After 16 months, eh? Thoughts and messages at the end of the chapter. It's been a long, long time. Catch up if you have to. This ride's not ending abruptly.
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN NARUTO OR ASSASSIN'S CREED.
Kakashi, you weakling, don't you get it now?
Drip.
Drip.
Drip.
You're in Hell.
Hatake Kakashi struggled to force the thought out of his mind.
- Level Up -
Descent
Divine
Draped in veils of
Dark and light.
Dusk is but a herald for a
Dawn, quiet and glorious.
Delving,
Dancing past what
Despair will never kiss.
Drowning every other sound.
Draped in veils of
Days yet arrived.
Divine.
Descent.
Sometimes the only way to ascend was to descend first.
Kakashi knew.
A kunai dangled on his fingertips, steady palm swaying in tandem with the dancing weapon, even as he jogged. Naruto, along with Sarutobi Asuma were the rear-guard, and could afford the loss of speed. The Temple of Fire was long since left behind.
"What d'you think is in the package, Asuma-sensei?"
A medium-sized package lay slung across the blonde's chest like a satchel, held in place by a strap Asuma had produced. Just as they'd been ready to depart from the Temple Of Fire, the new head-priest, Chiriku had pressed the package into his hands with a slight smile and an orotund voice.
"And know always that you will find the sanctum welcoming you, as long as Hatred has no place in you."
"I have a fairly good idea, kid, and if it is what it is, it means a lot more than you can probably imagine." Asuma cast a sidelong glance at Naruto before looking back up and concentrating on the clump of trees looming up ahead.
"Half an hour!" It was nearing half past four in the very wee hours of dawn when Edward's voice cut through the murmurs, eliciting several relieved and tired cries. This had been a long, tortuous mission, and the fact that it would come to an end soon brought nothing but waves of relief to the genin.
Ino shot a furtive glance back at the pair of them. The shock had washed away quickly. Naruto had fought like a controlled madman, and killed with warmth. In a way, for all of them it was desensitization. There was no peace, no middle-ground. It was a mission which could only have ended with the sought traitor's death. It was strange that that reality had never struck her, or most of them when they'd started the mission…
There was no peace.
No middle ground.
"We're here," Kakashi said quietly, though it didn't need stating. The gates at Konohagakure loomed large, a lone light shining through a room at the bottom left. Kakashi signaled for the group to stop, and they did, finally breaking formation with murmurs as they huddled. A man stepped out of the room, cast a glance at Kakashi and a particularly nasty one at Edward before nodding soundlessly.
"I'll be making my report to the Hokage now, along with Asuma and Edward." Kakashi was looking at the group while Asuma groaned, presumably at the thought of not god-damn hitting the sack instead at five in the morning. "The six of you may head home now. You'll be given a post mission brief with your respective teams tomorrow. Grab some rest till then. That's all."
'That's so quintessentially sensei.' Naruto hid a smile. That was it. No 'you guys did your best,' or anything. Just onto the next.
Kakashi's shortness didn't seem to stymie Edward, however. The Assassin walked over to Sasuke, giving the boy's shoulder a shake. "You did well, lad." There was a funny tone of bravado in Edward Kenway's voice. "And you, lass." Sakura smiled back at the show of formality. Edward meanwhile turned to Naruto, "And-"
"Yeah yeah, you can save it, I'm coming along with you guys for the report."
His retort drew surprised glances from nearly everyone. "Don't worry, kid, you'll get your payment tomorrow for sure, you don't need to-"
But the blonde cut Asuma short, wearing a small smile. "Gosh, it's not about the payment, y'know. I want to be a part of the report."
"Me too."
Two voices spoke in unison. One was, predictably, Uchiha Sasuke, while the second voice was the cause of another surprise. Yamanaka Ino looked firmly at Kakashi, who nodded nonchalantly before turning to walk.
