black. 'She struck the ink reservoir on the scroll, quite a low hit as well. She was watching me and found the weakness to my jutsu,' he thought, then jumped and shunshined away.
Naruto looked back to the woman, only for her to swing her blade at his face, then sheathe her dagger as Naruto stumbled back.
Naruto stood up, panting slightly. "What? I'm not so weak that you don't need a weapon!" he shouted.
Akane drew her black cored sword. "No, that color... it annoys me!" she shouted as she moved forward and swung her sword.
Naruto moved out of the way, then panicked when his jacket was cut near the shoulder. 'I was out of range!' he thought as the girl came around again. Naruto, once more, dodged, only for his coat to receive a new tear. "How is she doing that?" Naruto asked.
"Naruto! It's not a normal sword, it's a whip with blades!" Shikamaru shouted.
Akane swung her blade, the edge segmenting as the core, a complex series of mechanical links protected by a black shell of metal, stretched out and the blade came close to cutting Naruto's chin. "Why'd you have to give it away? I'm sure the Uzumaki could have figured it out. Eventually anyway," Akane said as the blade returned to its sword form.
"Now that I know about your sword, I won't get hit again!" Naruto declared.
Akane grinned. "You know my sword, but not my skills. Try and dodge this!" she shouted as she ran at Naruto.
Naruto jumped up and summoned a clone, throwing himself out of the extendable blade's reach.
"You're still in range!" the woman shouted as she threw one of her boot daggers at him, hitting his arm. With Naruto distracted and falling, Akane jumped at him and dragged him down to the roof, then started slashing at him with the dagger. She stopped when Naruto's arm, held up to defend himself, fell to the roof.
Choji went to go avenge his friend, but he heard something that stopped him.
"Choji, we have a mission, remember?"
The Akimichi turned to see his friend, Yamanaka Ino, dressed in her usual outfit. He didn't like the slight dullness in her eyes, but he had, regrettably, gotten used to it during the two years she bore the weight of Yue's death. She was still haunted by it to some degree, robbing her of some of that normally upbeat (bossy) personality she used to have, but she did well as long as nobody mentioned the Shintenshin or Yue. Shikamaru had taken to calling her troublesome again a month ago when she started to, as usual, boss them around.
"Ino, we don't have time for that, some weirdo was attacking Naruto, then this woman showed up and-" Choji tried to explain.
"Shinranshin no Jutsu!" Ino shouted as she focused on the huntress who attacked the heap that was Naruto.
Akane twitched as she felt her body move of its own volition, bringing the sword up to her own neck. "Interesting," she said, then grabbed her controlled right arm with her left and forced it away from her neck.
Ino was sweating. "It's taking so much...just for one limb," she panted. It felt weird too, like she was trying to control a rapidly dying body, which she had done once or twice before. What was this woman? No human could have such a dark spirit. It was colder than an ancient, glacial tomb and a hundred times darker.
Akane swung her partially controlled arm, breaking free of Ino's control. "You're skill with that jutsu is disturbingly lacking," she stated as she made sure her arm hadn't been harmed by the battle of wills.
"Damn you, why did you kill Naruto?!" Ino shouted. Sure he was a bit of a baka, but he was a good guy once you got to know him. Heck, his idiocy, pranking and the fact that he was clueless 90% of the time was kinda cute.
"Kill him? When did I do that?" the Huntress asked as she nudged Naruto's ribs with the toe of her boot, "he passed out in fear."
Naruto shot up, shaking his head to get rid of his dream of being reduced to tatters. "You!" he shouted as he reached for the woman, only to stop when he saw that it was his sleeve that was in tatters. He looked and saw the jacket was little more than ribbons. "My jacket! Why?" he wailed as he pulled the remains of it off his body.
"It annoyed me. Do you know how hard it was NOT to cut you apart? My eyes are hurting too, so pick a duller shade, like maroon," Akane asked. Well, she was wearing a bright color herself, but at least she matched up with local plant colors.
Naruto glared at the woman as he held the remains of his favorite jacket. "You didn't have to cut it up!"
"One of these days, you'll thank me for what I just did..." Akane stated, whispering a little more so that only Naruto caught it.
