Chapter 28
One thing Naruto knew how to do better than most, was running away. No because he was a coward, hardly, but being a well known prankster meant that he had to escape the ire of his targets on regular basis back before he made genin. The civilians had as much chances of catching him as suddenly growing a pair of wings and taking it to the air. The ninjas were a different story, but even they often had trouble catching the prankster, who on more than one occasion sent them on a wild chase around Konoha. Naruto was fast, but also didn't seem to tire at all. His amazing stamina made outrunning him a task worthy of a well trained and experienced ninja.
Those skills were now put to good use. Naruto had no idea who those guys that appeared out of nowhere were, but each of them gave off a vibe similar to that Naruto felt when facing Orochimaru. These were ninjas in a league of their own and fighting them directly was suicide. When protecting his teammates and those he cared for Naruto was willing to risk his life to give them a chance for survival, but right now he only had to worry about his own wellbeing. His knew his clones would only distract the enemies for a few moments at most, so he had to act fast. Jumping down from the roof of the hotel he immediately created a clone that sprinted off in the other direction. The hope was that the enemies would have to split up to chase him now.
The streets were crowded and provided additional cover as Naruto used his much smaller frame to maneuver around. He glanced back and saw that tall blue skinned man charging through the crowd shoving people out of the way. The other one that looked a bit like Sasuke was nowhere in sight and Naruto dashed to the side.
"Got you!" Kisame appeared in front of Naruto and swung his large sword, trying to knock the annoying genin out. Naruto didn't know how he reacted, but almost instinctively he went into a slide the enormous blade sailing right over his head.
"Raggh!" Kisame moved his blade around annoyed that the initial strike missed. With a scowl he brought it down, but the genin gained a sudden burst of speed and avoided the strike that buried the heavy blade into the ground. Kisame pulled the weapon up and frowned. He saw that for a moment the kid's eyes flashed red and Samehada managed to taste a bit of his chakra. Kisame rarely saw his blade so exited as it visibly vibrated under that cloth that covered it. But there was not time to think over that. Kisame kicked open the door leading to the nearest bar, a place Naruto ran into. It was a low class place for those who could not afford anything better and Kisame immediately saw some drunkard that appeared in front of him with an almost empty bottle of sake.
"Cheers pal, we … uggh." Kisame didn't bother with the man throwing him out of the window as he saw an orange blur at the far end of the dimply lit place. People around moved out of his way.
"Damn brat I'll ….. again?!" Kisame roared when the kid exploded in a puff of smoke. Kisame immediately turned around and saw the man he threw out get up and dash off. The next second the transformation jutsu was released and Naruto disappeared from view, running into the nearest alley.
"I'll shave you to bits, brat!" Kisame roared resuming the chase. He was an S rank missing nin, but he was tricked by a genin. It was unreal. Still, Kisame wasn't used to chasing down his prey, usually those he had to fight had the decency of facing him directly which was in most cases the worst thing they could do. Thus Naruto was one of the smartest opponents Kisame ever faced, and one of the sneakiest.
Naruto was still at a great disadvantage though. Perhaps he forced his foes to slip up, but that wouldn't last long. Naruto also realized that the blue skinned man was not going to tire any time soon. Naruto needed to find Jiraiya, but who knew where that perv was. Running around was not an option, Naruto had to find some way to attract his attention. Something big. The first idea was to summon a toad big enough to tower over the buildings, but this was a heavily populated area and Naruto didn't want to crush several buildings with people inside.
"Shadown clone jutsu!"
Naruto created three more clones that dashed in separate directions, but before they could even make a few steps Kisame appeared, destroying two clones with one strike of his sword. The tall man then spun around targeting the original, but to his shock the remaining clone grabbed his leg and swung himself around it, wrapping his legs and arms around the limb. Enraged Kisame rammed the hilt of his weapon into the back of the clone's head, Samehada absorbing the residual chakra, but the original once more began to run away. Naruto understood that his pursuer was faster, so instead of trying to simply run Naruto ran inside the nearest building which turned out to be some storage area filled with crates. It was possible to hide in this labyrinth of crates and boxes.
"hey, you can't just ….. " Naruto guessed that the place had some kind of security and that security was unlucky enough to run into his pursuer.
One thing Naruto learned from Toero is to always expect an attack, to think before acting, to use a combination of your mind and strengths to overcome the weaknesses. So far that allowed Naruto to remain free and uninjured.
"That brat ….. " Kisame slowly looked around. Searching through this place would take too much time. It was just his luck that the brat ran into such a place that basically a perfect spot for those who wanted to win time, but there was a way to remedy this situation.
"Crap." Naruto swore when he saw his pursuer once more swing his massive sword reducing several crates to piles of wood. It turned out some of those were filled with fireworks, some with children clothing and toys. Most likely this place was a storage for a line of children shops. They without a doubt were going to get some of their merchandise ruined as Kisame once more swung his sword tearing down a whole pile of boxes not far from Naruto's hiding spot.
