"To fight and conquer in all your battles is not supreme excellence; supreme excellence consists in breaking the enemy's resistance without fighting." -Sun Tzu
Chapter 37- The Immortals
Naruto looked out of the window of his hotel room, a room with a king sized bed, a dresser, a cushioned chair, and a bathroom, as he watched while the stands for the festival to be held after Chiyo's funeral early tomorrow were being set up. A cloud of bitter happiness floated above Sunagakure as Gaara had returned, walking proudly in front of his fellow ninjas, carrying Chiyo's body from where it lay in the dunes. Many of the civilians had been happy when they saw Gaara walking but that soon morphed into shock and sadness when they noticed the elder's body in his arms. Gaara had remained strong as he walked from the entrance to his village to his main office building, Gaara had collapsed almost as soon as he was inside the cooler air from the strain he had put upon his body for his insistence that he be the one to carry Chiyo to her resting place.
Temari had quickly supported Gaara as Kankurou took Chiyo's body from his exhausted brother. Gaara had taken a few minutes to recover before he addressed his people, weaving a tale of Chiyo's bravery as he announced her funeral and the subsequent festival which would celebrate her long and full life of service to their village. Cheers had followed Gaara's rousing speech, despite the death of one of their elders, Sunagakure would remain strong.
Gaara had then sent the Konoha shinobi, and Samui, to the best hotel in town to house them and invited them to share in the funeral and festivities in Chiyo's memory. With a gracious bow, the group had accepted as they were led from Gaara's presence. Naruto had certainly noted that Gaara had accepted his role of Kazekage with an easy shrug of his shoulders by the way he handled the entire situation, even though he had just been, technically, dead for close to thirty minutes.
As such, Naruto stood in his own room in the hotel, doubtless that the rest of his group was being given the same accommodations. Naruto sighed as he thought of his fights; his brashness and his arrogant way of speak probably made him look much like an overconfident brat with a big ego because he had been trained by Jiraiya. Kyuubi growled inside his head and Naruto smiled lightly as the contribution the Kyuubi had made wasn't as large as Jiraiya's, but it was a major contribution. Naruto inclined his head slightly, and Kyuubi's growl dissipated into the back of his head.
Naruto was broken from his thoughts when his door was knocked upon and he blinked in slight surprise, "It's open Samui," he said as he turned to greet his guest.
Samui opened the door and entered, shutting the door behind herself as she stepped into the room. Samui's eyes roved his modest room before settling on her own partner and stepped towards him, "The hotel's overbooked; I'll be sharing this room with you." She said bluntly. Naruto didn't even blink at her statement; instead he felt a thrill run down his spine at her words which he hadn't felt in a long time. Naruto was used to her way of speaking, she wasn't good with words, and she was one who spoke in action. As such, it wasn't her manner of saying she would be sharing his room, it was… Naruto paused for a moment, his mind repeating that statement in his head… it was… honestly Naruto didn't know what that was. Instead, he just inclined his head.
"If that is what you wish, though I feel you should check with the other kunoichi-" Naruto said only to find a kunai flashing past his face and embedding into the wall next to the window he had been looking out of. It was a testament to their partnership that this didn't serve to cause a problem; instead, Naruto merely eyed the kunai before looking at Samui. To the outsider, they would be wondering why Samui had just attacked him so rashly and indiscriminately. To Naruto, the action was clear. After all, as Naruto had just said, she was a woman of action not words.
Hanging his head, Naruto acknowledged her unspoken message, and Samui nodded to him.
"I'm going to take a shower." She said coldly before she turned on her heel and entered the bathroom without another sound.
Naruto sighed lightly as he looked at the kunai once more, her message clear. Naruto idly wondered when he had gotten such a level of familiarity with this woman that her every little nuance and little movement he could decipher with the littlest amount of effort. The kunai, for example, told him that she trusted him.
To others, the simple idea would be ludicrous. To him, it was simple. She could throw a kunai at him and not receive retaliation because she knew him. She was his partner, his comrade until they left their partnership. She would give her back to him, just as he would her, because of the bonds they had forged in the past five months. The message wasn't that she knew he wouldn't kill her; it was that she knew, until he got other orders, the two were comrades but, to the others, this was not the case and she couldn't trust them because of it. In other words, she just trusted the others less than she trusted Naruto to not plant a kunai in her back.
Naruto ran a hand through his hair, pleased that he had taken the time to take his own shower first; all that sand was a nuisance to his long hair. Not to mention, while Naruto knew he would be dirty for awhile on missions, he liked the feel of being clean and he endeavored to keep his body as fresh as possible, especially since he never knew how long it might be before he would be able to revisit a bath. As the sound of the shower kicked on inside his bathroom, Naruto looked at the single bed in the room and smiled lightly as he walked to the nightstand next to it, pulled the sheets back, and unsealed a bottle of the massage oil he used on Samui's back from his pack, after all, they had been interrupted during their last time, and this would certainly appease the slight annoyance she was probably feeling because of his impatience.