"Shinku Kariudo Akane, you are under arrest!" a jōnin stated as he and a group of nine chūnin landed around the woman, two flanking Naruto to ensure his safety.
"One jōnin, eleven chūnin and one powerful genin," Akane listed off as she surveyed her foes, "am I being underestimated?"
"Our strength is different from eighty years ago," the jonin said as he and his squad readied kunai. Truth be told, he felt far from prepared for this.
"You're right about your strength being different from before. Now... you are so much weaker!" and with that, she rammed into the jōnin, knocking him clean off the roof, and ran to the end of the roof she was on. To everyone's shock, she jumped and easily cleared a seven foot span, landing into a tight roll and stopping to face the ninja. "What's the matter? Can't do that?" she challenged.
The ninja were onto the next roof as quickly as they could, which was far faster than her. "Even without our leader, we can take you in."
A loud clattering made them look down, seeing various bombs rolling away from her feet. "Next time, send an ANBU to do the job, unless you like being made out to be fools," she said as she closed her eyes and put a mask over her eyes and face.
BANG! BANG!
The rooftop Akane and the chūnin were on was enveloped in a blindingly bright flash of light and smoke that left the ninja staggering, crying and coughing as they tried to recover from being flash bombed, smoke bombed and hit with gas that irritated their eyes and throats. As the smoke cleared, it was quite obvious that nobody would be going after her since she effectively disabled all their tracking abilities and she managed to alight across the roofs while the smoke obscured the area.
Naruto had seen a shadow and went to follow it, figuring it was that woman.
"Naruto! Don't chase her!" Shikamaru shouted.
"Why?" the blond shouted back.
Shikamaru swallowed the lump in his throat. "She'll kill you this time," he said in a grave tone.
Naruto knew better that to argue with Shikamaru when he spoke that way. Clearly, that woman was very strong and not someone who could be taken down one on one. He jumped to the streets.
Ino stared at Naruto, already thanking the woman. Seriously, why did her wear those jackets, they all made him look bulky. He was actually quite lean and, from what Ino could make out, muscular. Right about now, Ino started to imagine that shirt being cut off him too...
While Ino had been in fantasy land, Naruto made it over to his friends. "Hello! Konoha to Ino!" Naruto said as he waved his hand before her face.
"Eh? Ah, hi!" Ino nervously chirped. Did she just have a little fantasy starring Naruto? Maybe she needed to get out more, train less, meet some guys. Naruto was a good friend, but she was not going to date him. It would just be awkward, dating a guy she treated like an annoyance when they were younger. It'd seem like some kind of twisted tsundere plot to isolate him from other girls, then take 'pity' on him and start dating him as 'the only girl he was close to.' Ino was not a tsundere!
A small distance away, another ninja watched them intently. "So, that's who I have to monitor. I didn't think the Kyūbi jinchūriki would be this weak."
[A little while later]
"Hi!" the pale youth from before greeted.
"YOU!?" Naruto shouted.
Sakura did not have a clue what was going on, which was quite normal when it came to Naruto.
"I'm Yamato, I'll be the temporary leader of Team Kakashi," a man, Yamato greeted.
"Do you know him, Naruto?" Sakura asked as she gestured to the new teen.
"Sorry about before, I just like to know my teammate's abilities and limitations," the youth said, "it does bother me that I'll be babysitting a weakling that has no balls and a penis that might satisfy a hamster."
"I'll kill you!" Naruto roared as Sakura held him back.
"You can't kill a teammate!" Sakura shouted, then looked at the youth, "you're really not all that nice."
"I like friendly, flat chested hags like you," the youth said with a smile.
"I'LL KILL YOU!" Sakura practically screamed as Yamato held her back.
"Practice what you preach!" Yamato said as he saved the Ne ANBU youth from Sakura's rage.
After he calmed the girl down, he stared at the team. "Normally, I'd toss you all in a cage and let you sniff each other out, but we don't have time for that. I'll improvise along the way. Anyway, at least share your names with me and the new guy."
"Uzumaki Naruto," said blond grumbled while firing a sideways glare at the pale youth.
"Haruno Sakura," said pink haired girl grumbled as she sent a sideways glare at the rude jerk.
