The Wanderers
Chapter 56 – The Horror of Home
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto. If I did, Naruto would have some kind of irrational fear.
***Previously-On***
Having sent a message out to all the Tailed Beasts, the ex-Mizukage Yagura waited patiently as one Tailed Beast container after the other arrived at the meeting point at the edge of the Land of Tea. Each of the shinobi didn't trust the other by nature, though some of them recognised their host for what he used to be. After leaving their pirate ship, Naruto and Hinata finally made landfall in their homeland, though they were surprised to see all the other eight Tailed Beast containers. As they were greeting each other, Hinata noticed something strange about Yagura, and he told them the story about how he was revived by one of the leaders of the Quiraji. It was difficult at first, but he was able to persuade the group to help him with the problem Kirigakure has with their imposter Mizukage. After asking Gaara about the state of the land, Naruto decided to go on his own to investigate the Land of Fire.
***End Summary***
After nearly three years, it still hadn't quite sunk in that he was back in his homeland, even as he recognised landmarks in the Land of Tea from the last time he had been there with his old friends from Konoha. It felt like he was reliving a long lost dream, though he knew reality was far harsher than he wanted to imagine.
I guess even those times are gone now, aren't they?
As he moved with a speed he hadn't had the last time he was in his homeland, Naruto couldn't help but be struck by how much the country had changed. The landscape was virtually the same and the sky hadn't changed at all, but it felt almost completely different.
He knew what it was, but he didn't want to admit it to himself.
"Well well, aren't you a cocky little boy?"
Naruto rolled his eyes; the Kyuubi had a tendency to get snarky when it was anticipating a fight. He just ignored the Tailed Beast's taunt; there was no point in fighting the Kyuubi on its own battlefield.
However it had caused Naruto to realise how much he had missed this place, even if it wasn't truly home anymore.
Ah, I should have gotten Gaara to tell me about the others. I could still send a clone back…
Naruto shook his head to dismiss the idea, something told him that he would need as much of his strength as possible. Besides, he knew that Hinata would ask the appropriate questions, and he'd be back with the group in a few days.
This is something only I can do.
Moving quickly, Naruto made short time between their arrival position in the Land of Tea and his old homeland. He wasn't sure what he was going to expect, but judging from the seriousness of Gaara's tone when he had spoken about the Land of Fire, almost anything could happen.
Despite his cautious movements, Naruto couldn't help but feel the anticipation pumping through his body. Something was going to happen here, but he didn't know what.
However a few hours later as he came to what he remembered as the territory line, Naruto had his game face on. If the opponents were anything like the white armoured warrior he and Hinata had fought, he had to be prepared for anything.
There was no obvious indication of where the Land of Tea and Land of Fire intersected unless you knew the specific signs. Having only been a Genin at the time of Konoha's destruction, Naruto had no clue where the signs were, but after arriving it became clear where the border was.
Rows and rows of spikes pointing away from the Land of Fire were lined up in perfect formation, with dozens of wooden guard towers manned by what appeared to be hundreds of Quiraji troops at a time. Naruto kept his distance so that he was out of sight of the troops guarding the point, but he could see fairly clearly the type of soldiers in front of him.
They wore well maintained armour and polished weapons, watching the land in front of them like hawks. They couldn't see Naruto because he was too far away and was using the sun to his advantage, but at his current distance he was able to tell what kind of soldiers they were.
They are just recently-trained troops. 'Greenhorns' as the general would put it. I could probably blow through them without a problem, but…
He shook his head again; he knew he couldn't take it easy on the enemy soldiers.
These are the people who destroyed Konoha and killed everyone we cared about. They deserve much worse than I would ever give them in a war.
A spike of pain ran through his head as he could feel the Kyuubi biting at his mindscape.
"Grow a spine you pathetic wimp! If your enemy is in front of you, you destroy it without hesitation! Honestly, how something as wimpy as you could have descended from the old man, I'll never know."
