Disclaimer: Naruto is a Japanese manga created by Masashi Kishimoto. All characters in this story are copyrights of Masashi Kishimoto, Shonen Jump, Studio Pierrot and Viz Entertainment.
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The Lazy Uchiha
By Bud
Chapter 34: When it Rains...
The days of the Todoroki Shrine Offering Ceremonial race came. The port of Degarashi was in a huge bustle as people around the Country of Tea flocked into the city for the start of the race. Shops, restaurants and Inns were stressed due to the influx of spectators and tourist, turning a much favorable profit all thanks to the event. It was a more special event for the Degarashi Port since the arrival of the Tea Country's feudal lord who will over-see the race between the Wasabi Family and Wagarashi Family; their competition for control of the city.
The sun was slowly rising over the horizon while Naruto stood near Idate, a perpetual frown on his normal excited visage. Again he was stuck with guarding the traitor, his turn having came up after Sasuke. He really didn't like it the first time, arguing over who is better: Hokage or a family boss? Of course he was trying to explain why the Hokage was the greatest and why he pursued to make his dream become reality, only, the guy just could not get it through his head. Maybe that was the reason he became a missing ninja, Naruto thought, he was too dumb to realize the Hokage is the greatest!
While the loud ninja openly guarded their target, Sasuke and Sakura disguised themselves as locals to blend and mingle with the crowds. Their job was to observe and identify any possible threat to Idate, and if they had the chance, intercept those hostiles and eliminate. Sasuke spotted something suspicious while mingling in the Wagarashi favored crowds.
"Sakura." The younger Uchiha spoke in barely a whisper. The throat microphone strapped to his neck picked up the vibrations of his voice box and amplified it to transmit to his teammate. "Possible suspect. Male. Long green hair. Bandanna. Fruity looking scarf."
"I see him," came the reply. "Three others near that suspect. Eye patch, glasses and short hair with glasses."
"See them. Are you picking this up, Naruto?"
"Yeah."
Sakura spoke up. "Think we can deal with them now?" She could sense the frown on the Uchiha's face.
"No. Wait until they make a move." He snickered. "Who do these guys think they are fooling? Three Genin shinobi and one Chuunin from how they implement stealth techniques."
"Doesn't seem like missing-nin, huh?"
Sasuke moved to a better position to observe the four suspects. "Looks like they are not your regular run of the mill missing-nin. I wonder which village they fall under."
"We'll find out soon enough," said Naruto. "The race is about to start."
-----
YAWN!
"..mm...good morning," Itachi said in a drowsy tone as he stood next to Boss Jirocho. Anyone could clearly tell he clearly did not get enough sleep during the night. He looked as if a simple feather could knock him down and he'll keel over. He tried to blink the sleep out of his baggy eyes when he looked at the Wasabi family head. "I sent a courier bird to Konoha with a request for more information on your subordinate and his crimes. I should receive a reply later in the day."
"Thank you for your extra effort, Itachi-kun." The boss patted his back, nearly bowling the young Jounin over. He let out a deep sigh. "A good day this will be, young man. Idate will do the Wasabi family and the city denizens proud by winning this race. The Wagarashi family reign will end today." He paused, eying the Jounin's condition. "Are you feeling well? You look exhausted. Will you be able to work?" Itachi waved him off, yawning into his hand.
"...they can handle this by themselves." He looked around. "They most likely have identified the enemy ninja and are planning counter-measures against them."
"The Wagarashi ninjas are here? Now?"
He nodded. "Yes. They have been since the crowds began to gather. I cannot say where since openly identifying them would ruin my team's hard work." He stretched himself own, stifling another yawn. "Have faith in my team. They can operate just as well with or without my supervision."
-----
"Hey! Where are you going!" Naruto shouted after Idate as the missing-nin took off running away from the port instead of toward one of the awaiting boats.
Sakura and Sasuke followed the pair carefully, keeping distance and using the foliage as cover to remain undetected by Idate and their undercover enemy.
"Just as I expected," Sasuke said over the radio. "He's using an alternate route other than the designated route that the Wagarashi runner is taking."
"What do you mean?" Sakura asked.
"When you were guarding the traitor, I started asking around about random things. I spoke with one of the fishermen and he said something about seasonal winds preventing fishing in the south around this time. Did you notice the way the clouds were moving?"
"Sort of."
"The winds are moving toward the west, meaning taking a boat ride out of the port would of put him in situation that would force a course correction to the south." He continued. "By taking a northern route, he would be able to take advantage of the offshore flow and the northern current that would increase his speed across the ocean toward Nagi Island."
"Wow, Sasuke-kun. You're so smart!"
"Che." Damn it, I'm turning her into a fan girl. I better lay low, again.
"We're being stalked." It was a fact, not an observation made by the blonde shinobi. "To my left, hidden somewhere in the trees." He paused. "This moron doesn't even realize that he's caught in genjutsu. Damn it, and he even participated in the Chuunin Exams! He sucks!" Obviously Naruto was referring to the traitor.
Sasuke and Sakura nodded to each other. Upon simultaneously landing on a branch, they split into different directions, bounding quickly from tree to tree to put a huge gap between the two of them. Sakura, being the slowest in speed of all three members of Team 7, circled around toward Naruto's right side, following the runner and open body guard closer than before. Sasuke broke left, circling wide and far to perform a little reconnaissance of the enemy strength. If possible, he wanted to get a confirmed ID of what the enemy strength was.