"I'm Sai," the 'rude, pale jerk' greeted with a spirited smile.
"Now that we know each others names, we can start with the mission briefing," Yamato said.
Yamato started the briefing, "We will meet up with a fifth member later on, then we will be headed to Tenchi Bridge and meet up with Sasori's spy in Orochimaru's ranks. We will attempt to capture him and bring him back for proper interrogation, which might shed some light on Uchiha Sasuke and Orochimaru's whereabouts. With the right information, we can get Sasuke back and possibly even kill Orochimaru. We'll meet at the front gate in an hour, so make sure you are prepared."
[later, on the road]
'They seem similar, sort of,' Naruto thought as he stared down Sai. Sakura had mentioned Sasuke and Sai looked similar, like cousins.
Sai took notice. "Stop staring at me, I don't swing your way."
"Every word out of your mouth never fails to piss me off!" Naruto snapped.
"I don't bear any malice towards you," Sai said.
:"You don't belong here!" Naruto shouted.
Yamato sighed. "You shouldn't say things like that at all, let alone in front of me, the captain. Did you not pay attention when Kakashi-san was teaching you of teamwork and cooperation? I find it hard to believe that you are on Kakashi-san's team..."
"I AM a part of Team Kakashi, he isn't!" Naruto shouted as he pointed at Sai, "the only other member of Team Kakashi left is Sasuke! This guy is nothing more than a placeholder for him."
Sai smiled. "Thank you, I'm glad I'm not like Sasuke in your mind. Who would like to be compared to a traitor who ran to another traitor for power, attacking his own comrades and killing one as well?"
Naruto growled and took a step to hit Sai as hard as he could, but Sakura's arm stopped him. "Teamwork does come first. Sai, please forgive Naruto, he just doesn't take well to strangers," Sakura said.
"At least one of you was paying attention," Yamato said as Naruto wondered what was going on.
Sai was smiling again. "Alright, I'll forgive him."
Sakura smiled back. "Then it's all good." Then she slobber knocked Sai, sending him flying back a few feet from the force of the blow. "I, on the other hand, don't want you to forgive me!" Sakura growled.
"That smile, it completely fooled me," Sai muttered as he wiped blood from his split lip.
"You don't know anything about Sasuke-kun, so don't say anything. Next time you say something like that, you're head will be the only thing flying back," Sakura warned.
"Hmm, I will keep my mouth closed on that matter then. But still, to think a smile can be used in that way," Sai said with a small grin.
"What's wrong with you? You just got punched in the face, but you can still smile?" Naruto asked.
"Smiles are the best way to get out of anything, even if they're fake. I read it in a book once and, amazingly, it always worked, until now," Sai said.
Without warning, a large cage made of wood erupted from the ground behind Yamato. "Here's the cage, so do I need to toss you in? We have five days, but we still have some time," he said.
"Oho. It's been a while since I saw that Mokuton."
Team Kakashi looked towards the voice, seeing a familiar 'face.'
"You!" Naruto and Sakura shouted as they saw the Uchiha who knocked Guy and Tenten out when Gaara had been taken. They ran at him and swung their fists, only to fall onto the ground in a heap.
"Hmm. With these eyes, your 'movements' are more like still pictures," the Uchiha said from his new spot next to Sai.
"Naruto, Sakura, stand down. This is our fifth member," Yamato ordered.
"I'm not going to work with that bastard! He's already attacked some of us, what's to stop him from attacking us?" Naruto asked.
"Your anger is understandable, but like I said before: mercenaries can be your enemy one day, ally the next, neutral the day after. The higher you pay me, the greater my temporary loyalty is to you," the Uchiha explained in a calm voice.
"You hired thug, paid murderer! You'd probably kill your mother for money!" Sakura growled as she pulled on her gloves.
"Someone did that already, though they did it for personal gratification," the Uchiha said.
"Enough! Things can go one of two ways: you get in the cage for a day and sort it out there or we go to a hotel with a hot spring. Which sounds better: fighting for a day or taking a bath?" Yamato asked as his face became scary looking, "I prefer to be friendly and nice, but I will rule with an iron fist of fear if I need to."
And, half an hour later, Naruto found himself naked and in a hot spring with Yamato and Sai. The Uchiha was sitting on a nearby bench, still wearing his hooded robe and mask.