A frown came over Naruto's face as he processed the Kyuubi's words. He recognised the beast's wartime experience, but he didn't like agreeing with it just on general principle.
Wait…the Sage of Six Paths was my ancestor?
"Who knows? You shinobi breed like rats. Anything is possible."
Naruto took that as a confirmation, but paid little attention to the information. The Kyuubi liked to mess with his head at the worst of times, though he had noticed that the advice it gave was rarely useless. It just tended to be convoluted and confusing.
He peeked out at the defensive line in front of him, noticing a building in the distance that looked like a ruined temple. It didn't take him long to work out his strategy, as he put his hands together and created two shadow clones.
"I want you to take turns guarding this point, any changes and I want you to inform me immediately."
The two clones nodded their understanding as Naruto placed a hand on the ground and carved a seal into the ground.
He nodded to himself as he stood back up, "This way I can get back here in an instant. If my mission succeeds, I will send a clone to give you orders to take down this border by any means necessary."
"You know you are technically talking to yourself, right?"
Naruto ignored the Kyuubi, talking out loud helped him formulate his plans. He looked up at the sky, taking an account of where the sun was and how long before night fell. He didn't know how fast the group with Hinata and Gaara would be, but if the Land of Fire was how he suspected, he didn't have time to wait for the cover of darkness.
The blonde shinobi was grateful that he wasn't wearing all orange anymore as he would really stand out, though his old uniform had been torn to shreds during his training and he missed it something fierce.
"You have your orders," he said to his clones, turning back to his target.
Taking a long breath and calming his nerves, Naruto grabbed at the air around him with physical energy and wrapped it around himself, focusing on his target and bursting spiritual energy out of his body in an instant.
Naruto was able to let out his breath on top of the ruined temple roof, letting go of the air and immediately taking an account of his surroundings. He'd gotten past the barricade without them even noticing his technique, though Naruto knew he had to be on his guard. If he were to be spotted, he'd have an army after him in an instant.
He looked down at the temple he was standing on top of, a sinking feeling in his gut. He'd never been particularly religious, but the destruction of this place ate at his soul.
"So you got in, what's your plan now, boy?"
Ignoring the Kyuubi again, Naruto looked out towards the land that had once been his home. It wasn't a burning or a barren wasteland as he might have suspected, but he knew that it would never be the same either.
He'd come to a very dangerous place.
For the first couple of hours, Naruto stealthily moved through the tree-heavy landscape, feeling satisfied in his abilities as he avoided over a dozen small patrols of Quiraji soldiers. His time in the Quiraji homeland had trained him well, far better than his time with his old friends, which was sad to think of.
They seemed to bear a striking resemblance to the soldiers he had fought when Hinata was sick, which only served to confirm more of Naruto's suspicions.
He wasn't the best at orienteering, but while he knew instinctively how to get to where Konoha had once stood, he also knew that would be the most dangerous place to go at the moment. The village had been made in the most strategically sound location, and if the enemy had a major base of operations it would be on the ashes of their enemy's home.
The idea angered Naruto greatly, but there was nothing he could do about it.
His original plan had been to scout out as much information as he could, but it was quickly becoming apparent that there was only so much he would be able to find out without being discovered. Even with his rapid movement and teleportation, the pure militarisation of the Land of Fire was frightening. He'd only been travelling for a small amount of time, and Naruto had already lost count of the number of Quiraji soldiers he had encountered.
If I'm going to get anything concrete, I need to create a distraction.
He hadn't wanted to come back towards the ocean so soon after coming back, but out of all the places he knew the Quiraji were likely to have large bases, the old fishing villages near the ocean were a guarantee.
Luckily for him, the Quiraji had done exactly as he had expected.
However the port they had created was far larger than Naruto could have imagined.
Spreading out further than he could see from his hiding position at the top of a tree, the port of the Quiraji was a hub of activity from soldiers practising firing arrows at targets wearing forehead protectors to builders working on the dozens of battleships being assembled in the water.