As Samui bathed, Naruto returned to his window, and looked out upon the village, for a moment, he saw Konoha overlaying the dusty Suna, the booths which were set up reminded him of the festivals that had occasionally been thrown in Konoha. A pang of longing stabbed through him as his first thought of home in almost three years appeared. Before, he had tried not to think about Konoha since it almost always associated with Kurenai, and he had been loathe to think of her because it always hurt. When he had gotten past his inner turmoil for Kurenai, he had thrown himself into the training less recklessly which led to more concentration on techniques and more restful nights, thus he had even less time to think about his home. During his months of missions, he had fleeting thoughts of his home but he had been wary of Samui, being she was a foreign ninja, and it left him little time to daydream. When he finally had time, he had just come across his first true reminder of his home, his former team. As such, it was little surprise that, once Naruto had some alone time, he would think of his home yet again, and the sight of booths being set up for festivals was certainly a common thing in Konoha, whom seemed to celebrate anything they possibly could. Naruto closed his eyes as he pictured the faces of his friends, and their families, the clans and the Hokage tower, the academy, and the training grounds. He smiled lightly as he thought of Shikamaru and how he would probably be looking at the clouds while muttering his catchphrase, but also of how the young man had probably filled out, considering he had left him with a large determination to train.
Naruto had thought long and hard about Shikamaru and whether or not the young man deserved his trust, or if he had been in on the mission to keep him loyal to the village. However, Naruto hadn't really taken long to decide, deep in his own heart, that Shikamaru wasn't the type of person who could take such a mission. The young genius would have befriended Naruto without an order once he got to know Naruto and he much doubted he had been on a mission from the Hokage when their first real interaction was when he stumbled upon his team practice. Besides that, he had no evidence of Shikamaru not being the loyal friend he was and Naruto really felt that he had little right to question Shikamaru without something concrete. Shikamaru had helped him tremendously and Naruto would never forget that. Naruto may be more wary of his friend, but he would still trust him until he proved otherwise. Of course, after deciding this, it didn't take him long to decide the same for the Ichiraku family.
Naruto was torn from his thoughts as Samui stepped out from the bathroom, a single glance to her mostly naked form had Naruto smile lightly as Samui favored him with a simple quirk of her lips, her equivalent of a smile, once she saw the oil placed on the nightstand. She stepped lightly through their room and eased herself onto the middle of the bed before she stretched herself out and allowed her towel to slide down to her butt, which allowed for the same positioning she had recently become so comfortable with when he massaged her. Naruto didn't even wait for her normal glance as he moved next to the bed, grasped the bottle of lotion, and then onto the bed, which elicited a slightly startled look from Samui, and gently placed himself above Samui's body. Naruto squeezed some of the oil onto his hands and rubbed them together before beginning his magic.
As Naruto concentrated on Samui's very tense back, he noticed that Samui wasn't simply enjoying it this time; she was watching him intently with a single cold blue eye. Naruto raised an eyebrow at her but she barely shifted beneath him as his hands continued roaming her back. "Why did you act so rashly?" she finally asked as she shifted once again beneath him, causing him to find one particularly hard knot of muscles.
Naruto smiled lightly as he went to work on the knot, "You know why." He replied lightly. He never understood why she always wanted him to say exactly what she already knew.
Samui shook her head once before a very low moan escaped her lips as Naruto found yet another tense knot in her back, she would never tell him but she would miss him simply because of these massages.
Of course, being his partner, it also hadn't taken her long to realize that most of what he did had some underlying meaning that few would divine without his telling them. Of course, by the time you figured it out without him, you were usually dead or incapacitated, so it was little surprise that he was a true Genjutsu master. She shuddered lightly as she remembered the fool who had compared Naruto to Orochimaru. Naruto hadn't taken kindly to the reminder of such a man, nor having been compared to him.
"And your abilities?" she asked sleepily, she hated the fact that his massages often put her in a groggy state but she couldn't find it within herself to say that the benefits did not outweigh the potential risks associated with his massages.
Without her seeing, Naruto shrugged as he watched Samui's eyes drooped lower and lower as he finished with his massage. In short order, he was treated to one of the most endearing sights he had come across in his three years away from Konoha, the normally stoic Samui sleeping peacefully in the bed. Gently, he moved off the bed and pulled the sheets up over her body. It was little surprise that she fell asleep so easily as they had been running for close to a full two days by the time they met up with Kakashi, not an easy feat for anyone not a Jinchuuriki. Once her adrenalin had dried up, it was probably taking much of her iron will just to keep moving to his room and to take a shower.
Naruto's head snapped up and he moved silently from next to the bed and to his door, he opened it silently just as Kakashi's hand went forward to knock on it. Naruto regarded the three Jounin outside his door with an inquisitive look, "Is there something you need?" Naruto asked quietly, he knew just how light a sleeper Samui was.
Kakashi, Gai, and Neji all looked at him with varying degrees of curiosity as well as they took in his less than normal clothing, a t-shirt and boxers, as they also wondered why he was speaking so lowly. Kakashi's eyes wandered over Naruto's shoulder, but Naruto pulled the door closer to narrow the line of sight they could see. "What do you need?" Naruto repeated lowly, his eyes narrowed slightly at Kakashi, unappreciative of the way the man had automatically tried looking into his own room. While that was his ninja training, it was also incredibly rude.
