A big thank for Karkatsbabe and Furionknight for their review.
As I said, this chapter will be the last of the first part of the story. Unfortunately I'm far from finished with the second part, so you're going to have a long wait.
I'm not abandoning this story, but I have studies that precede over writing, since I'm not getting paid for posting fanfictions.
Anyway, please enjoy this chapter and don't hesitate to leave a little review for the author.
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Chapter thirty six
Help and a reunion
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Damaru glanced up to Kikunojo who was sitting on the cart with the children, resting his legs. The man's face was carefully closed, but the woman's experience let her see the tightness of the muscles.
"You shouldn't worry that much." She tried to reassure "The hime is in good hand. And Yurinojo-san is with her too."
The man sighed softly "I know, sorry." He sent her a little smile, attempting to appear positive "I saw you fight, and if you say your husband is as strong as you..."
"He's stronger than me." Damaru corrected confidently, in a matter of fact tone.
The man blinked and was about to say something when a spiked ball broke through the bushes and sped to them.
The spiked ball was centimetres short hitting Damaru when the woman, in a deceitful delicate and graceful gesture, put her hand on it and redirected the weapon's trajectory.
The spiked ball crashed onto the ground and Damaru's hands grasped onto the rod attached to it before giving a big pull.
Jiga didn't have time to react and when he thought to let the rod go, he was already in the clearing, out in the open.
Damaru put his stolen weapon away near Kikunojo before throwing kunais with explosive tags attached.
They exploded and Jiga dodged, only to meet Damaru. The woman threw in a punch he flew in a straight line directly into a trunk, the tree falling down from the force of the impact.
"Kikunojo-san, protect the peddlers." Damaru instructed, stepping forward and charging her hand and arm with chakra "Everyone under the cart."
Kikunojo jumped down and helped the children climb down and hide with the adults before positioning himself in front of them.
Without his weapon, Jiga found himself in a difficult position. He managed to throw Damaru away and threw a flurry of kunais.
The white haired woman dodged, only for the kunais to change their trajectory and rush back to her.
She dodged them again, but their trajectory continued to change to target her.
"That's right!" Jiga smirked "My ninjutsu is magnetic ninpo."
Damaru frowned. Magnetic? She quickly took out a sealing scroll and sealed in her necklace and the hairpin Itachi offered.
Jiga gritted his teeth when the kunais stopped working and threw a handful of iron sand.
Damaru eyed the particles and went through a few handsigns.
"Wind Release: Vacuum Wave."
She spun, releasing waves of wind in a tight circle, forming a sphere that dispersed the particles as it grew. The force of the wind used was carefully measured since there were the peddlers, civilians who wouldn't be able to stand against a wind too strong. However Damaru made the jutsu strong enough to disperse the iron sand.
Temporarily blinded, Jiga didn't see Damaru coming at him, finishing a set of handsigns.
"Lightning Release: Wave of Inspiration."
Damaru punched the man in the stomach and he cried out in pain, bending.
Using the distraction the movement provided, Damaru kicked him farther away from the peddlers.
Glaring heatedly at her, the man spat "You worthless piece of shit! I'll show you."
Damaru too her cue and fled, Jiga darting shortly after her. The chase continued until they reached a sandy area.
"I got you now." Jiga smirked, taking out a few kunais "I'll make you die slowly and painfully."
"Why are you attacking us?" Damaru questioned, keeping her distances "It is obvious the hime isn't here."
"I can't be one hundred percent sure until I look closely at all the bodies." Jiga laughed "My brother is taking care of the other group, so I can't come back to him without making sure."
Damaru's eyes narrowed, understanding the cruel nature of her opponent "I see."
Smirking, Jiga raised a hand to throw his kunais at the still unmoving woman, only to freeze when he noticed a thin deposit on the weapon.
"What the..?" He looked down to see dark sand gathering at his feet.
"You use iron sand to change magnetic poles." Damaru explained as sand began cocooning the struggling man "Therefore it relies on electrical currents and I inserted a new one that disrupted the one within your body."
"You…!" Jiga tried to throw in a last insult but sand swallowed him completely, hiding him from view.
Damaru walked up the cliff as the sand began to form a whirpool, sucking the man in.
The white haired woman stayed until the sand stopped moving before walking away, toward the peddlers, and her son.
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"What do you mean 'away'?" Naruto asked.
"Yes, away." Guren leaned forward, pushing her elbows onto the low table to put her chin on her linked hands "Your parents sent a message and Kakashi, Tazuki, Zabuza and Deidara went to help."