"Doesn't this guy know he's running up a cliff?" Sakura asked as she followed. She was running along the flat wall of the cliff directly under Naruto and Idate. The pink-haired kunoichi was beginning to wonder, just like Naruto, how the guy got into the Chuunin Exams with his level of genjutsu know-how. "He's coming up to the edge," she warned.
Naruto was ready to pull out his hair. "I know! You tell him that!"
She narrowed her eyes. "Whoever is performing this genjutsu just put up a second layer."
"I know!" the blonde shot back in frustration. "Tell HIM that! He's-- Hey! WAIT!"
"Damn it!"
Concentrating a thick layer of chakra to her feet and hands, Sakura dashed forward, grabbing the upcoming corner of the sheer cliff to swing herself around. Releasing her hold in mid-cornering, she twisted, kicking her legs out like a mule to immediately lock her feet against the weather-beaten sheer cliff face. Her hands lashed out, feeling contact and instinctively grabbing hold. With Naruto's ankles firmly in her grasp, she side-stepped along the cliff face, using Idate's weight and Naruto's downward momentum to swing the pair up from what would of been a falling death. Naruto, with Idate's belt secured in one hand, shot out a kunai tied to a wire. It's aim was true, wrapping around a high tree branch looking over the mountain pathway previously hidden by genjutsu. The pair swung forward, Naruto harshly depositing Idate on the rocky ground while he impacted the cliff wall with a loud exhale of breath.
"What's going on?" Sasuke asked over the radio.
Sakura breathed in and out carefully after that maneuver. "The... moron almost fell off a cliff. Tried to.. cancel a genjutsu but didn't notice it was double layered." She took in a deep breath. "Did you find them?"
"Yeah, but he got away before I could intercept." He paused. "Looks familiar. Remember that guy we beat up during the second exam? The one that tried to impersonate Naruto?"
"That rain shinobi?" She clearly remembered how the two boys beat him up and made him a laughing stock of any that came across his naked body. She made a face of disgust. "Unfortunately..."
"He has friends."
"I see."
Sasuke paused again. "Naruto. Are you okay?"
The blonde made a painful groan, more for the headache that was coming over with dealing with Idate than hitting solid rock. "Let me kill him, please!"
-----
Idate groaned as he picked himself up, dusting off his clothes and stretching to relieve some of the pain her earned from the ground. He snickered, a sour expression on his face. "That was uncalled for."
"You can't even say thank you to the people who saved you!" snapped the blonde genin.
"You saved me because it's your mission." Idate shot back. "There's no need for me to thank you!"
"That's besides the point! You're dumb ass couldn't see that you had a double layered genjutsu being used on you. Even I knew you were heading up a cliff, not running circles in a forest!"
"Then why didn't you cancel it yourself, huh!"
Naruto shrugged. "Well... I was giving you the benefit of the doubt, being a Konoha Shinobi and all." He pointed at Idate accusingly. "Now I know you just plain suck! Getting into the Chuunin Exams must of been a fluke! You suck at being a ninja!"
"Being a ninja is pointless!" Idate shouted. "I don't need to be a ninja!"
"You don't need to be a ninja because you suck at it!"
"Grrr...!"
Naruto started jumping up and down, making taunting faces at him. "You suck! You suck! You suck!" he said in a sing-song tone. "Believe it!"
"Would you two shut the hell up!" Sakura growled, stepping over the edge of the cliff onto the pathway both young men stood on. "And he's right, you do suck. Now shut up before I give you a knuckle sandwich, newbie!"
"NEWBIE!"
Sasuke appeared, landing on a tree branch hanging over the pathway. He looked a little confused at the situation. "What's going on here? What happened to the newbie?"
"NEWBIE!"
Sasuke ignored him. "Anyway, we're dealing with Rain ninja. One of them is a guy we dealt with during the second part of the Chuunin Exams." He frowned. "That guy was probably acting on his own like last time. But unlike last time, he has back-up and is more than likely going to use it. Their specialty is genjutsu, so be on your toes." He looked at Idate. "Which way are you heading? The more you stand around, the more time is wasted."
Idate frowned, turning toward the pathway. "Follow me."
-----
"Fifteen men on a dead man's ship. Yo, ho, ho and a bottle of rum!" sang a deep emphasized voice.
Naruto gave Sasuke a weird look. "What the hell was that?" The younger Uchiha shrugged.
"Something a guy sang in the last Princess Fuun movie."
"Geez, and people say I'm weird." he grumbled while tying down the sail. The blonde genin whirled on Idate. "HEY! Why don't you do some of the work!"
Earlier, they had arrived at a small house just several meters distance from the water where they picked up a boat from a fisherman. This was all in Idate's plan to gain much needed head start over the Wagarashi family runner, who decided to take the direct route from Degarashi Port to Nagi Island. The three shinobi and Wasabi runner mounted the boat and set sail toward the island. The wind had a light breeze that filled the sails and almost instantly, thanks to the northern current of the sea, the boat quickly picked up speed while underway. Idate stood at the front of the boat, staring dead ahead on their path.
