Title: Whirlpool of Love

Beta reader: xxShadowheartxx

Author: TheRoadrunner

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto

Chapter XI – Konoha's bloody mist

"Thought"

"Jutsu"

Naruto watched at the battle royal in front of him with a grim face. The entrance to the Hokage tower was hastily barricaded with items like tables, chairs and cabinets from the inside of the administrative building. The loyal forces did their best to hold their line, forcing the Uchihas and Root ANBU to fight in the open plaza.

"The support on the right flank is beginning to retreat. Good!" Naruto thought happily, and observed the receding shinobi. They let themselves fall back at a slow pace, so that the enemy thought they would be winning ground, and not blindly walking into a trap.

Now, it was his time to end this battle once and for all. The three bags Yugao carried had only enough kunai to cover an area as large as the plaza for one time. Naruto had to distract them for a few seconds, only enough to give Yugao and her helpers the necessary time to cover the area with a volley of his deadly kunai.

"Enough talk, they won't know what hit them."

Naruto jumped from the roof and surprised the remnants of a cut off Uchiha squad from behind. The two Uchiha, one male, one female, were knocked out with a precise hit at their necks. He sprinted towards the plaza's center, where he wanted to execute the distraction. He stopped in his tracks abruptly. A kunai had missed his head by a mere inch and, soon after, the owner of the deadly weapon appeared in front of him. A root ANBU with an unnerving blank mask charged at him, his tipless tantō drawn and ready for use.

The blonde shinobi drew a standard kunai from his pouch and flung it at the approaching elite shinobi. Said elite shinobi noticed the fizzling tag around the kunai's hilt and evaded its trajectory in an instant. Naruto pulled out another kunai and held it up, moving his body into a defensive posture. The upcoming clash of the metallic weapons caused sparks to fly around, though the weapons' owners ignored the fireworks and contested into a staring contest.

"You're pretty good. It's really too bad you play for the wrong team," Naruto mocked, however, no emotion was received from the indoctrinated warrior.

The blonde defended himself for a while, parrying and evading his opponents attacks, yet he wasn't able to find an attack pattern. Apparently, his foe was really skilled. The situation screamed for a cheap shot.

Naruto jumped back and produced a blue orb of chakra in his palm. The ANBU was no fool though, and noticed the familiar jutsu instantly. The masked shinobi increased the distance between them and sheathed his tantō as he prepared himself to keep the young Namikaze at distance.

The blonde, however, smirked and the spinning chakra in his palm disappeared because he had wanted the ANBU to increase the distance. Naruto performed six hand seals, which were only a fraction of the necessary one's a normal shinobi had to do, and shouted, "Suiton: Suiryūdan no Jutsu [Water Release: Water Dragon Bullet Technique]!"

The root ANBU eyes widened when he saw the water dragon hovering above Naruto. "Incredible! There is no water source and yet he can perform such a jutsu."

The liquid chimera shot forwards and entrained the chance-less ANBU as there were no trees or other structure where he could have jumped on to escape the merciless tidal wave.

Splosh!

Naruto used the overall confusion and sprinted directly behind the shadow of said wave, reaching his destination without further disruption. Unluckily, however, when the wave lost its power and felt apart, he presented himself as a most vulnerable target in the middle of a large area without cover. The enemy shinobi, Uchiha and Root ANBU, turned themselves to face him, joining together in an unholy alliance – for now.

Naruto, however, was unfazed by the deadly glares and curses his audience was providing. His hands moved again and another series of hand seals were performed. Meanwhile, one especially furious Uchiha made it through the ankle-deep water to the blonde, eyes bloody-red with three tomoes spinning wildly and the signature Uchiha scowl indicated that the person in question was really pissed.

"How dare you try and stop us here! It is our right to command!" The traitorous shinobi exclaimed.

"Right now, by the decree of the Yondaime Hokage, I'm the one who is in charge. It is your right to follow my orders. Will you?" Naruto asked, hoping to end the battle without further bloodshed, though he knew that would be an idealistic dream.

"Never! Fugaku-sama is the only one whose orders we will follow. Now die!" The Uchiha hissed with venom, and performed the necessary hand seals to execute their clan's signature jutsu.

"You're too late. Kirigakure no Jutsu [Art of Hiding in the Mist]!" The blonde shouted, when the technique turned the water, which flooded the plaza, into a thick mist.

"Aaargh! I can't see! Where are you?" The traitor snarled, though he was not the only Uchiha with the problem.

"Brilliant," the commanding officer of the loyal forces commented the recent events.

"What's going on taichou?" A recently appointed chūnin asked his superior?