"What happened?" Haku asked, worried.
"Nothing happened to Itachi or Damaru don't worry." Guren calmed "But you know your mother. She wants to help anyone in needs if she can, and this time it's a whole country."
"A whole country?" Gaara repeated, blinking.
"I'll tell you later." The woman promised before taking a few sheets of paper "For now I need to introduce you to the wonderful world of reports and paperwork."
Naruto groaned and Sai eyed the amount of scrolls and books on the table.
"Guren-baa-chan, why is there so much paperwork?" He asked curiously, pointing to the mini-mountain.
The blue haired woman smirked, half amused half derisive "Your prowess during the chuunin exam impressed a lot of people and they found our connection with the land of waves."
"Ah yes." Sasuke remembered "We left a hawk summon to Tazuna-san in case he needed help again."
"Well, they found about it and delivered mission applications through him." Guren explained "We're waiting for your parents to decide how to react."
"But isn't it a good thing?" Amaru asked "If we accept missions we could earn money and make our lives here easier."
"It could also be a trap to lure one or several of us out to kill." Guren countered "Or an attempt to discover our location. Do I need to remind you we have several S-ranked missing nins and three jinchurikis? Not to mention that most of us possess a rare bloodline limit. Trust me when I say you don't know how far people can go for power."
The children were silent after that and Guren handed them several sheet each, preferring changing the subject before the atmosphere could become too gloomy "Don't think too much about this for now. Once your parents come back we'll discuss about it. For now I'll help you fill your reports and brief you on what happened to Damaru and Itachi." She smiled "Did you know they took in a new child?"
Amaru looked up, hopeful "A girl?"
Guren appeared apologetic and amused at the same time "No, a boy, sorry Amaru-chan. But he's much younger than you so at least you'll have the younger sibling you wanted to have."
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The silence filling the air around the group was full of tension. Fortunately Yuki and Gin didn't seem that bothered, and Itachi feigned indifference.
"I demand to know where we're going." Haruna demanded angrily, glaring at Itachi "We aren't going in the direction of the border."
"Why?" The dark haired man threw her a passive look "You think that if you go to the other countries asking for help and telling them you're a victim, they will automatically help you?"
The woman faltered for a few seconds before getting angry again "And what if I am? I am a victim. As long as I survive it's all that matters. And why have you separated us from the peddlers? They could still have some use to us."
"I will not endanger civilians." Itachi answered flatly "And the strength of a country is measured by its people, not by its ruler. The lord of a country can easily be replaced, not the people inhabiting it."
Haruna gasped "Are you saying you're going to abandon me?"
Another flat look "No."
"Then why…?" Haruna's voice turned hesitant, not sure if she should be angry or not.
She didn't understand. This man was saying she was easily replaceable, yet he was protecting her.
She was abruptly brought back to reality when Yuki grabbed her clothes between her jaws to pull her away from danger, sending her tumbling backward in the bushes..
An invisible force crashed onto the ground as the others dodged.
"I don't know what you were trying to do." Renga said, standing on thin air "But resistance is futile. You will all die here."
"H-He's standing on thin air!" Yurinojo gasped.
"Yurinojo-san." Itachi said calmly "Stay near Haruna-hime and protect her."
"Hai." The man didn't question him and immediately stepped near the woman. Gin abandoned his place near Yuki to walk beside Itachi, his eyes narrowed on the enemy.
"You're brave, I'll give you that." Renga smirked "But you are no match against me."
He began throwing invisible weapons again that even Itachi had trouble evading.
"Just hand over the girl." Renga said as one of them brushed against his shoulder, creating a rip in his shirt and a thin red line on his skin "If you do I'll let you go and you might be able to reach your wife and child in time."
Itachi's eyes narrowed and Renga smirked in triumph, knowing his words had hit.
"That's right, my brother has probably reached the peddlers by now. If you want to save them you probably should go now."
"And you shouldn't underestimate my wife." Itachi argued back just before Gin lunged to Renga from a dead angle, having climbed onto a tree for easier reach.
The man swore and escaped in the nick of time before sending another invisible weapon. The wolf's feet ghosted over a branch before he dodged, the weapon cutting deeply into the bark.
Itachi did a handsign and mist rose, enveloping the fighters in heavy atmosphere.
Hidden from view Itachi activated his sharingan and put a hand on Gin's head when the silver wolf silently slipped back next to him, his fur raised up.