"Let's leave the traitor alone for a while, Naruto," said Sakura, emphasizing the word she used to describe Idate. She took personal pleasure on seeing him wince at his description. "We're being tailed again."
Sasuke, at the rear of the boat steering the ship, didn't have to look over his shoulder to confirm her observation. "Yeah and it looks like it's all three of them."
A bolt landed in the middle of their boat.
"Yeah, they're right on time too," he added. He clicked his tongue, shaking his head. "We're in a little trouble here. They're Rain shinobi, so their techniques are mostly Suiton-based techniques. We happen to be right in the middle of their territory, too."
-----
"Hmph, caught up with them." said the distorted voice of Oboro, one of the Rain ninja genin. "Time to get revenge on how they humiliated me during the Chuunin Exams." Like his three teammates, he wore an off-white body suit, water breathers and a mask the covered his eyes, hiding most of his features. Both of his eyes were visible, though.
"Because of that, we became the laughing stock of all Konoha Chuunin proctors," growled Mubi, the rain genin that showed only his left eye through the mask.
"And of our village!" snapped Kagari, the rain genin that had nearly all his facial features masked by a bandanna and cloth.
"Shall be begin the plan?"
"Let's."
Mubi held up a special design of crossbow. Unlike normal crossbow, this model fire multiple bolts instead of one. Loading a quartet of bolts, he took aim and fired at the boat ahead.
-----
Sasuke whistled. "Wow. He's using a crossbow." He shook his head, using a large kunai to cut down a few bolts that would of greatly annoyed him. "Only useful when the enemy doesn't know your location. They're just wasting their time with that."
Shuriken flew from Sakura's hands, cutting down another quartet of bolts. "We can do this all day. Eventually they'll run out of ammunition."
"Sakura." Sasuke looked at Naruto, nodding to each other in a silent agreement. "You're turn to watch the traitor. We'll handle these guys."
"I'm not a traitor!" Again, ignored.
She pulled out a kunai, holding it in a reverse hand. "Alright."
"Let's go, Sasuke!"
"Right."
The pair of shinobi each jumped off the side of the boat. Idate watched them, expecting to see a pair of twin splashes. His eyes widened in shock at seeing the blonde and dark haired Konoha shinobi standing of the surface of the sea! His mind was boggled even further when they took off in a sudden burst of speed, running across the water as if they were running across solid ground. Sure he had heard of the water walking technique, yet, he never once seen someone stand or walk on water, let alone run on it!
Naruto and Sasuke charged directly at the enemy boat, dodging the dangerous bolts that were shot their way. They leaped, ducked and flipped, never stopping their forward progression. Naruto was the first to act, reaching into his main pouch he procured a few shuriken, launching the sharp spinning blades with a quick flick of his arms. He added a little twist at the end of his throwing motion, causing the spiraling blades of pain to barrel roll in mid-flight, ruining any possibility for the Rain genin to predict their movements in that short split second. One ducked, the others dove out of the way. Ineffective as it may have seemed, the short distraction caused by Naruto gave his sharp-eyed teammate the tiny window to act and attack.
A flurry of small kunai stabbed along the starboard side of the small wooden vessel causing the three Rain-nin to feel weary of an impending attack from the Uchiha. For a few seconds, nothing happened and the Konoha shinobi never came. Then a shadow loomed over the three genin, causing them to look up with a start. Their eyes were blinded by the eastern sun rising in the partly cloudy sky before they could spot the Uchiha youth hiding within the late morning radiance of the source of daylight. Sasuke had leaped, turning upside down at the apex of his jump. Various kunai and shuriken were held between his fingers and between his teeth, his eyes were closed and his breath calm and controlled. His eyes snapped open when he felt himself begin to fall, his black orbs zeroing onto the blinded Rain genin. His arms whipped out as fast as a striking king cobra, the various throwing weapons being released at certain points in his throws. More followed suit with more strength behind them, impacting against the initial throws causing them to ricochet against one another, drastically changing their path of intent. Small and large kunai, shuriken and various sizes of needles rained down upon the enemy trio. They danced around the boat deck frantically dodging the multitude of throwing weapons for several seconds.
It finally stopped.
Oboro breathed out a sigh of relief. "Ugh... Lucky."
"I highly doubt that." The three genin quickly turned at the voice, almost giving a startled gasp at seeing Uchiha Sasuke sitting in mid-air! "You've been caught in my trap. There's no escape." A sadistic smile formed his visage, causing a chill to run up their spines.
"Hmph!" A kunai flew out of Mubi's hand right at Sasuke. He frowned behind his breather when the Konoha-nin simply leaned his head to the side, his visage never changing.
"Foolish."
"Yep, foolish. Believe it!" said Naruto from the opposite side of Sasuke. Like his teammate, he looked as if he was sitting if mid-air above them! He looked more cheerful than Sasuke, as if he was enjoying a walk in the park with Sakura. The Rain-nin's moved into a defensive position, a movement that made Sasuke thoroughly amused.
"Look, I think they're afraid, Naruto."
"Yep, believe it!"