"The hidden mist technique turns water into a thick mist. But that's not the only thing. The mist is saturated with chakra and I can only guess what the proud Uchiha with their superior eyes are seeing now: nothing!" The jonin laughed heartily. He had been very reluctant to issue the retreat order when the eagle-masked ANBU had appeared a couple of minutes ago. However, the person who was in command obviously had some sort of a plan, and it was working quite well. It couldn't hurt to follow that person, right?

"Though I have to say, using the hidden mist technique directly in front of the Hokage tower. That's somewhat ironic."

Ignoring the various cursing of the temporarily blind Uchiha, Naruto concentrated on his next attack. He could feel when the imprinted kunai were thrown at the plaza, because every seal worked as a beacon. He sidestepped the one, which buried itself in the wet ground where had stood only a second before. His hidden mist technique consumed the whole water and inside the thick fog, he could only assume how big the covered area really was. A series of cries of pain and hurt announced that some shinobi were not as lucky as him. They were hit by the sharp weapon, though they wouldn't die from a direct hit, unless they caught the small weapon with their head.

"What I am going to do now, will change everything. May my judgment accounts in all balance," Naruto said solemnly, and before anyone was able to interject in any form, "Hiraishin no Jutsu [Flying Thunder God Technique]!"

The blonde then transported himself from kunai to kunai, striking each foe before they had a chance to defend themselves. All that happened within the blink of an eye as his attacks were performed at the speed of light. He could have killed everyone on that plaza, however, it was his belief, that not the entire clan was involved in making the decision of their own demise. And the Root ANBU, they were following Danzo's order because they hadn't learned nothing else since their indoctrination. Simply, he wasn't able to kill those people – his former comrades – with a clean conscience. After all, his father had said that the limitation of this order is for him to interpret, and it was not that the traitorous shinobi would be able to fight afterward, with their tendons cut.

Naruto was breathing hard after performing the legendary technique for at least two hundred times. Some times, the jump was unnecessary, because the kunai had landed in a place where no foe was. But the overlapping pained moans and groans of people indicated that he had succeeded with his task.

Due to the number of victims, a lot of blood was spilled, which was coloring the white mist into a deep and bloody red. That fact was not missed by the several bystanders. They could only assume what massacre had taking place in the thick mist.

Naruto used a light wind-styled jutsu and blew away the gaseous collection of blood and water. Left behind was a former blond shinobi, totally soaked in blood. His hair, face, flak vest and remaining clothing were covered in the red liquid, giving him a slightly inhuman appearance.

Seconds later, Yugao teleported herself at his side via the use of the body flicker technique and looked at him with a concerned expression. "Are you alright, Naruto?"

"I'm fine, let us join the commander of the loyal forces in this area," Naruto responded and watched the aftermath of his doing. Around 110 shinobi – Uchiha and Root ANBU – were lying on the ground, moaning, groaning and trying to clutch their wounds, though that proved to be impossible with their cut tendons. Now the traitorous shinobi were reminded why the leaders of Konoha's enemies ordered their own shinobi to flee when seeing the fearsome Kīroi Senkō [Yellow Flash]. With the right amount of beacons, there was no escape from the technique. A/N: The total numbers are about 90 Uchiha and 20 Root ANBU

Arriving at the command post behind another makeshift barricade, Yugao and Naruto were greeted by the commanding officer, "Marvelous, and I had thought, first, what kind of idiot orders me to retreat my troops."

"They were in the way," Naruto grinned, earning visible admiration from the shinobi around him.

"What should we do with them?" The officer asked and pointed at the crowd, which was squirming with pain.

"They won't die. I've rendered them immobile for further questioning. Torture & Interrogation will have their fun with them," the blonde ordered, serious. "You may secure the place with your troops and support Shikaku with unneeded squads. I've only neutralized around maybe a half of the Uchiha, the other half should be lurking in the streets, ambushing or whatever they are doing right now."

"Alright, and what are you going to do?" The officer inquired, curious about the blonde's further plans.

"Well, Cat and I are going to pay someone in the underground a visit," Naruto responded grimly.

An loud explosion in the proximity attracted everyone's attention. Without warning, one Uchiha squad appeared in front of the evacuation party and engaged the towering bull-masked ANBU in a fierce battle. Their attacks were guarded and cautious, and after two minutes, they retreated slightly, placing the ANBU into an uncomfortable position, where he could either follow them and leave his post or let them go and endanger his comrades as they were far behind the front line.

"Bull, don't let them get away!" Kushina ordered, immediately receiving an angry glare of the unmasked Taji.

"Kushina-sama! We were ordered to protect you by the Hokage's direct order," The brown-haired woman interjected.

"I don't care, follow them!" The redhead remained steady, causing the ANBU to follow the retreating squad of traitors.

Just as he went out of sight, two other squads of Uchiha made themselves visible and attacked the weak chūnin and the last remaining ANBU of Kushina's protection team.