It was Neji who spoke then, "We need information from you." He said.
Naruto nodded, "Give me a moment." He replied quickly, before he closed his door and moved back into his room while he grabbed his clothes, and dressed quickly, he was back at the door within a minute, "Let's go." He said as he cast another look over his shoulder, so he could look at Samui's, still sleeping, body in his bed. A small surge of some emotion ran through him, too confusing for him to even place, as he closed his door quietly. "Where're we going to do this?" he asked as soon as his door closed fully.
"My room is closest," Kakashi said as he looked at Naruto questioningly before he turned, led them all the way down the hall, and into the room there. Naruto blinked, as he wondered why all three of them would come to get him if Kakashi was only a hallway down. "I met Gai and Neji on my way up." Kakashi said as if in answer to Naruto's pondering. Naruto looked at Kakashi and nodded lightly. The four ninja entered into the and quickly scanned it before they made themselves comfortable. "Neji?" Kakashi asked quietly and Naruto frowned slightly when he saw Neji's Byakuugan flash into existence then disappear as he shook his head. "Right then," Kakashi said lazily as he lounged in a chair. "I know we're all tired so I'll try to make this short, Gai, what happened with your team before we rendezvoused?" he asked, as the most experienced shinobi of equal rank, Kakashi was de facto leader unless the Hokage or someone over their group declared otherwise.
Quickly and concisely, Gai explained how they had set out from Konoha and followed in Kakashi's footsteps towards Suna, until they were redirected and then how they ran into Hoshigaki Kisame. Naruto sat forward; intrigued, as he listened to how they had fought the 'Tailless Bijuu' he took in all of the information about his opponent like a sponge, since he knew he might, one day, fight this deadly person. The little bits about the man's sword not liking anyone else and how it ate chakra were incredibly useful. But, the fact the man acted and fought like Zabuza, except a little more brute force and less stealth was a good basis for his next encounter with the blue skinned man.
Neji confirmed everything that Gai said and added little about the man other than that his chakra pools were along the same size as Naruto's own.
"Nothing else to report?" Kakashi asked, and Gai and Neji shared a looked before they both shook their heads. Kakashi nodded, "Alright then, Naruto." He said as all three of the Jounin fixed him with interested stares. "Start from where you were to when you met up with my team." He ordered.
Naruto nodded and began, "Samui and I were relaxing in our hotel room when a toad messenger appeared before us. It handed us a scroll for the mission of assisting yourselves in this mission. As such, we quickly moved out and ran for almost two days straight before meeting up with you and your team Kakashi." Naruto explained with slightly surprised looks from his Jounin counterparts as they thought of how much stamina he must have to go two days without sleep and still be able to handle such opponents as Sasori and Deidara with, what seemed to be, such ease. "We didn't encounter anyone or anything of note until arriving with your team Kakashi." He explained. Silence fell as Kakashi seemed to mull that over as Gai and Neji looked at Naruto intently, as if he had done something wrong. Naruto sighed when he saw Kakashi come to some conclusion.
"I have a few questions about some of your abilities, Naruto." Kakashi said as Naruto waited for them to be dismissed. Naruto knew this was going to come about since he had stayed. Naruto fixed Kakashi with a stare but Kakashi was undeterred, "How can you manifest chakra tails without using a Bijuu's chakra?" he asked.
Naruto shook his head, "I'm not going to reveal my techniques to anyone other than the Hokage, just like any of you wouldn't reveal how to open the Gates, the secrets of the Gentle Fist style, or your own Raikiri unless the Hokage ordered it. I don't even know why you bothered to ask." Naruto retorted, his tone of voice was nonchalant but his eyes gleamed as he looked at each of the Jounin in turn.
Kakashi eye-smiled almost immediately after Naruto's small rant, "It doesn't hurt to ask," he supplied and Naruto chuckled lightly.
"It can." He replied just as lightly but there was an undercurrent that made all of the Jounin tense slightly before relaxing.
"How about the Genjutsu you used on Deidara?" Neji asked.
Naruto raised an eyebrow at the obvious question, "I thought what the Genjutsu did was obvious when you looked at it with the Byakuugan?" he stated with a hint of incredulity in his voice, unable to think that someone who had such an impressive Byakuugan as Neji couldn't pinpoint what he had done.
Neji shrugged, "I want to understand how you did it. I know what it did." He admitted.
Naruto shrugged back at the man, "I just noticed what he took the most pride in and destroyed it." He said nonchalantly but all of the ninja in the room seemed to grow somber at the fact that Naruto had done something so easily, "Once you told me how he exploded the clay, it was simple enough to plant a Genjutsu that only activated when he thought about explosions, specifically when he wanted to cause them, and cause it to drain his chakra into his feet instead of the clay while fooling his mind into thinking he was channeling it to the clay." Naruto explained.
Neji frowned slightly, "But, he was increasing the amount of chakra in the clay," he said.