He brushed his black locks away from his face, giving them the impression of a pretty boy that was full of himself. "It does not matter what they do. I won't attack them, now that I have them cornered. No matter, they cannot escape my trap." He stood up, seemingly floating in mid-air, then back-flipped, landing into standing position on the water watching the boat move ahead. He purposely waved just to annoy them.
"Bye-bye!" Naruto shouted, jumping in mid-air to land on the top of the mast. He too leaped, landing easily on the water next to Sasuke.
"Che," Kagari snickered. "Do they take us for fools? How dare they mock us like that!"
"Let us go after them." Oboro said. He reached forward to grasp the side of the boat, but he gave a shout of pain, pulling his hand back and clutching it to his body. "What in the--!" His eyes widened.
His finger was cut, a small chuck of flesh missing from the tip of his thumb. It was only then he realized what the Uchiha brat meant by trap. He caught a glint of something shining. Looking closer, he saw a barely visible wire. Eyes widening, he saw the network of wire running all over the ship, cutting off all avenues of escape for the Rain. The cut he received, after putting two and two together, came from wire, meaning it was very fine and was made for high tension - a razor wire. If that was the case, how could the Uchiha and the loud blonde kid sit or stand on it?
"Fools," Mubi laughed. "They think this will stop us?" He cut a group of wires, causing many around the ship to slacken. "Hmph!"
PSSHh...
Kagari's eyes widened. "GET OFF THE SHIP!"
"What!"
Sasuke and Naruto watched from the rear of Idate's boat with looks of satisfaction; a job well done. The kunai that Sasuke had thrown had small and large explosive notes wrapped around the handles, each one linked to the wires he had used for his razor wire net. Cutting the wires set off the tags. They watched as the Rain ninja jump off their boat as it exploded in a ball of fire, the force from the blast sending the Rain shinobi flying farther than intended, scattering them apart from each other. Sasuke noted how one of them impacted hard against the ocean surface at a bad angle. His body had to be broken.
"One down," Sasuke noted.
"Two to go." She jumped off the boat, throwing on her owl ANBU mask. "They're mine!"
Idate gasped. "Is she--!"
Her mane of pink hair flew behind her as she sped toward her first target. Sakura reached into her thigh holster, instead of a kunai, she extracted a large ten inch black blade knife from a scabbard. The weapon looked like a short sword in her small hand; a precision sharpened straight edge that curved up into the deadly tip, then curved inward into a second edge leading into a jagged saw-like serrated blade. The knife was uncommon for a ninja tool, something only a street thug or personal body guard would use. Sakura had picked up it in Tanzaku City while the others were recovering under Tsunade's care, a purchase she made on a whim with the extra money she saved from missions. After giving the blade a professional killing edge, she found it very useful when she sliced open the throat of the broken body Rain genin as if his flesh was nothing more than a sheet of plastic wrapping.
She twirled her deadly knife into a reverse hold, cutting across the throat of one of the other ninja only to find a water clone. More clones surfaced from the ocean, attacking her almost simultaneously. Her blade moved quickly, passing by each attacking clone in a flash of metal, cutting down each replica while she danced out of harms way of others. She spotted one of the real shinobi.
Horse. Tiger. "KATON: GOUKAKYUU NO JUTSU" Fire Element: Grand Fireball technique!
She leaped high, taking in a deep breath to exhale a huge fireball that slammed into the shinobi. The flaming ball evaporated the water clone, causing the pink-haired kunoichi to give a startled look. The enemy took advantage of her moment of weakness, breaching the surface of the sea and stabbing a sharp kunai right into her stomach.
POOF!
The one-eyed Rain shinobi gasped at being fooled by the girl, kicking off of the replacement log to dive back down into the water. As he leveled himself to search for the female, he completely missed the shadow that loomed behind him, or the shift in the water when Sakura closed in. He could not even let out a scream of fear when the ANBU masked girl wrapped her left arm around his head and sliced open his neck from throat to his neck vertebrae. The water stained red from the blood that poured out of him. The last rain ninja panicked when she turned from killing his teammate, staring at him like a living piece of meat just ripe for the killing. She swam toward him and he departed quickly, swimming several times faster than she could even achieve.
She killed both of them, that bitch! He thought in mix of panic and anger. I'm next. She's coming after me! I need to get out of here! He looked back, unable to see her. Did I ditch her already? Did she even come after me? He suddenly stopped, his head moving in all directions when his danger sense went off.
What is this? Did she catch up?
A giant shadow approached from his front. The Rain-nin slowly backed off, waving his arms and kicking his feet as the shadow grew larger and larger. His eyes widened in fear and he thrashed wildly to escape what appeared to be piercing yellow eyes. His fears were multiplied exponentially when several rows of razor-like teeth emerged from an open mouth of a six meter long Great White Shark! His breather fell off during his thrashing and he choked on the saline ocean water. Before he could react, the shark closed in, it's gaping maw widening and quickly snapping shut over his head.
He suddenly came to his senses, realizing that he wasn't shark food. In fact, he could find no sign of said giant shark. Eyes rolling to the back of his head, he pedaled and stroked his arms, quickly rising to the surface. His head breached the sea level, coughing and hacking out the water he swallowed and spitting the taste of salt from his mouth. He choked, gagging hard until salt water vomit expelled from his stomach, up his throat and out of his mouth. The Rain-nin coughed several more times before he could regain whatever composer he had. That shark that attacked him was only genjutsu, he realized. He turned around, planning on giving that pink-haired whore some much deserved payback.