The dark haired man gestured an order and the lupine retreated near Yuki, the hime and Yurinojo. Itachi jumped and let Renga catch a glimpse of him.
This time he saw the chakra being molded and sent. Invisible meant either wind or…. Itachi let Renga briefly see him again and when he threw his weapon, the man followed the trajectory and did a few handsigns.
'Fire Release: Fire Dragon Bullet'
Flames shot from his mouth and travelled through the mist, engulfing the invisible weapon. It disappeared instantly and Itachi nodded to himself. Yes, it was ice, probably changed directly from the particles in the air.
The rest should be easy.
Renga scanned the mist, trying to see where the enemy was.
He never saw the giant fire dragon coming. It shot from the mist and engulfed him. He tried to raise a shield of ice but his efforts were futile and the dragon swallowed him.
Yurinojo tensed when he saw a figure in the mist, sighing when he recognized Itachi.
"Renga?" He asked.
"Dead." Itachi' eyes darted to the side as mist dissipated.
Damaru appeared, carrying Ranmaru, Kikunojo trailing after her.
Yuki trotted up to her partner in a silent greeting and Ranmaru wriggled to be put down.
Once Damaru kneeled down to let him on the ground, he ran to Itachi, arms outstretched.
The man knelt down and took him in his arms before shooting a curious look at Damaru.
"The peddlers have safely reached the town. Once that was done we went back to you and met a few underlings of those men trying to kill us. They were easy enough to dispatch. Oh, and I also defeated one of those brothers. I suspect you got the other one?"
Itachi nodded and Damaru turned to Yurinojo and Haruna "Is anyone hurt?"
"No, thanks to you and your husband." Yurinojo walked to Kikunojo, Haruna trailing behind him with her permanent frown etched on her face.
"No need to thank us." Damaru smiled before turning to Haruna "So? What do you plan on doing now hime-sama?"
Haruna hesitated, for a moment looking lost. But before she could act a hawk swooped down, landing onto Damaru's shoulder.
The woman untied the message from the bird before heaving Ranamaru out of Itachi's arms and down on the ground. She rummaged in her pouch and got out a few strips of dried meat.
"Ranmaru, how about you feed the hawk? He certainly earned it."
"Okay." The little boy took the meat and giggled when the hawk flew on his shoulder, the feathers of its wing tickling his neck.
Damaru smiled as he began presenting a strip of meat to the animal and opened the message to read.
She passed it to Itachi once she was finished and smiled to Haruna.
"Good news hime-sama. Your country is officially freed from the invaders."
Haruna's eyes widened considerably "H-How…?"
"I sent a few messages to my friends and they agreed to help. This message is informing us that they took back the main city. We should head back."
"Why?" Haruna asked "Why did you help me?"
Damaru shrugged before smiling "Because we could. It's as simple as that."
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Rin stopped reading the children's reports gathered the sheets of paper "Let's see. A jonin and three guenins from rain, amegakure isn't going to like us very much. The sword of the second hokage has been found again and Jirocho-sama insisted in paying them. Since we didn't ask for payment I think they should keep it for them."
Guren nodded, frowning slightly "What's worrying me more is the oto ninjas that tried to kidnap Sasuke. Itachi and Damaru informed us they had found informations on the new village, but I can't help but worry."
Kumori chose this moment this moment to wake up from his nap and got up to walk to her.
"Mommy?" He climbed into her laps, eyeing curiously the papers spread on the low table "What are you doing?"
"I'm doing paperwork sweetheart." Rin caressed her four years old son's dark hair.
"Papy-wa?"
"Pa-per-work. Guren-obaa-chan and I are reading all these papers and sorting them out. Why don't you go play with your toys? I'll finish this and make you a snack."
"Okay!" The little boy crawled out of his mother's laps and walked back to his blanket to rummage through his toys box, trying to decide which one he wanted to play with first.
Rin sent him a fond look before turning to Guren "According to the children's descriptions the ones who tried to kidnap Sasuke are at least chuunin, if not jonin level."
The blue haired woman sighed "We'll wait for Damaru and Itachi to come back. Something's telling me the next meeting will be very long."
Rin sighed with her friend "Don't I know it."
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"Ranmaru is cute." Tazuki smiled as she glanced at the little boy animatedly speaking to a vaguely listening Kakashi "He has my okay to integrate our group."
Damaru chuckled "Glad to know you agree. You took control of the city fairly easily."
The red head snorted "Without their leader those ninjas were pretty pathetic. Deidara dropped a few bombs around, Kakashi and Zabuza got care of the harder ones and they were all fleeing like rats from a sinking boat."