"Please take shelter, Kushina-sama!" Taji shouted desperately.

"I can help you!" Kushina interjected, closing up to the fighting ANBU.

Taji gritted her teeth. She couldn't fulfill her task when her 'package' proved to be such uncooperative. Before Kushina could attack an Uchiha or do any other such thing, a cloud of thick, green gas covered them, which was large enough to conceal a small house. The squad's leader used the battle fan on his back to empower a simple wind-styled jutsu, blowing away the annoying hindrance. Though, Kushina and Taji vanished into thin air. One hand sign later and the two squads left the battle with the heavily outnumbered chūnin. Their objective was the Hokage's wife, and not the useless civilians. The evacuation ended without further difficulties.

"Why did you do that?" Kushina asked, enraged by her robbed chance to fight.

"Fulfilling the tasks of my office is my top priority. You may be able to coax my colleagues into leaving, but I won't leave your side until I have a new order," Taji answered dutifully.

"Fine! Then I order you to take me back, we've got to fight them," The furious redhead responded.

"I'm sorry, but Kushina-sama is not in the position to give me orders," the medical ANBU smirked.

"ARGH! Don't add -sama every time. I fricking hate that!" Kushina cursed.

"Shh! There could be enemy squads in the streets," Taji tried to shush the angry female beside her, which only glared back.

Both women sneaked through the alleys as they tried to avoid any form of fighting – though Kushina would have loved to be right in the middle of it.

"Where are we going now?" The redhead inquired, after they crossed another street and hid themselves in the next dark alley.

"Shikaku-san wanted to coordinate the defense and counter-attack from the ANBU headquarters and that's where I want to drop you," Taji responded and peeked around the wall at the valley's end.

"I don't think so," an unknown voice commented to the medical ANBU.

Both woman's head shot upwards, seeing the two squads of Uchiha standing on top of the buildings which surrounds the alley. They were the one they had encountered at the evacuation area earlier.

"Fuck!" Taji growled and grabbed Kushina's arm in a desperate attempt to escape. However, of the eight Uchiha, four of them were former ANBU before they decided to betray their village, so they knew what they were doing.

The dark alley may have concealed the duo's movements, but once detected, it proved to be a deadly trap. The Uchihas approached on both sides, with their activated Sharingan and a really fearsome murderous intent. Taji drew her kunai and prepared to flick the metallic weapon at the nearest traitor, but before the weapon had left her hand, a volley of shuriken showered over her. The wounded ANBU toppled back into Kushina's arms. Luckily, the assault caused no serious injury. A pierced carotid artery was the last thing they needed now.

"Why are you all doing this?" Kushina questioned the group, which had already surrounded the duo.

"To tell you the truth, I've got no idea. Though everyone think he is fighting for the clan," the leading Uchiha stepped forward and received disbelieving looks from his clansmen.

"What did you say? We're fighting for the glory of the Uchiha clan!" One especially zealous member of the group snapped at his leader, who had betrayed their cause in that very moment. "And you," He pointed at Kushina, "You will come with us or die here!"

However, the redhead didn't act in the way they thought she would. Kushina began to giggle and broke out in heavy laughter. "I won't go anywhere with you, morons!" She mocked and placed her right palm on the wall behind her.

"Sealing Technique: Permeable Wall!"

The brick wall wobbled as if it would ignore the laws of nature. Kushina grabbed the wounded Taji around her waist and jumped backwards, pulling the medical ANBU with her. The wall solidified a second later, leaving the eight Uchihas behind, dumbfounded faces inclusive.

"WHAT THE HELL?" They screamed in unison and began frantically to search for a nearby entrance to that building.

A/N: Chapter 11 is out. I've already written the next chapter, though it has to be beta-ed and discussed yet. Maybe it can be released within the current week. I've read all your reviews concerning the last chapter. Thank you, reviewers! The troll was especially tasty. This here is NaruKushi, it's only natural that their red thread of fate will be much stronger.

Well, regarding the matter of Shisui. In my draft, (which I've written some time ago) he is Itachi's enemy and I don't plan to change it. Additionally I don't like that Danzo was somehow able to steal one of his eyes in canon. When you can get one, why should you leave the second one behind? And from where did Shisui get his Mangekyou? Though I've to admit that the prospect of Naruto running around with the stylish crow would have been funny. Poor crow, but the best are always the first ones to die :(

Beginning with the next chapter, I'm going to work closer with my beta. That means, that she's helping me with the dialogues, which are way too formal for my liking. Well, you already know that English is not my native language, which sadly means, that I'm not able to express my mind as I would like to. Hopefully that will change in the future.

PS: I'll say something to Kushina's sealing techniques in the next chapter.

PPS: Yeah 50k words :)

Roadrunner