Naruto nodded, "But that was only in case he was sensitive to chakra, by allowing a small amount of the chakra to reach the clay, while the majority was diverted, it kept the Genjutsu more real." He explained and the three Jounin nodded their heads. After a few more moments of silence, Naruto asked, "Is that it? I'm kinda tired from my run." He explained when he noticed their looks. Kakashi seemed to think about it a bit before nodding his head.
"Just, one last thing, where did you get that sash?" Gai asked quickly. Naruto's eyes flickered darkly before he shook his head.
"It was a gift from the Samurai of Tetsu no Kuni." Naruto answered quietly before he looked back at Kakashi, not that he missed the surprised look on Gai's face. Kakashi nodded once again.
"It's okay to go, thank you for answering our questions." He said and Naruto smiled at them as he turned and left the room. Immediately, he headed and entered his own room, before he smiled at the still peaceful form of Samui in his bed.
However, he was not surprised when Samui shifted in the bed and a single blue eye regarded him before it closed slowly. Naruto moved into his room and sat down in the chair left in the room for comfort. Naruto closed his eyes and let out a long sigh as he relaxed into the chair. Slowly, Naruto felt his weariness creep upon him, but, before his tiredness took full hold, he felt a gaze upon him. He opened his eyes and was instantly assaulted by the intense, yet sleepy, gaze of his partner. Silently, the two stared at each other; they interacted with simple flicks of their eyes before Samui shifted slightly to the right, which placed enough room for Naruto to lay on the left side of the bed. Naruto's eyes widened slightly as Samui made a very obvious gesture with her hand at the side of the bed she had opened for him. Naruto's refusal was on the tip of his tongue when Samui cut him off, "Get in bed or I'll drag you in." she whispered, and though her voice was as soft and as sultry as ever during her groggy state, the hint of iron he heard in her voice was one he had learned to avoid resisting. On top of that, when Samui spoke, and her words were ignored, she seemed even more upset than ever before. Naruto had only made that mistake once during their partnership and, after learning exactly how much she disliked it, Naruto had quickly sworn never to ignore his partner when she did choose to speak.
Naruto hesitated only a few more moments before he stripped his pants off his legs and tossed his shirt onto the chair. Samui regarded him silently, approval in her eyes, as his sculpted body came into view, hidden only by a pair of boxers. Quickly, Naruto slipped between the sheets, just as he made sure that the sheets never lifted high enough so he could accidentally see her body. Naruto turned his head to Samui, and was rewarded with a content look in her blue eyes as she laid her head back upon her pillow and slowly closed her eyes once again, she seemed to slip back to sleep almost as soon as her head hit the pillow. Naruto shifted twice before he decided that he was most comfortable on his side, which faced Samui's still form. Quickly, Naruto felt his fatigue grow on him and his eyes slipped closed, the last sight he saw was Samui's, dare he think it, content face as she slept next to him.
Naruto was awoken by the sound of a summon as it appeared in his room. While Naruto's eyes snapped open, he was intensely aware of the fact that his bare skin was in contact with Samui's own as he produced his weapon and Samui moved behind him as he rose from his resting place. Naruto's attention narrowed onto the cat-like animal sitting on the floor of his room, which calmly regarded him and his partner with an intense stare. The cat looked more like a miniature cheetah with an orange coat of fur with black spots except for the prominent tips of its black ears, which were tapered to a finer point than most felines. However, the most telltale sign that this feline was more than it appeared to be was the smell of ozone that wafted around it even as an arc of electricity appeared over its body.
"Yugito-sama needs help." The feline said as soon as Naruto and Samui's weapons were lowered slightly from the recognition of Samui's summoning contract.
Naruto and Samui both tensed as the feline began to explain, "She is currently hiding in a small town on the border of Ame no Kuni and Tori no Kuni. She has two Akatsuki members attempting to track her and she has engaged them in combat before now, they seemed unaffected by Nibi-sama's chakra and special ability." The lightning lynx informed them.
"Why's Yugito so far from Kumo no Kuni when she knows of Akatsuki moving against the Ichibi?" Naruto asked, slightly worried about his fellow container. Samui had informed the Raikage about their mission for the Kazekage as soon as they had received it.
The lynx seemed to scowl, "Raikage-sama sent the order for Yugito-sama to return upon hearing of your mission, Naruto-sama." It informed them, "However, she had already been approached and nearly defeated by these Akatsuki members by the time the message reached Yugito-sama, she is alone and very tired from her constant fights and running, I'm not sure Yugito-sama can last much longer." It said sadly which caused Naruto and Samui's eyes to harden.
"Tell Yugito that I will be at the border of Suna and Tori in one day, another half and I shall find her." Naruto said strongly. Both the summons and Samui's eyes widened once again as the summon bowed its head, dispelled and Naruto turned to Samui.
Unfortunately, Naruto had forgotten that Samui had been naked when they went to bed and was treated to the full figured body of a mature woman, completely on display as soon as he did so. Naruto may have been a more mature and certainly stronger ninja, however, he was still a teenage male with a healthy libido and had never before been capable of being able to savor and understand the sight of a completely nude woman before in his life. While Naruto had massage training, he had refrained from looking at any of them in anything less than a towel, while this was not much, it still covered their modesty, Samui, as she stood, had none.