Naruto felt overheated just looking at the guy.
"Ahh! Nothing says companionship to a guy more than hanging out in a hot spring together," Yamato said, not realizing how creepy it sounded, "don't you agree, Naruto?" And now Yamato's creepy face was back.
"R-right!" Naruto yelped as he jumped up. Those eyes! It was like he was looking through your soul!
"Oh! You actually do have one. It looks a little big for a talentless idiot though," Sai said.
"Stop staring and talking about my penis!" Naruto shouted, embarrassing Sakura as all the women chuckled at the conversation on the other side of the wall.
The perverted part of Naruto, that he repeatedly insisted didn't exist, got a very nice idea. There was a wall between the male and female bath, a wall that probably had a low point or a hole somewhere. If there was a way, Naruto could peep on Sakura!
"I wouldn't do that if I was you," the Uchiha warned.
Naruto frowned. "And why not?"
"That girl was trained by Senju Tsunade, Slug Sannin and Godaime Hokage, correct?" the Uchiha asked.
"Yeah," Naruto said.
"And you were trained by the Toad Sage and Sannin Jiraiya, correct?" the Uchiha further inquired.
"Yes," Naruto muttered, getting annoyed now.
The Uchiha nodded to himself. "Did he ever tell you of the time he peeked in on Tsunade when he was younger?"
Naruto started to sweat and it wasn't because of the hot spring. "No..." Tsunade was scary...
"He was almost dead when they found him. Both arms broken, six ribs broken, more internal injuries than you'd care to know about as well as a few ruptured organs. All of that was caused by Senju Tsunade's inhuman striking power. That young woman also has that ability now. Do you still want to peep?" the Uchiha asked.
"No!" Naruto yelped. Tsunade and Sakura were both SCARY!
Yamato got up, securing the towel around his waist. "I'm done for now. Uchiha-san, since you decided not to take a bath with us, how about you and me talk for a while?"
The Uchiha scoffed. "Getting naked with other men or standing around talking. Both are useless to me. Also, my name is Uchiha Bān. Remember that, ANBU-san," he said as he stood up and walked away.
Yamato watched the man walk away and frowned when his students couldn't see him. 'Uchiha Bān.. That's Chinese for Spots. Is it a coincidence that Madara's name could mean the same thing?' No matter what, he'd have to keep a close eye on the mysterious Uchiha.
[Next night]
Team Kakashi, plus Sai and Bān, were currently camping, which, to Yamato, meant erecting a small house using Mokuton.
Yamato had made it very clear that it was strictly a live capture mission, which resulted in Bān pulling a wooden sword out from under his robes, saying it was his 'pacification device.' Apparently, his skills weren't designed for anything other than critically injuring and killing, normally leaving such things to his medic and spear using partners. He could use a certain genjutsu on people, but they might be permanently ruined by it, so he chose to use a glorified stick so he could whack Sasuke over the head, if he needed to.
"We'll work in pairs, though Bān-san will be a backup in case one of us falls. Let's see... Naruto and Sai first, which leaves me and Sakura," Yamato said.
"But-" Sakura started, knowing that she and Naruto would work well together.
"You are our medical ninja and I want to make sure that you remain mostly unharmed," Yamato said.
'Naruto would never let me be harmed,' Sakura thought, but didn't say anything. She knew that, in the end, she'd just tie Naruto down.
"ANBU-san, that is a moronic idea," Bān stated.
Yamato sighed. "And how is it a bad idea?"
"Don't put words in my mouth. I said moronic idea, not bad idea. Anybody with two eyes and an adequate number of functional brain cells can see that 'Sai' and the Uzumaki can't work together for different reasons. Uzumaki Naruto's reason is the feared replacement of his friend and former teammate, Uchiha Sasuke, while Sai just doesn't know how to work in a team. Putting these two together is bound to cause complications during the mission, ANBU-san" Bān explained.
"What did you say?" Yamato asked as his face went into scary mode.
Bān chuckled. "Is that supposed to be scary? I've seen things that would make you commit ritual suicide," he said as purple and green flames licked around his right hand and forearm.