Shikamaru grunted. "There's a limit for me, this entire escapade's been a nuisance. I'm off." Choji followed, leaving Sakura stealing looks at Sasuke and Ino, torn between her body simply aching for rest and the thought of Sasuke and Ino sharing a romantic stroll as the sun would-
"Sakura-chan. You should head home, y'know. You really, really need the rest. Don't worry, We'll tell you everything tomorrow!" Naruto's words seemed to break Sakura out of her thought-process. She gave the blonde a surprisingly warm smile. "Thank you, Naruto. I'll see you tomorrow, then."
With that, the truncated party padded off towards the Hokage's building amidst the silence of the dawn. Yet, for Sakura, it was only just as her head was touching her pillow and her eyes were fluttering shut did the thought that she'd never said goodbye to Sasuke-kun strike.
Uzumaki Naruto breathed deeply, exhaling with a sound. Sunlight was traipsing about rather unabashedly through the curtains and across his face as he lay on the bed. He squinted, sitting up quickly, waiting for that gentle ache in his eyes to recede. The clock across his room said half-past ten, which meant he had a solid half a day before the team meeting scheduled generously at half-past five in the evening.
Completing his morning ablutions at a consciously slow pace, he walked into the hall. Everything was just as they were before he'd left. The mattress he'd got for Connor stood neat and folded in the corner, the pillows resting on top. Naruto smiled happily. It just felt…it'd felt good when he'd trudged back home after the report, to open his door and be greeted by someone. If the Kenway grandson had been curious about the mission, he didn't show it at all. He'd smiled silently, fixing him a glass of warm milk and standing by him in the cool breeze in the balcony before letting him get the rest he needed.
It was a small, indescribable thing, coming back home to someone when you were at the very end of your mental tether; it meant the world.
He put on his grey tee and dark pants before flopping down on the couch lazily. As his eyes focused on the wooden board he'd got for himself, the smile across his lips softened.
He delivered a thundering kick to the boy bent low, sending him crashing to the ground. With reckless fury, Naruto followed up by grabbing the boy's head by his long hair and slamming it into the ground.
Shiva…
It was surprising. He knew that reminders that he'd murdered a boy would graze him now and then, yet the thought didn't come roaring out at him, clawing at him just like any usual abrasive thought would for him. It was dulled, ameliorated by a calm sense of focus. He leapt up towards the board, grabbing the sheaf of papers and pins lying nearby.
'BUILD'
'Dual Wield'
The topmost paper that he'd pinned long back had his scrawl inked across it. He stared hard at it, before reaching for the quill, inking it and writing underneath the same sheet in small letters.
Edward Kenway.
Towards the left of the central Konoha-ssasin symbol lay pinned the next sheet.
'Ninjutsu'
'Affinity –'
He scrawled Hatake Kakashi underneath 'affinity', before pausing, leaning last sheet was pinned underneath the symbol.
'Genjutsu'
He wrote Yuhi Kurenai neatly.
He stepped back, looking at the now slightly more populated sheets. 'Not populated enough, though. Not…even close.'
The grin was now back on. He clearly knew what he needed to do. He needed to figure out his chakra affinity. His control was coming along, he knew that. He'd used chakra in various ways in his short, brutal fight with Fuu, and he;d been able to focus it through a kunai to break Shiva's Wind Prison.
At the same time, if he was serious about melee combat with swords, it was now or never. He'd made a few strides there, but if he was going to work on it, he needed to take a call, and seriously use Edward.
And last, he needed another piece to his build's puzzle. Any piece, for he didn't know if Genjutsu was actually viable or not. Anko'd told him that huge chakra pools and impeccable chakra control were basically the proverbial rock and scissors against each other, and Genjutsu did need perfect control. Still, it shouldn't stop him from having a talk with Kurenai-sensei, not to mention it was a chance to actually talk to her, her being so high-up and pretty and everything.
He shook his head, pulling back the spiky hair spilling onto his forehead. He took a second to make sure the door was locked before bounding out most recklessly through the balcony. Even as his feet met the rooftops, Uzumaki Naruto wore his trademark smile.