Damaru smiled and turned her head as Tsunade neared them, Shizune trailing behind her, holding Tonton to her chest.
"Tsunade-sama, Shizune-san, nice to see you again. How are you?"
"Fine." The woman sat beside them, Shizune imitating her "How is your husband?"
Damaru stole a glance to the man who was busy speaking with Zabuza "He's well, thanks to you. By the way I received confirmation that your friend, Jirocho-sama's problems were taken care of."
"Thank you." Shizune smiled as Tsunade nodded, satisfied.
"Think nothing of it." Damaru waved her hand "You saved my husband's life, helping your friend was nothing. Don't hesitate to contact us again if you need help again."
"And don't hesitate to do the same if you need help too." Tsunade glanced to Ranamaru "As you asked I took a look at this boy. You're doing a fine job. I just sped up the process a bit so he'll be able to run around normally sooner."
Damaru nodded "Thank you Tsunade-sama."
"It's sad though." Tazuki glanced at the hime and her bodyguards kneeling in front of a tomb "We weren't here soon enough to save her father."
"I'm sure Haruna will be able to lead her country to peace." Tsunade said.
The hime chose this moment to get up and walk to their group, stopping in front of Itachi.
"We cannot thank you enough for everything you've done for us." Kikunojo bowed with his brother.
"It was nothing." Itachi assured as Damaru stood up to walk up to his side.
Haruna took a step forward, this time with a little smile on her face "I have a favour to ask you. As the new Lady I wish to uphold my father's will of peace for this land. To do that I want to hire a few ninjas from Tsukigakure."
Damaru smiled "Hime-sama, you already have Kikunojo-san and Yorinojo-san to help you daily. And if you need help again you can always contact us. There's no need for us to stay here."
"We also need to go home." Kakashi added, Ranamaru sitting on his shoulders "To our family."
Haruna sighed before smiling again "Then I can't stop you, can I?"
"I'm sure you'll become a great Lady hime-sama." Damaru reassured.
Haruna blinked at that statement before smiling confidently "Yes, I will make sure to create a peaceful country. I promise."
The group said their goodbyes before walking away, Haruna, Yorinojo and Kikunojo waving until they disappeared.
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"Alright." Damaru sighed, feeling the headache coming "So we're all clear?"
She looked around the room where the adults were sitting. The meeting had lasted all day with close to no respite, but they had finally been able to come to a decision.
"I think Jiraiya-san's network will be useful in deciding who to send in the missions we accept." Rin said, raising her hand "I vote for letting him have a way of communicating with us."
"If this continues I'll have to expand my hawk summons." Tazuki thought out loud "But I'm in too."
She raised her hand with everyone else in the room.
Itachi nodded "So we all agree to let Jiraiya have a way of communication with us. Tazuki, will you take care of it?"
"Roger."
"At least now we will be able to earn some money and the children won't become crazy with boredom." Guren relativized.
"And not only the children." Kisame added with a smirk.
"I want the children trained before going out again though." Damaru frowned "In case oto try to kidnap Sasuke again, or even Itachi. By the way Kisame, Zabuza, have you decided if you'll give Raiga's swords."
"Shin has a lot of potential, and his chakra is lightning affiliated." Zabuza answered "So perhaps not now but give it a few months and he'll be ready to handle Kiba."
Itachi nodded "Alright, I hereby declare this meeting over."
"Finally!" Deidara exclaimed, stretching before getting up and exiting the room, almost running out. Tazuki rolled her eyes before following, at a much slower pace.
"I have enough time left to put Yukimaru to bed." Guren noted, getting up before turning to a silent Utakata "You're coming?"
The man nodded before straightening and following after her.
"Let's go before Kumori wakes up." Rin said, dragging her husband behind her.
"I'll go put Ranmaru to bed too." Damaru kissed Itachi's cheek before getting up too "You're coming?"
With a nod the man straightened and caught Damaru's hand in his before they exited the room together.
"I have a bad feeling though." Kisame frowned lightly once he was left alone with Zabuza.
"What do you mean?" his companion asked.
"I don't know. Call it ninja instinct, but I have the feeling that our problems are far from over."
Zabuza shrugged "We're ninjas. Our lives are far from peaceful and devoid of dangers."
Kisame sighed "I know, I guess I'm just worried."
Zabuza smirked "The great Kisame? Worried? That's a first."
"Don't push it gaki."
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End of part 1