Yamato had read the report, finding it odd that Tenten and Guy couldn't remember what they had seen, just that it had been downright terrifying at the moment. It was theorized that the images faded because they were foreign memories implanted by Bān. Then again, Yamato wasn't interested in finding out what was seen for himself. "What is your suggestion then?"
"Uzumaki Naruto has worked with an Uchiha who possessed Sharingan, so he should be able to fight alongside me, to a somewhat workable degree. What I'm saying is, instead of having me as a reserve, I'll work beside both Sai and the Uzumaki," Bān suggested.
Yamato thought about it. The plan was sound, allowing the Uchiha to cover for any holes the two and their problems would cause. It would also make monitoring both Sai and Bān far easier. "Alright, we'll see how things go tomorrow. We'll be doing a bit of training so I can learn some of what I wanted to learn about you three."
"What do you want to know?" Naruto asked.
"I only know what is in your files, if you have a file to begin with," Yamato said while looking at the Uchiha and Ne ANBU, "what I want to know about is how you fight, what jutsu you use and what skills you bring into a battle. I want what is never written down in the files: you."
[Next day]
Naruto and the Uchiha came at Yamato, the Uchiha from the ground and Naruto from slightly in the air. The ANBU dodged the wooden sword Bān swung and shifted aside to avoid Naruto's kick. Bān swung his sword down at Yamato, forcing the man to dodge backwards as the Uchiha kept advancing.
It was pure luck on Yamato's part that Naruto accidentally stepped on some pebbles, alerting him to the real Naruto's attempt to drive a rasengan into him. Yamato spun, grabbed Naruto and threw him into Bān, who knocked the hand away that held the rasengan before the two crashed into each other. To Yamato's shock, the two burst into clouds of expended chakra.
"Got you!" Naruto shouted as Bān struck Yamato in the back as the blond shinobi jumped off his back, fist cocked back to pummel the man as he landed on him. Sai's ink snakes weren't seen until they wrapped around the real Naruto and Yamato. "Why me too?" Naruto shouted, then realized he was holding a wood clone as he got tied up, "untie me now!" Bān did just that, trying in vain to tear the serpent apart.
Sai ignored the two and went to go get Yamato.
[Five minutes later]
Naruto was pissed off, Bān was examining his wooden sword for damage and Sai had a bad bump on his head.
"You three failed," Yamato droned out.
"The one at fault here is Sai," Bān said as he lay his weapon down, "he chose to remain back, leaving me and Uzumaki Naruto to do all the work while he went ahead with his own plans."
"And why did you hit him over the head?" Yamato asked.
Bān's mangekyō sharingan flashed a bit. "Because I could. ….Because I thought he was you." Nobody doubted that the first was the truth.
Naruto glared at Sai. "Do you even know what the word 'comrade' is?"
Sai pulled out his scroll and wrote the word on it. "Of course I know. Are you going to try blaming me for you making mistakes from the beginning to the end of that exercise?"
"He should. Even I, an Uchiha who doesn't like working with those who aren't my allies, understand what he means," Bān said.
"And what did he mean?" Sai asked.
"You know the word, but not the meaning. You didn't treat Uzumaki Naruto like a comrade at all, it was more like you were using him as a tool to further your own goals. If you ask me, the biggest mistake so far was having you as a part of this mission," Bān stated in a cold tone as he turned to Sai, "now that I think about it, you were using me as a tool as well. I should rip you to shreds and scatter you across the Nations."
"After seeing Naruto's lack of skill, the only viable way to succeed was to let him do as he wished and then capture the target myself. I'll leave you, Bān-san, to slow yourself down to his speed while I finish the mission," Sai said.
"You were right before, about not being like Sasuke-kun at all," Sakura said, "Sasuke-kun would have helped Naruto to capture Yamato-taichou, not use him."
Naruto turned away from Sai. "You aren't a member of Team Kakashi or a comrade of mine." He didn't accept Bān, but at least the man TRIED to be a comrade. Naruto knew from watching the man's movements, he could have captured Yamato on his own and very easily, but he chose to gold himself back and assist Naruto.
"Even now, you consider that traitor Sasuke a friend," Sai said with a sigh.