His eyes started at her feet, surprisingly, as he noticed how dainty they seemed but he was acutely aware of how much power she could put behind her kicks. Slowly, his eyes followed those soft, smooth legs up their curves, his mouth seemed to grow dry simply from the sight of her soft womanly legs. He blinked rapidly as he noticed that her thighs were pressed together firmly, but her blonde pubic hairs were neatly trimmed. He gulped softly as his eyes lingered on that spot for what seemed to be forever. Thoughts and images ran through his brain as he felt his boxers strain against his sudden throbbing erection.
Samui shifted slightly, which broke his staring, and his eyes traveled up her toned stomach. He was slightly amazed that he could see the path of her muscles as his eyes traveled up her body but that a slight sheen of fat covered her body, no doubt that such a layer made her body even more sensuous and desirable than an overly muscular kunoichi, at least to Naruto.
Suddenly, Naruto was treated to Samui's large breasts as they hung on her chest. Surprisingly, they were rather high on her chest; they sagged only slightly from her tight body. The globes of female flesh were a milky white, not a single vein of blue blood stood out from her breasts and no stretch marks marred their perfect shape or sight. Naruto gulped audibly as he beheld the objects of such envy, pain, and want with no barriers between them other than air. Her areolas were very small upon their large expanse of white; they seemed to only be the size of his thumb's fingernail. Naruto's breath caught in his throat as he watched them wobble slightly on her chest as she took a breath and released it, they swayed slightly from her actions and her arms came up underneath them, which raised them slightly and caused him to throb painfully yet again.
Of course it was also this action that reminded him that he was staring at his partner and his eyes quickly shot up from her perfect breasts, ones which easily overshadowed the hazy memory that they had reminded him of before he tossed it aside. Quickly, his eyes traced her milky white skin up from her chest, watching its soft expanse stretch up to her familiar face.
Naruto slightly dreaded looking into his partner's face once he realized what he had done. He thought he had more respect for her, but he turned into a horny teenager the second her body was displayed to him. He wouldn't admit that her recent actions had felt a bit like a tease when she would appear with just a towel wrapped around her figure, but Naruto's libido certainly hadn't disappeared, just his want for a relationship. Honestly, he saw his partner's sexual appeal, but he also knew she wanted nothing to do with a man, and he had little reason to simply want to sleep with her, so it had been easy to ignore his growing hormones as she appeared to become even more comfortable showing him more and more of her sensual body.
As such, he was thoroughly surprised when Samui's cold blue eyes were not glaring at him when he finally looked at her, but were darkened in what he could only relate to lust as she watched him leer at her in the typical male fashion. Startled, Naruto blinked rapidly as he watched her own eyes drift down his body and rest upon his straining boxers. She seemed to smirk at that even as Naruto quickly ripped the sheet from their bed and threw it around her shoulders, which covered her from his gaze.
Samui said nothing about what had just happened as she stared at Naruto, "You're going to use 'it' to increase your speed?" she asked with a bit of emotion in her voice.
Naruto shuddered lightly, after their encounter, the very fact that her voice sounded seductive whenever she wasn't completely emotionless, affected him strongly. He nodded lightly as he moved towards his clothes.
Samui watched him move and dress quickly, obviously she was waiting for something, "I'll be right behind you, it should take me close to three days." She said softly and Naruto nodded once again, he didn't trust his voice. Naruto moved towards the door and shuddered lightly when Samui moved behind him, and grabbed his body in her arms, which pressed her impressive assets against his back, "Rescue Yugito-chan for me?" she asked softly, Naruto nodded firmly. Naruto went to move away but Samui's arms tightened around him once again, which prevented him from moving. Slightly surprised, Naruto went to turn around, but Samui shook her head once and two words passed from her lips so softly that Naruto almost thought he hadn't heard them as Samui released him. A single glance back at her pink face told him he had heard correctly as her eyes bored into him. He nodded once again, which acknowledged what she asked of him as he exited the room and took a deep breath as he made his way to the street. He leapt to the roofs of the village and was soon at the entrance to the great village.
To his surprise, he was met with a familiar face. Naruto dropped to the street and approached the gorge between the cliffs which protected the shinobi fortress, "Hello, Temari-san," he greeted the lone female of the Kazekage's family.
Temari smiled lightly at him, "Hello Naruto-kun," she replied. Naruto raised an eyebrow at the affectionate suffix affixed to his name but Temari spoke again, "Leaving so soon?" she asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.
Naruto nodded stiffly, "Another mission."
Temari nodded as well as stepped up next to him, "Allow me to see you off?" she asked and Naruto hesitated only slightly before he nodded. It turned out to be a good idea as the guards were slightly hesitant to let the man whom had helped return their beloved Kazekage leave. Fortunately, Temari simply told them to check him out and moved past them without another word as Naruto ghosted to her side.
The two quickly made it through the gorge and exited to the whipping winds of the desert. Naruto went to move away, but Temari managed to hold him back with a gesture as she suddenly looked nervous, she looked away from him before she spoke, "I'm dating your friend Shikamaru," she said.