Oboro, the Rain-nin, stared in horror. The pink-haired owl masked kunoichi was right behind him, squatting on the water surface with her black blade lazily held in her hand. She did not speak nor make any sound, it did not seem that she even breathed. She remained immobile, staring him right in his eyes, her owl mask giving the impression of one who was patient, one who had all the cards in their hand and knew how, when and where to use them.
She casually flicked her wrist, cutting open his throat from jugular to jugular.
Sakura sighed, dipping her knife into the water to clean the fresh blood from her blade. Sheathing her weapon, she stood and began walking toward the boat in the distance.
-----
"Woah..."
Naruto picked his jaw up off the floor. He couldn't take his eyes off the walking kunoichi. "That was Sakura-chan that did all that, right?"
Sasuke shook himself out of his stupefied expression, scratching the back of his neck with a truly confused look. "Uhh.. I believe so. Why?"
"..." He held up his finger in a pose, as if realizing something very important. "Remind me not to piss her off more than usual."
"Believe it."
"Oi, Sasuke-chan! That's my signature line."
"...shut up."
"Okay..."
Idate sweat-dropped. Were these guys for real?
Sasuke turned back to Naruto, taking control of the rudder. "Three ninja down, one more to go. We'll probably end up fighting him when we near land." He paused. "We'll have to abandon this boat real soon and go by foot."
"We'll leave the boat no matter when we hit land." said Idate. Couldn't the guy realize that they would have to leave the boat anyway?
"He meant now," Naruto clarified. "It'll be much easier for us to protect you if we take a route that the enemy cannot predict." He snickered, Uchiha-like. "The enemy probably thinks we're just a bunch of run of the mill genin. They'll get the surprise of their life when they face off against I, Uzumaki Naruto-sama! Believe it!"
"Believe what?"
"Sakura-chan!" Naruto sudden glomped onto the kunoichi with a Rock Lee-like hug full of youthful energy! "You were awesome! I knew you were great, but that was super great! I'm really proud of you. It's what I'd expect of the girl I admire!"
WHAM!
Sakura gasped for breath. "...couldn't...breathe.." Naruto did squeeze a little too hard, though, Sakura couldn't hide the true reason for the redness of her cheeks from Sasuke. That brought a smirk to his visage.
Hmph. Very slick, Naruto. Pervert.
"Sakura-chan..." Naruto whined, rubbing the lump on his head.
"Sakura. We're abandoning the boat." Sasuke leaped, standing on the main mast, Naruto pulling out a pair of kunai with large explosive tags flagging them. "Are you up for a little cross-country running?" She nodded. "I'll carry the traitor. We have ten seconds."
Idate protested. He was being tired of being called a traitor. "Hey--!" Sasuke cut him off.
"Let's go!"
The missing Konoha-nin suddenly found himself unwillingly riding the Uchiha youth piggy back. They flew through the wind, the carrier dashing across the ocean surface at high speed away from their normal mode of transportation. Sakura and Naruto soon followed, each of them snickering at the predicament Idate was placed in. Who wouldn't be embarrassed and humiliated when being seen carrier piggy back by someone two or three years your junior? Especially when you were in perfect health!
"I'm going to scout ahead!" Naruto exclaimed. He dashed ahead of the encumbered Uchiha. Sasuke called out to him in warning.
"Be careful! We still have to deal with that other guy we saw. He'll be waiting for us for sure!"
"I know!"
-----
Hmm.. It's going to rain, soon.
KAW!
"Hmm..?" Itachi glanced up to the gray sky with drowsy eyes, spotting the source of the annoying bird call. From his position on the out-stretched lounging chair, he extending his arm out to allow the diving courier hawk to make perch. He plucked the tiny scroll from a small pouch on the bird's leg before letting him be on his way. "Thank you, my friend."
As the luxury boat made it's way toward Nagi Island carrying the Wasabi and Wagarashi family heads and the Tea Country feudal lord, Itachi had lounged on one of the deck chairs, basking in what remained of the day's sunlight before the signs of rain ruined his mood. He had never enjoyed such a luxury that coastal citizens called 'sun bathing', so he had decided to try it out now that he had a little free time thanks to his subordinates. Although, no one seemed to inform the super genius that sun bathing took place on hot, sunny day's, not over-cast skies. The appearance of Konoha's ANBU messenger hawk was a slight relief to what little embarrassment he felt for attempting to sun bathe. Unfortunately, he had to go back to work.
How troublesome.
He stretched out the small scroll in front of him, reading the tiny coded print to himself. He frowned at the contents. Morino Idate stole the Nidaime's infamous Raijin, the God of Lightning, and the Scroll of Sealing. According to Morino Ibiki, the squad leader sent to recover the Raijin and it's thief, the Raijin was then in the possession of the traitor Rokushou Aoi and the Hidden Rain. Ibiki was tortured and managed to escape, though his mission was a failure since he only recovered the Sealing Scroll. He had reported that his brother died during a fire caused during his escape. He paused in thought. Hmm... Looks like Ibiki covered up for his little brother. Another thought. Rokushou Aoi?