Naruto glared at Sai. "For that friend, I'll work with you and that Uchiha." Then he started to walk away, wanting to get the spy and find Sasuke.
"Why does he care about someone like that so much still? I read the report, Uchiha Sasuke came close to killing him and killed another of Naruto's friends, one Kazeneko Yue," Sai said, confused to some degree.
"Naruto sees Sasuke-kun as both rival and brother. You have a brother too, right? You must know what it's like," Sakura explained.
"Not at all. You remember asking me why I never named my pictures? It's because I don't have any emotions at all," Sai said.
'No...emotions?' Sakura wondered, shocked. "What do you mean by having no emotions?"
"Simple: I don't feel any way about anything," Sai stated.
"Then what about your brother? Can you imagine what it'd be like without him around?" Sakura asked as she watched Naruto claw a tree with his nails. Could the Kyūbi have hardened his nails to do that?
Sai smiled a fake smile. "Easily, since he's already dead."
"Tha-" Sakura started.
"Ah. Is that the correct expression to use when sad?" Sai asked as he pointed to Naruto, who looked lost, worried, tired and lonely as he probably thought of his wayward teammate.
Sakura was starting to get scared and worried all at once. Sai was extremely odd and, as far as she could tell, was capable of almost anything.
"Alright, it's time to get moving. Cut the chatter," Yamato said as he walked between the two. Sai went to follow the man, but he sensed that Sakura wasn't quite finished with him yet.
"I told you that I'd remove your head if you ever insulted Sasuke-kun again, but Naruto said he'd work with you and that Uchiha just to get our teammate back. So long as you two help us, I won't hurt either of you." Sakura said/warned. If that Uchiha or Sai had ulterior motives, they'd be dead before they knew it.
Sai thought about it for a moment. "Sakura-san, when it comes to Naruto, you treat him... gently. I'm not sure if that's the right word, but it does sort of fit. I don't understand emotions, especially the ones you three share even though I read about them in books." Of course, Sakura's drive to protect Naruto seemed stronger than her desire to bring Sasuke back. He'd have to read a certain book again when he got back later, just to confirm his thoughts.
"Come on. We have to get moving now," Naruto half commanded, "we'll get there by noon if we go now."
Bān watched all this happen, wondering when he could slip away. With luck, they'd get to Orochimaru and Bān would be ready. Hopefully, the others weren't too far behind.
[Tenchi Bridge, next day]
Yamato, under the guise of Sasori's puppet body, waited as the cloaked figure walked up to him, meeting him in the middle of the bridge.
"Sasori-sama, it has been about..." the man stopped to think as he pulled off his cloak, revealing none other than Yakushi Kabuto, "about five years since we last met."
"Were you followed?" Yamato asked. It was a standard question for a meeting such as this.
"No, we're safe for now," Kabuto said, knowing he was slightly pressed for time.
"Any after effects?" Yamato asked, knowing such heavy jutsu often debilitated the victim.
"I was lost for a few moments as new memories appeared in my head, but I managed. It was difficult to slip away from Orochimaru, but he was busy with Sasuke when I left," Kabuto said.
"The last Uchiha... Tell me where the base is as well as what you know of Sasuke," Yamato demanded.
Kabuto adjusted his glasses slightly. "We have a large amount of bases that we switch between on a weekly basis to avoid detection. We have bases in other countries that Orochimaru's spies monitor and guide us to if we need them. The way we move is... bothersome to say the least. Our current base is on a small island cave to the north. We'll be moving from there in three days. Sasuke will be traveling with us, as always."
Yamato took in the information, wondering if this was the right moment to capture the boy. Just a few more moments...
Kabuto turned and threw a kunai at a bush, hitting nothing, but making a rabbit pop out. "Wild rabbit, thought it was a spy..."
That did it. If Kabuto was this jumpy, chances were that he had been followed. Yamato got ready.
"Sasori-sama, as for that task you gave me," Kabuto suddenly said, surprising Yamato, "I wasn't able to collect any samples. Orochimaru uses some kind of chemical or poison to rapidly break the body down when he's done with it."
"I see..." Yamato said, running out of conversation topics. He definitely needed to capture him soon.
Kabut held out his hand. "Sasori-sama, I'd like what I asked for last time. I'm out of time and I'll be killed if I'm found here with you."