Naruto blinked once before he smiled lightly, and inclined his head to her, "Congratulations," he said with true happiness for his friend.
Temari nodded her head, "Thank you, but I wanted you to know that before I did this," she said strongly before she leaned forward and quickly captured him in a kiss. Surprised, Naruto moaned softly as Temari attacked him, and mashed her body to him, while she poured an intense amount of passion into the kiss. Naruto blinked once and Temari's lips left his, both of them slightly bruised from her attack. Temari blushed red as she stepped away from him with a shy demeanor, Naruto looked to her with a blank look and she blushed harder, "I couldn't find another way to truly thank you for everything you've done for my family Naruto-kun. This was all I could think of, so thank you." She said before she turned and quickly made her way away from him. Naruto watched her disappear back into her village and shook his head, he'd never understand women.
It wasn't long however, before Naruto remembered his reasoning for leaving as he felt Samui begin to leave their room as well. Naruto let out a long breath as he formed the ram sign with his hand, "Kai!" he said forcefully as a dome of blue surrounded him, which dispelled the many training seals he had in place.
Eyes half-closed, Naruto delved deep into his body as he thought, "Time for some rent, Partner." A very deep growl sounded from his mind and Naruto chuckled lightly as red chakra surrounded him, and quickly formed one tail, then two, and, slowly, a third tail emerged from his shroud. Naruto's eyes snapped open, they were a curious shade of purple, showing that Naruto had much control but his pupils were slitted like always. Naruto could feel his fingernails lengthen and his hair grow slightly smoother as it took on a more fur-like quality. Naruto flexed his muscles slightly, which tested the increased power he felt running through his body, and smiled as he crouched suddenly. With a single bound, Naruto disappeared into the dusk, a trail of sand was his only marker as he flew across the sands of the desert headed to the rescue of yet another of his fellow Jinchuuriki.
"Is this how it ends?" Yugito thought as she lay defeated upon the shoulder of one of the monsters which had fought her. Their words blurred in the background as she barely maintained her conscious thoughts. "Is everything I've done for nothing?" she despaired as her eyes blankly looked out across the countryside that the monsters carried her.
Yugito despaired even more when she realized that Nibi, who would have normally answered her by now, hadn't done so because the monsters had somehow sealed her connection with her tenant and friend. "Great, my last moments and I can't even talk with my friend, I can't believe these monsters are still alive!" Yugito thought to herself even as her mind was suddenly more alert than before. Yugito's eyes blinked rapidly as they came into focus and she suddenly gasped as her breaths seemed to become harder as time went on.
"Who the fuck is that?" the one she thought was Hidan said dimly as Yugito panted on his shoulder.
"Kyuubi," came a very weak whisper in Yugito's head and her eyes widened as Yugito got the glimpse of a blonde haired, blue eyed boy before the chakra which had laden the air suddenly seemed to collapse upon her.
Yugito gasped as she suddenly sailed through the air and landed on the ground, which caused her to cough harshly as her previous wounds throbbed from pain. Yugito barely managed to open her eyes and see past her pain as red chakra shot to her and wrapped her in a cocoon. Yugito's pupils contracted to mere pinpoints as she screamed and quickly passed out from the pain of her wounds as they closed. The final thought in her head was one of pleasure as she managed a small smile from the thought that her former partner had kept his promise, he had arrived in only a day and a half.
Naruto grimaced as he heard Yugito's scream but she would have died had he not acted in this manner. He immediately removed Kyuubi's chakra from her when he noticed the seal, which had kept her own tenant's chakra from doing what he had just started, break and let Nibi get to work.
Naruto's eyes flashed over to the two Akatsuki cloaked members, unfortunately, he had little information about these two members aside from the fact that many called them the Immortals. The very thought of what they could do to incur such a terrifying name, especially when Shinobi considered no one undefeatable, sent a shiver through Naruto as he looked into the calculating green eyes and the slightly psychotic purple eyes.
Naruto moved quickly, as he knew that the two Akatsuki members would not react well to what he was about to attempt. With a flash of smoke, one of his clones appeared and grabbed the unconscious Nibi container. Naruto felt more than saw the way the green eyed man moved and spikes of black threads seemed to appear from out of nowhere, and speared his clone as quickly as it appeared. A puff of smoke signaled the end of his clone's life and he winced when he remembered the way that thread had felt even as they disappeared back into the same man's cloak. "I won't allow you to take my prize," came the man's deep voice.
Naruto kissed his teeth as he smirked, his hands flashed once more and two clones appeared this time, one grabbed hold of Yugito once more as the other blocked the single thread which speared towards his fellow clone. Naruto sighed lightly when he felt his clone's chakra waver and then disappear into the same forest that he had just leaped and surprised his opponents from.
"Fucking shit Kakuzu! How could you let him take the container?" came his partner's voice as he hefted the big, three-bladed scythe onto his shoulders.
Kakuzu, the green-eyed man, glared at his partner, "Don't just stand there gaping, Hidan, you could have stopped him." He said gravelly.