His bingo book was open and he flipped through the pages quickly, scanning the various profiles for certain names. He stopped mid-way in the section with A-class criminals. Ah ha. Rokushou Aoi. Former Jounin instructor of the Leaf. Conspired to steal Nidaime Raijin and currently has it in possession. Defected to the Hidden Rain. Considered dangerous while in possession of Konoha artifact. See also D-rank criminal Morino Idate.
The book closed as he stood up.
"Jirocho-san." Itachi called out just as the heavy set family boss turned the corner with his entourage. "I will depart to speak with Morino Idate." The man gave a start.
"Did you receive the information requested?" He nodded. "And?"
"Currently, the reports form ANBU are not in the favor of the boy. I will speak with him directly on the subject. His confession will determine his fate." He disappeared, startling the small group, only to reappear standing on the luxury boat's guard rails.
"What if you do not like what he says?" asked Boss Jirocho.
"He will die, of course."
"And the contract? The race?"
"He will die... after the race, of course."
Itachi showed him a neutral expression. "I will extract a confession from him, Jirocho-san. Morino Idate cannot lie to someone such as I. If I find him telling the truth, I just may... forget I ever saw him, if you know what I mean."
He disappeared.
-----
The speed that they moved overwhelmed the missing-nin. Team 7 moved at a pace that Idate could not fathom, nor he could duplicate despite the speed he possessed. How could he? Running at a full sprint on the sea was impossible for someone like him, who was untrained in such a technique. Within an hour, they had reached land were setting a pace that he couldn't keep up with. He was both furious and humiliated. Angry, because they were pushing him along as if it was them running the race, not him. Humiliated, because he just did not have the stamina they possessed. And the former was true. The team were setting a pace to complete the race as earlier as possible. Itachi had trained them to be as fast and efficient as possible without sacrificing patients. However, the more they stayed around Idate, the more they hated the mission, the more they wished to get it over with so they could abandon him somewhere beaten to a pulp or a rotting carcass ready for the vultures and crows to pick at.
"S-slow...down!" Idate gasped! Sasuke grabbed his collar, moving him along the beach.
"Keep going. You'll never make it in time being this slow."
They were running along the northern coast of Nagi Island, planning on circling around the southern side to reach the first check point at Modoroki Shrine before heading to Ouzu Island were the Todoroki Shrine was located. It was a longer route, though the pace the team set for Idate would make him arrive in record time. Taking the pathway along the coast was an tactically flawed move, being out in the open and such, though it saved them the trouble of dealing with booby traps laid by the enemy.
Sasuke's eyes darted up, feeling someone approaching at a rapid pace from the cliffs above them. He made a motion to Sakura, the pink-haired girl fanning out to the right to run along the breaker were the waves crashed against the rocks. Sasuke moved in close to the cliff to keep Idate hidden. He somewhat relaxed when an orange and yellow blur leaped down to the beach.
"Naruto, what's the status?" he called out to the running blonde. "Hey!"
Suddenly, several needles impacted the running blonde, making him scream out in pain. This shocked the black and pink-haired ninja, never expecting an attack to come out of nowhere like that one had. Their only relief came when the injured Naruto turned into a cloud of smoke, disappearing like any other shadow replication. A ninja carrying an umbrella wearing a grey and dark blue sleeveless body suit replaced the shadow clone. He was immediately identified as a Rain ninja.
"Hmph," the shinobi snickered, kicking the dust where Naruto's clone stood. "A shadow clone. Never expected something like that from someone his age." A smirk crossed his face when he spotted the older boy next to what he knew was a Konoha ninja. "Well, well, if it isn't Idate."
The boy narrowed his eyes at the newcomer. It was obvious to Sasuke and Sakura that the two of them had a past. "Rokushou Aoi."
The man identified as Aoi twirled his umbrella against his shoulder. "I thought you ran away. Running away is your specialty, after all."
"Shut up! I'm not like you!"
"No, you're the same type person as I am. A traitor who doesn't believe in people." He narrowed his eyes, a sinister smirk adorning his cold eyes. "You betrayed your own brother and abandoned your village. You're scum who only thinks of himself." The two Konoha ninja looked at Idate, who could only glare at the the Rain-nin. "A guy like you has no right to live."
Sasuke stepped in front of Idate, hands in his pockets. "You must be the Chuunin I felt at Degarashi Port. If you're threatening his life, you're making one grave mistake. I need him alive to get paid and to return to my village. Killing him will only get you in deep trouble, I guarantee that."
Aoi growled. "I'm a Jounin!" Sakura laughed, mockingly.
"Could of fooled me."
He smiled. "A pair of genin are no match for someone like me." He drew his umbrella, holding it as if it was a deadly weapon. Anyone not knowledgeable in the ninja ways would of thought the guy was crazy wielding an umbrella against trained ninja, however, it was well known by Sasuke, possibly the other two, that ninja of the Rain commonly use such items as tools. "I do not even have to go all out. Trash like you are not even worth my time."
"We'll see."
Idate's eyes widened. "We have to get out of here! A bunch of Genin can't beat a Jounin!" A look of amusement appeared on Sasuke's face. He stepped forward, withdrawing his hands from his pockets to reveal several shuriken.