"Fine," Yamato said, then pulled out his kunai to capture the boy. Once he pinned him down, the others could come out.
"Such a fascinating conversation, mind if I join?" Orochimaru asked, appearing behind Kabuto with a fair sized serpent loosely coiling about the youth. When it went to constrict him, Kabuto jumped away and stood next to Yamato.
"Thanks for that, Sasori-sama. Had you not drawn your kunai, I'd have been caught," Kabuto said.
"Ahh, that cloak has some nice memories attached to it... How are you lately, Sasori?" Orochimaru asked.
"You followed him, Orochimaru," Yamato stated in a disappointed tone.
"Such a great child you sent me. Without him and his medical ninjutsu around, I'd need hundreds of test subjects rather than a few dozen," Orochimaru said, his thanks being black hearted, but still whole.
Kabuto activated his chakra scalpel, then cut Yamato's wood puppet body apart. Yamato quickly retreated, wondering where he went wrong as he tried to slow the bleeding.
"Sen'ei Tajashu!" Orochimaru hissed as a dozen or so snakes flowed out of his sleeve, all aiming for the retreating jōnin. He was caught and bitten, or at least his wood clone was. "Oh, Mokuton and kawarimi. Could it be..."
"Orochimaru-sama, is that the real Sasori?" Kabuto asked.
Orochimaru was a little surprised. "No... Don't tell me you worked for someone you never saw in the 'flesh,' so to speak."
"I did, but he was always inside that puppet of his," Kabuto admitted.
"Kabuto, you're an Akatsuki spy, so why are you siding with Orochimaru? You should be under the power of Sasori's jutsu," Yamato said.
"Ah, Orochimaru-sama got rid of that annoying thing a while ago," Kabuto stated.
"Acting like you were still under the effects of Sasori's jutsu while you were really under Orochimaru's jutsu, I should have known," Yamato said.
Kabuto smiled. "I'm not under the effect of any jutsu. I decided to follow Orochimaru-sama of my own free will, mostly because I admire his total lack of regard for the 'rules' that restrict our research," the glasses wearing youth said, then stared at Yamato, "but who are you and why are you here? We came here with the intent to kill Sasori off to lessen our troubles."
"I already know his story, Kabuto, but it'd be rude to tell a story without everyone present. Why not call those little morsels hiding behind back there?" Orochimaru suggested.
Yamato signed to the others to come to him. Sai, Sakura, Naruto and Bān landed before him.
Kabuto regarded Naruto with a bored expression. "Don't you get tired of playing hero?"
"Ah, the Kyūbi boy. I feel the need to play a little bit. Now, Naruto-kun, let's see who has shown the most improvement; you or Sasuke-kun," Orochimaru gleefully hissed.
"Give... him... back..." Naruto growled, the influence of the nine-tails growing stronger with his growing anger.
"Still deluded, or would it be stupid? Sasuke-kun came to us all on his own. We can't give what we never took, idiot. Grow up and give up on him, he already gave up on you and Konoha," Kabuto explained.
"Shut up four eyes! You don't know anything at all!" Sakura shouted. She HATED it when people treated Naruto like this, which made her hate her younger self a lot at times.
"If you want to know more about Sasuke-kun, beat it out of me. That is if you can beat it out of me," Orochimaru challenged.
Without warning, the area Naruto inhabited exploded and he appeared before Orochimaru in a blink of an eye, surprising the man himself as Naruto dug his chakra enhanced nails into the man's skull and threw him into the forest, leaving a trail of destruction as Orochimaru's limp body punched through everything.
Sakura and Sai were completely stunned, Sakura due to not realizing how powerful the Kyūbi was even though it was sealed up and Sai was surprised because he hadn't been informed of the amount of the Kyūbi's power that Naruto could access..
Bān smirked beneath his mask. 'So he can use it. This makes my plan much easier to complete.'
"Ahh, such a well developed jinchūriki," Kabuto praised.
Orochimaru walked up, a sharp crack coming from his neck and lower back as they realigned themselves. He looked at Team Kakashi, his real face showing under his torn false face. "Naruto-kun, you are quite a powerful jinchūriki now, thanks to that beast."