Hidan waved his hand unconcernedly, "I don't care about that container, I can't use her as a sacrifice to Jashin-sama," he explained. Hidan's eyes narrowed on the three tailed Jinchuuriki in front of them, however, "But, I can cause him as much glorious pain as I want," he said with an almost insane look in his eyes and smiled maniacally as he pointed at Naruto.
Kakuzu considered this for a moment before he nodded, "Just keep him alive, Leader would be upset if we had to delay our plans."
Hidan scoffed, "I'll kill him and Leader if I want to!" he exclaimed as he waved at Naruto, "Jashin-sama will enjoy those offerings." Kakuzu just sighed before he went to leap into the forest to follow Naruto's fleeing clone. Naruto reacted quickly; his hands formed the same signal he had just used but both Akatsuki members blinked in surprise when Naruto's chakra cloak dissipated as soon as the puff of smoke appeared next to him.
With a satisfied smirk on his face, the clone Naruto had summoned appeared, and the two Akatsuki members felt a shiver run down their backs as they beheld the crimson slitted gaze of the greatest of the Bijuu. While the Bijuu wasn't in it's normal fox shape, as it had taken on an identical look to its container's, with the distinct difference of their eyes, the oppressive feeling of its chakra still lingered in the air, which emanated from the red-eyed clone.
The red-eyed clone stretched and gave out a satisfied groan as he rolled his shoulders and bounced on his feet, "Finally!" he exclaimed with a bloodthirsty grin, "I get to play."
Naruto seemed to tense, "Keep to the plan." He muttered but the red-eyed clone merely smirked.
"Don't try to control me," he said with a small glare at his twin, "That stupid ningen won't stand a chance against me. Just get your guy before I finish with my food or he will turn into my snack." It was just as he finished speaking that he disappeared in a burst of speed which caused Kakuzu to jump back from the crater which suddenly appeared where he had been standing. The red-eyed clone smirked before he leaped from the crater, and followed the dodging Kakuzu away from the battlefield.
Hidan smiled widely as he looked at Naruto with crazed eyes, "That leaves just you and me!" he said happily.
Naruto frowned lightly as he looked upon his opponent. Naruto wouldn't admit it but he was rather tired from the rush they had made to catch up to Gaara and then the way he had pushed himself to get here with as little sleep as possible, Naruto was beginning to feel the drag of his tiredness. Of course, on top of this was that he had exhausted his usage of Kyuubi's damaging chakra. He could handle much more of its chakra in single doses but having run with three tails for almost two full days ensured that he would begin to suffer repercussions if he drew upon anymore of its chakra. As if to make matters worse, he knew nothing of this man's attack style and he had to go into this fight blind, not something he was fond of.
Naruto took a moment to examine his opponent, and noted the large three-bladed scythe in his hand with a cocked head. That type of weapon was meant for wide, slow attacks that would probably harm its target, not kill him unless it was a very slow opponent. On top of that, the man's whole body reeked of chakra to his sensor. Instead of chakra circulating, the chakra inside of him seemed to simply occupy his entire being, as if he had so much chakra that his circuit couldn't hold it, which probably meant the man had horrible chakra control. As a result, Naruto concluded that this man must be a close range fighter that relied upon his large weapon to wear his opponents down, but he probably had something special to him because he was an Akatsuki member.
Naruto was tore from his thoughts as the man suddenly swung his arm, which sent his large scythe flying at Naruto. Naruto's eyes narrowed as he quickly dodged the man's attack. Rocks flew as the scythe landed in the ground and Hidan's smirk grew as he pulled his scythe back to himself from some sort of cable that attached to him.
"You will make a glorious ceremonial offering!" Hidan said as he dashed forward, and grabbed his weapon as he passed it to close the distance between the two shinobi. "You who know the sufferings of other men!" he bellowed as he whipped his scythe around faster than Naruto thought possible.
Naruto backpedaled quickly, as he attempted to avoid the deadly scythe. "This is bad, I can't attack him with taijutsu because he has a much longer range than me." Naruto thought to himself as his eyes tracked the scythe, "I don't know how ninjutsu will work since he must have a defense against it and I'm not sure what his angle is with this weapon, I need to get him angry to make him sloppy." His course of action decided, Naruto put it into play.
"What's wrong Hidan?" he asked with a teasing tone of voice, "don't you want to make me into an offering?"
Hidan's smile lessened as he looked at Naruto's mocking eyes. His tone of voice certainly didn't lessen the man's irritation at Naruto's words. Hidan charged once again, and swung his scythe with more strength than before. Naruto dodged seamlessly, though Hidan did note Naruto had slowed since he had entered the road they were fighting upon.
This piece of information brought the smile back to his face as he took more swings at his opponent, each an attempt to put a scratch on the annoying blonde's face.
Naruto noticed Hidan had noticed his slight slowing and cursed as the man attacked with renewed ferocity; a smile covered his face as Naruto began dodging his attacks. Naruto ducked under the man's side swing and danced back as the cable attempted to wrap around his bent torso. He grit his teeth as the cable scrapped his arm, which left a very bad brush burn that Naruto blinked at. The cable was much harsher on his skin than he thought it would have been. Naruto ran through a few quick hand signs and breathed deeply as he spoke, "Fuuton: Kamaitachi!"