"You really are sorry, traitor." He said, spitting out the last work. "Didn't you ever learn? A team of genin can defeat a Jounin with teamwork. And if you haven't realize, we're not your run of the mill genin." He flashed out of vision.
"KATON: HOUSENKA!" Fire Element: Mythical Fire Phoenix!
A wave of small fire balls erupted from Sasuke's mouth when he appeared behind Rokushou Aoi, quickly converging upon the turn-coat Rain Jounin within a split second. Aoi, being the more experienced of the two, evade with a simple flip, landing in a crouch to his right. His eyes suddenly widened and he dodge again, this time from a huge grand fireball courtesy of the pink-haired kunoichi. Aoi turned in mid-air, clashing with the blonde boy that arrived on scene, one he assumed was the Nine-Tails container, a smirk forming on his lips when he blocked the quick flurry of punches and kicks sent his way before knocking the boy down and away from him. The cloud of smoke appeared upon impact, shocking Aoi, who would never of suspected a genin knowing the shadow replication. Several yells called his attention from above and he looked just in time for a group of Naruto clones and the real Naruto converged upon him.
"U-"
"ZU-"
"MA-"
"KI-"
Four powerful kicks juggled him in mid-air, until a fifth knocked him toward the ground. His only thoughts, What the hell?
"NARUTO RENDAN!"
"Not yet!"
Again, he found himself in the air from a powerful mule kick by the black haired shinobi. He froze, a kick shocking his ribs. A fist bruising his nose. Another coming across his neck, choking off his air supply and knocking him toward the ground. To say that the pain was excruciating was a false statement. The attack hurt, of course, but he was not as weak as other's would believe. Hitting the ground and receiving a gravity assisted kick to the stomach at the same time happened to everyone, right?
"SHI SHI RENDAN!" Lion Combo!
Sasuke grimaced when his foot connected at the last second. The audible release of smoke and the hard crunching sound of a log being destroyed by his kick vibrating up his whole body until he heard it in his ear. He twisted his body when he felt a brief moment of purchase upon the devastated long, his hands lashing out in front of him to palm the umbrella strike just inches from his pissed off and annoyed face. The Rain Jounin was physically stronger than him, but he knew he had the speed advantage. He threw Aoi's momentum to the side, pushing off the bamboo parasol to almost literally blink out of his vision. Chakra pooled in his legs, his feet. He jumped in a kick that figuratively a mile off from hitting the Jounin, yet, he caught a large kunai thrown by his pink-haired teammate, applying the theory behind the tree climbing exercise. Flipping forward, he planted his hands, twisting his body and launching a round house kick that flung the projectile at triple it's original speed! He did this four more times, jumping, twisting and turning to catching each item and hurl it at the Jounin before flipping forward after the last throw to send a volley of triple bladed shuriken.
Aoi, much to his benefit, deflected each kunai thrown, then purposely allowed the shuriken to circle at him. He had heard of such a technique before when he still lived in Konoha, one used by the most famous and infamous ninja in the bingo book. Now he knew. They boy fighting him was an Uchiha, or more precisely, the younger sibling of one Uchiha Itachi. The boy's eyes confirmed it when they changed from black, to red, to black again for a brief moment. At the last moment he jumped, the shuriken flying in every direction to constrict upon his body, only to snare him umbrella. To his credit Aoi escaped, pulling a second umbrella out of the first, smirking at the group of elite genin. The smirk disappeared when he felt the razor sharp edge of a black blade caress his throat. The pink haired girl wearing the ANBU mask was behind him and he could feel her flinch, jerking her arm to slit his throat.
Water gushed from his neck.
Mizu Bunshin! Sakura mentally started, bracing for the oncoming attack after killing a water clone.
"Silly girl. You're not worthy of that mask," Aoi slammed his umbrella down upon her like a hammer, sending the kunoichi crashing upon the ground. He tossed his umbrella into the sky, spinning it like a top.
"Ninpou: Jouro Senbon!" Ninja Magic: Sprinkling Needles!
Needles rained down upon Sakura as she tried to roll away. Several caught her legs, making her grimace in pain as they pierced her. She waited for the others to follow, only to hear the sound of a pained grunt and the brushing of fabric against her ankles. She gasped, looking up and seeing Naruto with a fist full of senbon and his arms like living pin cushions.
"Naruto..."
"...Sakura-chan, are you.. okay?" He coughed. His arms were getting numb. So was her leg.
"My leg is going numb."
"Shit.."
"ARGH!"
Sasuke landed next to them, a trio of senbon sticking out of his right shoulder. The Uchiha youth growled audibly, a scowl marking his anger as he struggled to stand. He only made it to one knee before grunting in pain. What is this? Poison?
Behind them, Idate was unconscious under Sakura, also with needles sticking out of his body. They paid him no attention.
"Those are Hidden Rain's special poisonous needles. You will die in a few minutes no matter how tough you are." He said in an amused tone. A loud roar of cheers erupted to the east, signaling the arrival of the Wagarashi runner. Aoi turned to listen, wincing visible when his ribs, back and chest began to protest from the pain delivered to him by the two boys. He had to admit to himself, they were good for ninja of their level, though they still could not defeat him three on one. "I'll admit, you three are not trash like I said earlier. However, you are still genin and cannot compare to someone such as I."