"Hey, fishface, looking for me?" Naruto appeared a top a large crate not far from Kisame.
"Decided to stop wasting my time? Don't think that I will go easy on you just because you decided to surrender."
"What said anything about surrendering?" Naruto grinned and made a familiar seal. Kisame charged, but had to destroy several clones before reaching naruto. The genin jumped down from the crate, but Kisame went through, swinging his sword. He easily dodged a single kunai and finally grabbed Naruto by his throat.
"Finally." Kisame growled and kicked Naruto in the gut, confirming that this one was an original. "Last words?"
"Yeah, you fell for it." Naruto grinned. For a second Kisame thought that the brat was bluffing, but then his eyes widened. Before Kisame could do anything he heard an explosion behind him. The kunai Naruto threw had an explosive tag wrapped around the hilt and now the blast threw both Kisame and Naruto away making both smash into the several more crates. But just as according to plan Kisame basically shielded Naruto with his large frame, absorbing most of the impact.
The first explosion followed by another and something shiny flew between Naruto and Kisame exploding into a shower of blue and red.
"It worked!" Naruto punched air. The explosion started a chain reaction setting off the fireworks that began flying everywhere until one particularly large rocket shot through the roof and exploding high above the city. But no matter how impressive all of this was Naruto began running again. He ran towards the exit and out into the street.
"Aghh!" Naruto suddenly saw that the way out into the main street was blocked by a large stone wall. The way back was also blocked off when a similar wall raised. Naruto looked around, but the world began spinning and he felt dizzy.
"What the hell?" Naruto yelled and suddenly was smashed against the wall by a strong hand. A moment later the genjutsu was lifted and Naruto saw that he was held by another person in a dark cloak.
"Just hold him, Itachi and I'll break his legs, slowly." Kisame appeared putting out his cloak that caught fire.
"Not, you'll do it quickly, all this noise will attract the unneeded attention." Itachi said his strong grip limiting the amount of oxygen Narto could suck in.
"Fine." Kisame reached for his sword with a wicked grin.
….
"Hello, welcome to the Yamanaka flower shop, how can I …. Oh, it's you Sakura." Ino lost her welcoming smile instead she lazily leaned on the counter and yawned. Clearly business was going slow and Ino was bored. During the whole day she had only three or four clients and those ordered nothing special.
"Hi." Sakura approached the counter. "Anything interesting happen lately?"
"Not really. With Asuma sensei here and there Shikamaru was in charge of our missions most of the time. You know that guy has zero motivation, so we were doing the basic minimal load. Only D rank mission and then we did whatever we wanted. Our dads were also often out on missions and all. Only Neji seemed to be training actively, but he is a bit of a workaholic if you ask me."
"Really? He must be, he is a strong ninja."
"He didn't have much chances to demonstrate that, but he never question Shikamaru's authority. I guess subordination was drilled into his, him being from the branch family of a Hyuga clan and all. He isn't that hard to be around really, he doesn't talk much, so he doesn't irritate me except for one thing."
"Like what?"
"He is totally immune to my female charm." Ino frowned. "And he is no gentleman saying that I have to pull my load."
"First of all, what female charm?" Sakura couldn't help but smirk when Ino sent her and angered glare. "As for pulling your own load, I agree with that. We are equal members of our teams, aren't we?"
"Yeah, yeah. Still it takes much effort to be a ninja and remain gorgeous."
"Since when are you gorgeous?"
"Always been, I kind of can see and adore my own reflection in your forehead." Ino decided for a big of a payback for Sakura's earlier comment.
"I ….. whatever." Sakura sighed. She had no intention of getting into an argument. Kakashi allowed her to have the rest of the day off and she was grateful for it. Kakashi made her work hard, but at least she didn't leave the training bruised, dirty and miserable. She also felt that she was improving and couldn't wait to show off her new skills to her teammates. Thus she was I a pretty good mood and had no desire to ruin that by getting into a petty argument with Ino.
"So, what is Sasuke-kun doing? Said anything about me?" Ino asked noticing that Sakura was not going to take the bait.
"Sasuke is busy, training with Hayate-san and Naruto is on a mission with master Jiraiya."
"So, you are all alone?"
"There is still Kakashi-sensei, remember? Trust me, I simply can't allow myself to take it easy. But what about you, I didn't realize that you had so little to do."
"Hey, not my fault you know. Asuma sensei resumed our training sessions now that he is back, so don't say like I am slacking off." Ino looked offended.
"And when is your next training session?"
"Hmm, lets see." Ino looked at a clock mounted on the wall right over the counter. "In two hours when I will be closing the shop. Can't wait actually, the day has been so slow."
"You think I might come along?"
"To our team training? Why?" Ino blinked in confusion at her friend's request.