He was back, and he knew what to god-damn do. It was time to level up.
"What in the name of Lord Jashin's saggy fuckin' ballsack have you been putting your dick into?"
Akasuna no Sasori didn't even spare the egregious greeting an acknowledgement as he thumped across the halls of the Akatsuki hideout late in the morning.
Hidan trailed up next to him curiously, before stopping dead in his tracks. The puppet master had stopped in front of Uchiha Itachi, and for the first time, the metallic tail was swaying with an untold vitriol at someone in the hideout.
"You." Sasori's muffled voice spoke from within the puppet. The tail's swaying slowed down, yet inched closer to the tall Uchiha. Itachi stood still, looking down at the hunched puppet.
"Traitor."
The room became unnaturally quiet. Konan, standing in the corner, had narrowed her eyes. Hidan looked from Itachi to Sasori with a surprisingly thoughtful look.
"What're you talking about?" Itachi's voice was the same steel-cold sangfroid. "Did your mission not go as planned, Akasuna no Sasori?"
Sasori's tail became still, poised above Itachi's forehead. "Ah, you'd like to know, wouldn't you…? Nukenin of Konohagakure." The last sentence was whispered, an unspoken declaration of hatred that emanated before the tail went crashing down on Uchiha Itachi's forehead with a massive force, slicing clean through his head.
Sasori withdrew his tail calmly. There was no blood. Itachi's voice came from behind him. "So Orochimaru was the one."
The room suddenly became imperceptibly brighter. Sasori grunted.
"Hmph, you're losing your touch, young one. The room was slightly brighter than it should've been in your Genjutsu."
Itachi spared him a smile. "As expected of Master Sasori. But I take it Orochimaru's defected?"
Sasori stumped off wordlessly towards Pain's office, giving Itachi the time to process the pre-calculated turn of events and Hidan the time to remark "That was some silent-ass communication. Are you two fucking? And where's Blondie?"
"Sssssss, it's time to wake, Blondie."
Deidara groaned in immense pain, his hand twitching as something wet seemed to slide across the tongue of his morphed palm. He came to, screwing his tightly against the oppressive white light that seemed to shine above him. There was a sudden, inexorable rush of pain and memories all colliding. His lips curled upwards and it took every iota of strength to open his eyes.
"Ah, our guest has come to, Hokage-sama."
'Hokage-sama?'
"Welcome, welcome, Deidara-kunnn. We're at Konoha's interrogation chamber's basement. Do you recognize me?"
A glob of bile rose to Deidara's throat, every single emotion in his mind now playing second fiddle to only one thing; as his eyes focused on a deathly pale, reptilian form clad in Konohagakure's Jonin vest, the bile leaked out of his lips. Spluttering and choking, Deidara finally regained complete consciousness, strapped naked to a bed with Orochimaru peering over him.
He screamed.
End.
To put it in Naruto's words, I'm back, and I know what to god-damn do. It's time to level up.
Almost a year-and-a-half since my last update. So much has changed around me, yet it feels undeniably good to be writing The Hostage Return Plan again. It was a short chapter, but I wanted to intentionally have it be so because I'm writing this after a long time and need a little more time to settle into the flow and feel before putting out an 8k-word chapter.
I have no idea if any of my old readers are still around at all. Every time I got a new follow, a new favorite for this story, it reminded me of the fact that I was neglecting it. So I recently ended up reading the entire thing top to bottom, and I'm genuinely mind-blown at some points. There were some HORRID patches of writing, especially early on, what the fuck. I'd love to be able to do a nice overhaul, tighten up plot-points, and remove cringe-worthy dialogue and everything.
But for now I'm back, armed with better vocab and more importantly, inspiration.
It's been more than 5 years since the story first began. If at all, you're here having read every single previous chapter, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Here's to hoping you'll stay until the end, whenever that is. Leave a review by.
I shall see you very soon!
It's time for some Assassin-infused Chuunin exam madness, methinks.