Sasuke sneered, hate boiling over into his eyes. His Master Sharingan manifested, but with the poison running through his body, he couldn't activate the Mangekyou Sharingan. He desperately wanted to torture this Rokushou Aoi, to enjoy watching suffer through endless torture. If not to satisfy himself, to take vengeance of hurting those that were precious to him.
"Suffer as you die. A nice way for GENIN such as yourself to go."
He leaped away, disappearing within a split second.
"Grrr... I'm going to beat his face in!" Naruto grumbled, starting to pull the needles from Sasuke's body, who performed vice versa. "When I get my hands on him...! Grr!"
"Save you're strength and settle. The more you act up, the faster the poison will take effect." He could only wish he could follow his own advice. That Aoi guy really was a pompous ass and the type of person that easily pissed him off. "Sakura, are you okay?"
She pulled the last needle from her leg. "UGH! I am now." She tossed the senbon for a few seconds before tossing it away. She made a wince when Sasuke applied an antiseptic first aid spray on her wounds, followed by bandages. "Here," she offered the two some pills. "They're an anti-venom from our survival kits designed to fight off a multitude of poisons."
"..." The blonde took one.
"Aa.." Sasuke swallowed the pill quickly, taking another from his teammate to force down Idate's throat. "This guy... he's proving to be a real pain." He punched the ground as rain began to pour down on the team. "I can't believe we got beat by that guy. We're better than that!"
"Hey, hey, we're still alive right now. That's all that matters." Naruto grabbed the unconscious Idate by his clothes, picking him up and carrying in a fire-man's carry. "We'll get back at him again, believe it!"
"Naruto's right, Sasuke-kun." She flipped up to her feet, but stumbled slightly until Sasuke grabbed her arms to steady her. "Thanks. Right now we need to get out of this rain before we all get cold. I doubt we'll be able to do anything about the race until this weakling his conscious."
Sasuke glared at the unconscious Idate. "How did he get beat up without being attacked?"
Little did Sasuke know that Idate was in direct line of fire of his fire balls.
Oops.
-----
So, they had sheltered themselves here.
Itachi stood outside of a cave that new knew held his foolish little brother and equally foolish teammates. He had found their battle site at the beach head, senbon laid scattered everywhere and tell-tale signs of fire element techniques being utilized despite the exposure to the current down pour. They had moved from the site quickly, leaving no evidence of their existence nor a trail for anyone to follow. He had trained them well in hiding their presence while traveling. So good, that only he could of found them, being the one that trained them, that is.
They would only take shelter like this if someone was injured. Could they have faced a difficult opponent?
He walked into the cave, stepping over several trip wires and staying out of the activation zones of several ninpou elemental traps. The warmth of an in-cave fire greeted him, causing him to realize how cold it was outside in the pouring rain. The warmth was a godsend to his shivering body.
"Tough battle?" Itachi said out loud, sitting down in front of the fire between his topless brother and a Naruto minus his orange sweater. Sakura sat across from him, minus her red cheongasm leaving her in a short-legged sleeveless body suit that hugged her slender body.
Sasuke grunted, looking away. Sakura answered. "We fought a Rain Jounin named Rokushou Aoi. We did some major damage to him, though he was able to disable us with some sort of poison." He raised an eyebrow. "We managed to protect the traitor, though." She snorted, sending a subtle glare at the unconscious Idate.
"Rokushou Aoi?"
"Hey, hey, Itachi-sensei. You know that bastard?" Naruto asked.
"Unfortunately, no. However, since that man is involved in this mission, we're now upgrading this to an A-Rank recovery mission." The three genin stiffened at his words. "Are you afraid?"
Matching grins formed of their faces. It was all he needed to know. He looked at the unconscious boy he was ignoring until now. "And him?"
Naruto frowned. "That guy? He got beat up without getting hit by anyone. We used some of the pill thingies for poison in our survival bags, but he doesn't want to get up."
WHAM!
Idate's eyes widened when pain flared up in his back upon hitting the cave wall. He was now wide awake, pain flaring up his back and his legs. In front of him, Itachi stood with a neutral expression, one of boredom that hit his true vision of promised pain.
"Talk."
End of Chapter 34
Author's Notes:
That's done! Now I don't have to worry about anything and take another break while I attend Anime Expo 2006 in Anaheim! Anyone attending AX2006 and happens to see a big asian guy wearing a shirt that says "Lazy Uchiha", say hello.
Again, this one takes place in the Tea Country filler episodes 102 and up. Notice the improvements and differences in reactions now that they have had experience from previous events throughout Naruto. This is where I believe Kishimoto screwed up in the Anime/Manga. Sure they have all gone through tough times as Team 7, yet at most times, they do not learn or keep the knowledge that have gained from previous events/mission. This is most noticeable in the Anime when it comes to team performance and individual strength.
Sakura's Knife. If you have seen Rambo II, it's the same black knife used in the movie. Awesome knife! Also notice Sakura's improvement since Itachi's training and a week of training with Ino. She's better than ever!
Naruto is the ONLY one of the three who hasn't killed anyone, yet.
After I come back from Anime Expo, I'm gonna work on the next chapter.
Next is Chapter 35: Fear the Sphere!