Bān snorted. "No, he's still pretty weak. A proper Kyūbi jinchūriki would have sent your rotting carcass to Kumo's far border."
Orochimaru chose to ignore the shrouded Uchiha, instead focusing on Yamato. "So that's why they chose you to tag along, experiment-kun. I never thought that particular one worked, but here you are. Funny, Konoha despised me because of my 'unethical' research, but they don't mind using the fruits of it."
"Experiment? Who and what is that guy," Kabuto asked.
"You know of the Shodai Hokage, correct? His Mokuton was useful for far more than just creating forests and manipulating trees during a fight. His power was able to control the Bijū as well. I wanted that power, so when I did get some of his DNA, I tried to implant it into some subjects so that I could eventually have that power for myself. I used 60 children for that experiment, but most of them rejected the DNA and started dying, so I assumed that all of them would. It was my sole failing as a researcher, since at least one is standing before me," Orochimaru explained as he repaired his face.
"Well, you can collect this one and finally have that power for yourself, Orochimaru-sama," Kabuto suggested.
"A good idea, but I'd like to see my Sasuke-kun fight the Kyūbi boy just once. I'm curious of this child now," Orochimaru admitted. The past jinchūriki of the Kyūbi rarely to never used the fox's power, so Naruto was a first.
"He isn't yours... Sasuke isn't YOURS!" Naruto roared as his cloak developed a third tail.
Sakura now knew that what she felt before was nothing, it was just one tail. Three tails was far more than she could have ever imagined. The pressure from the air, the hate filled chakra flowing through it, feeding it, it actually made her feel a slight sting of pain when the...darkened winds touched her flesh. What would all nine feel like? She shivered and held herself, dreading a day that she never hoped came because she believed that it would be the last day she would ever see Naruto.
Orochimaru knew that, without his extreme healing abilities and heavily modified body, he wouldn't last ten seconds against Naruto as he was now. The sheer killing intent and rage from the partially freed Kyūbi was enough that, just like how he had done with Sasuke and his little teammate during the second exam, the beast roared and Orochimaru's mental image was obliterated from just the killing intent.
A/N~
I figure I'll end it here, for now. Next chapter continues the fight as well as brings us to the much await reunion.
And now for some irony. Remember how I mentioned worrying about losing the internet, three days after posting that exact chapter, my computer took a final blow and stopped functioning. Wouldn't even attempt to start windows. Thankfully, my machine is almost 100% again, just need to find out why I'm one SATA data cable short and reconnect my 500GB storage drive, which contains all my original fanfiction files.
And it is worse, since my sister is getting paranoid over bills. She is harping everyone now and annoying us all, acting like just starting up the internet will use up tons of bandwidth and use it all up. We're getting so worried about he outbursts that we aren't using the net at all lately, since she'll just start screaming at us. Hell, I'd love to throw her useless, parasitic ass out on the streets, but she's family, unfortunately.
As a friend of my nephew says: fuck my life!
Responses-
The Keeper of Worlds: Here is more! Hope you liked Naruto getting oggled.
Sky Zepherus: Sakura is more than indecisive, she's downright delusional. You'll see what I mean soon, if you haven't seen it already in later chapters.
0Firestar001: About 20-30% of my nephew's time is idling or raging about people killing him in crazy ways. (better known as with greater skill or OP weapon abuse) Do remember that the more he plays, the greater the chance of him running over our rather limited bandwidth. (66GB is not much, but my sister thinks it is a huge amount of bandwidth)
Yuri-Hime-Chan: You'll see...later!
DarkLordK: Um, Tenten isn't dead, she just passed out from illusion overload. As for the Uchiha, yeah, I can only think of a few tall Uchiha who can control the nine-tailed fox.
Serenity-neko-chan: But what happened to her after I cut scene? Keep reading to find out, since Sasuke would know and he's coming up next.
Narutokurosaki: Meh, we all know Madara's plan is bound to fail. In reality, I think the Infinite Tsukuyomi plan is nothing more than the ultimate escape for the ultimate master of run, Madara. Think of it, a world where everything is perfect for each person, including Madara and Onito, doesn't that sound like a way of avoiding reality? It's pathetic and sad to think that the two big villains are like that.