"To be honest, because I have little idea what to do with my free time. Lately I have been either training, or doing missions, or resting trying to recover for the next day. Now that Kakashi gave me some time off I found myself without anything to do."
"Strange …. But I see why not, I see no harm in you coming. Maybe Asuma sensei will allow you to join us in training and all. It could actually be fun." Ino grinned. This could turn out to be another competition between them and Ino was eager to win.
"Thanks. Oh, I almost forgot. Listen, my mom wanted me to buy some flowers for our kitchen, can you help me pick?"
"Sure, that is what I am awesome at." Ino nodded and went into her florist mode. When it came to flower arrangement Ino was an expert and that was one of the few fields where even Sakura admitted the superiority of her friend.
…
"Huh?" Kisame felt how his hand was grabbed by someone. Despite his best effort Kisame was unable to move his hand even an inch and it was clear that there was only one person around who could do that. Kisame scowled as he looked back only for his face to meet with Jiraiya's fist that sent the tall man flaying back like a bullet landing roughly on his back.
"Jiraiya. I hoped to avoid us meeting." Itachi didn't seem concerned by the appearance of the famous shinobi who had just forced Kisame down a feat impossible for most.
"Let go of him, Itachi, or I will make you."
"I am sorry, we have our own uses for Naruto here." Itachi's fingers dug deeper into Naruto's throat completely cutting off his air supply.
"You were always smart, Itachi. Hurting my student is not something a smart person would do." Jiraiya narrowed his eyes and Itachi felt that began sinking. Almost in an instant the ground beneath his feet turned into a swamp and Itachi released Naruto who immediately kicked off the wall jumped over to Jiraiya, who never took his eyes off Itachi. The rogue ninja jumped back, before sinking to deep and looked at Jiraiya.
"Want to proceed, Itachi?" Jiraiya crossed his hands on his chest daring the Uchiha to oppose him.
"Hmm." Itachi tilted his head looking over Jiraiya with his sharingan. This battle would without a doubt end with the death of both Itachi and Kisame, that could hardly be considered productive. Sometimes aborting a mission was the best course of action, especially if it allowed to come back and try again at a later date.
"Perhaps some other time then. Kisame, get up."
"Tsk." The blue skinned man got up massaging his chin and sent Naruto a nasty look. If only he could go all out, there wouldn't even be dust left of the brat that managed to humiliate him. The two rogue nins slowly moved back and then disappeared.
"Hey, why did you let them get away, pervy sage?" Naruto turned to Jiraiya after rubbing his sore throat. Without a doubt Itachi left a nice bruise, but Naruto healed fast, especially when it came down to minor injuries.
"This was not the place or time for getting into a fight with such men, Naruto. You did good avoiding them until I got here."
"If you weren't such a perv this never would've have happened. Who were those guys? The creep that caught me had eyes like Sasuke."
"That was Uchiha Itachi, Naruto. A man who slaughtered all of his kin, except for his younger brother."
"That was Sasuke's brother? So, he is that bastard Sasuke wants to kill. Perfectly justified if you ask me. And the other one?"
"Hoshigaki Kisame. A rogue ninja, a former member of the seven swordsmen of the mist." Jiraiya revealed the identity of the blue skinned creep.
"Like Zabuza? Man, do all of those swordsmen carry huge swords and have a nasty attitude?"
"Their swords are special, rare ninja artifacts that are designed to have special abilities. Now get up, we have to get out of here before a crowd gathers."
"Back to the hotel?"
"Yes, but only to grab our stuff. We will leave the town immediately after that, I don't want to stay here any longer after all the commotion you caused. The officials will be all over the place and I don't want to be stuck with covering the damage."
"Well sorry, I had to give you some sort of a signal and fireworks seemed like a pretty good idea at the time. It is hard to think when a guy with a giant sword is running after you."
"Yeah, you did surprisingly well, guess that comes with you being the number one unpredictable ninja." Jiraiya smiled and Naruto replied with his trademark grin. They quickly made it back to their hotel and soon enough were back on the road. At first Naruto was worried that the two rogue ninjas would return, but Jiraiya reassured them that for the time being there was no danger.
"Hey pervy sage, those two, they were after the fox, right?"
"What makes you think that?" Jiraiya looked at his student curiously.
"What other reason would two high level rogue ninja for trying to capture me? They seemed pretty determined about capturing me alive and I know that if I die, the furball is also in trouble." Naruto rubbed his stomach. This fox was nothing but trouble, making his life miserable in ways he couldn't even predict.
"Yeah, they were after the fox. Don't ask me for what purpose, but you know better than most that the fox is powerful and power makes some people do crazy things."
"Anyone wanting to have anything to do with the furball has to have something wrong with his head. I mean I want to get stronger and all, but there is power that is just not worth the price."
"Hn." Jiraiya placed his hand on Naruto's head. "You got that right. But lets not forget, you still have to train."
"You got it, pervy sage."