Hidan's eyes widened then narrowed as his scythe came up to block the deadly razor blades of wind that Naruto had conjured with his chakra. Naruto smiled when the man didn't block most of his blades and blood splattered to the ground from his many wounds. None of the blades had sliced completely through the man's body but many of them were deep lacerations that would bleed out quickly. Naruto remained on guard even as he watched the blood pour from his enemy's body; he knew this man wouldn't be defeated by such a simple tactic, especially if he was S-ranked.
While Naruto was still on guard, the fact that Hidan simply straightened up from the attack as if it hadn't done anything to him did catch him by surprise. "Ouch, Dammit that hurts!" he exclaimed as he looked at Naruto. He then looked down at the big gashes on his body and grimaced, "That stings!" he exclaimed once again as his foot began moving in a circle around him, smearing the blood which dropped from his body around him in a circle. "You will face the judgement of god!" he said as he finished moving his feet. Naruto observed the circle under him with an intense stare before he locked eyes with his opponent.
"So," he started nonchalantly, "is this Jashin-sama your god or your master in bed?" he asked with a cheeky smile. The twitch which appeared on Hidan's brow showed that what Naruto wanted was working.
"How dare you blaspheme Jashin-sama like that!" he screamed as he charged Naruto once again, which made him leave the circle behind. Naruto made sure to note where the circle was as he dodged his opponent's frenzied strikes once more, and paid close attention to the scythe in case there was some hidden function of the weapon as he went back on the attack.
"He's your master then." Naruto stated calmly as Hidan's eyes widened, "I suppose he is looking for others to satisfy him." He said and Hidan's swings got even more ferocious, which caused Naruto to concentrate on dodging for a few moments before he could continue.
"Don't." Hidan swung, "Talk. About." He swung again between each words; "Jashin-sama. Like. THAT!" he yelled at the end, which sent his huge scythe spiraling into the ground.
Naruto smirked, "After all, that scythe is definitely trying to compensate for something." He commented with a shrug.
Hidan's scream of rage brought Naruto's surprise, and his first mistake of the fight as the three-bladed scythe sliced through his stomach, tearing a nice scratch through from his back to his front, which caused an impressive wave of blood to flow from his body but Naruto breathed in slight relief when he realized that the scythe had missed any major organs by some luck.
"That's it!" Hidan screamed as he ran back towards the circle, and licked the blood off the scythe's edge, as Naruto held his side to decrease the blood he was losing. "I'm tired of everyone making that damn joke, it's not funny!" he exclaimed with insanity in his eyes, "The ritual is complete and now we can experience the utmost of pain together!" he screamed as his skin turned an ashy grey and what seemed to be outlines of bones appeared in black across his body.
Naruto's senses alerted him to something being wrong just as Hidan reached into his robe and withdrew a black spear. Naruto moved quickly, as he hoped to delay whatever Hidan was going to do. Unfortunately, Hidan noticed this and smirked as he took that spear and speared his own right leg. Naruto blinked in surprise before he suddenly collapsed onto his right side, his right leg crumpled as if it couldn't hold his weight any longer. Naruto blinked through the pain and looked at his leg, while he kept an eye on his opponent. His eyes widened when he noticed a circular patch on his legs that was quickly becoming soaked in blood from a wound that hadn't been there before. "Gehahah! Hurts doesn't it!" Hidan cackled as Naruto's eyes narrowed in on the black spear which was speared through Hidan's own leg, the connection was made quickly.
"You hurt me through yourself." Naruto muttered and Hidan nodded happily.
"This doesn't hurt as much as your vitals but those will come soon enough!" he exclaimed proudly, "The pain of a body when it dies, it permeates through my body and turns from pain to decadence!" he exclaimed as he began to laugh hysterically.
"Damn this guy is insane and I don't know how I can actually get to him before he kills me." Naruto thought to himself. Luckily for him, it was just as he thought this that Hidan's eyes widened as he was suddenly thrown from the circle by a red-eyed Naruto. Naruto's eyes widened as he looked at the Kyuubified clone in front of him. The red-eyed clone opened its mouth and destroyed the circle of blood with a single blast of chakra from its mouth. Naruto blinked as the red-eyed clone then grabbed him and began to run from the area with a speed even Naruto couldn't match.
"What happened?" Naruto asked quietly.
The red-eyed clone scoffed, "Three tails isn't enough to kill such an opponent six times, and you are already tired from your run. This situation is no longer advantageous, and I won't have you dying before you can complete our pact," he said and Naruto frowned as the clone quickly followed his previous clone's path out of danger.
A/N: There you have it. Next time will be a very interesting chapter and one I think may discourage some of you, I really wonder how you will react. I haven't finished pulling out of my bag of tricks so let's see what else comes through.
That being said, I also know that, in canon, these two are called the Zombie Brothers and not the Immortals. I changed it to suit my tastes, the effect remains the same, they both cannot die by conventional means, it seems.