If he knew Grace like he did, the crazy pirate would have beaten back the five ships that had come after her when they had approached the blockade. He also knew that once she obtained the weapons and supplies, she'd push forward more and more and threaten the coast, that's the kind of person she is.
Since he wasn't on her ship anymore, Naruto wouldn't be able to help her fight that way, but taking out their main port was advantageous on more than one front.
It would also make a perfect distraction.
Any ideas for me to ignore, Kyuubi?
The Tailed Beast within him didn't respond to his sarcastic question as Naruto had expected, though he'd already worked out a few plans. He wasn't foolish enough to believe that he could just charge in and destroy the place in one blast like he had with the battleship earlier; a situation like this required a more fine-tuned touch.
"Hmm…I could teleport the whole place…but that would leave me without any chakra for later fights," he whispered to himself. "I could do the blood clone army thing, but that won't be able to destroy…hang on…"
Reaching into one of the small packs on his side, Naruto counted the number of ships sitting in the port.
Nineteen. I've got more than enough chakra for that.
Placing his hands together, Naruto created exactly twenty three clones, letting them stand beneath him on the ground. He dropped out of the tree to stand in the group, using the convenient darkness to hide their position.
Being clones of Naruto, the blonde group groaned as they already knew the details of his plan.
"This isn't gonna work…" said one clone, cracking his neck loudly.
"We won't know until we try," said Naruto, passing out a kunai to four of his clones. "Even if that doesn't work, we know this one will."
The four clones nodded and held onto the kunai as they clasped their hands together and transformed into copies of the Quiraji soldiers. The other clones began taking up hiding positions in the tree above them, while the original Naruto took a long breath and tapped at the tags on his sides.
With a tiny bit of chakra, two swords appeared at his belt. He drew them out of their sheaths and held them loosely in his hands. They were long katanas with yellow and red tags along their hilts, though Naruto regretted that he had to resort to something like this. Unlike previous years, he couldn't rely on the Kyuubi to provide chakra like it used to. Without the main seal allowing for the leaking of chakra, he was well aware that the only thing holding the Nine-Tails back was his own will, and the Kyuubi's fear that it wasn't strong enough to survive outside of his body.
There would come a day when he would have to fight the Tailed Beast for control, but that was years into the future. At least he hoped it was.
He had to reserve his strength as much as possible, particularly for what he had in mind. He still had massive amounts of stamina, but he couldn't charge in like a wild animal anymore.
With that in mind, Naruto nodded to the transformed Quiraji soldiers, indicating for them to get moving. If they were caught he would have to move to a more drastic plan. He watched the group run quickly towards the port, until they were in view of the enemy force, slowing down and mimicking the movements of one of the patrols he had moved past earlier.
The clones disappeared through the gate as the Quiraji appeared to let them in, Naruto was grateful that there appeared to be no sensors able to detect ninjutsu within the port.
He waited another ten minutes just to be sure, before holding his katanas tightly. When they had separated from the others he'd been an indifferent swordsman; Sasuke had run rings around him every time they had practised, but he had trained himself nearly to death every day he had been on Grace's ship.
He was still an indifferent swordsman, but he had learnt early on that using weapons like swords allowed him to utilise his almost limitless stamina without tiring himself with chakra techniques or spiritual energy, the latter being rather strenuous on his body.
Nodding to the complaining clones above him in the tree, Naruto aimed himself at the front gate of the port and powered forward in a burst of energy.
I wonder if my body still remembers how to do the technique…
All he could do was trust in his training as he saw the Quiraji soldiers at the front gate yelling orders to each other as they spotted him. Steeling himself for the fight, Naruto leapt up high into the air, landing on the gate with a grim expression on his face.
The soldiers recoiled on his sudden entrance and reached for their weapons, but Naruto didn't give them a chance to attack him. With two quick slashes of his swords he cut them down before turning to the port on the other side of the gate. He didn't like the idea of killing the enemy soldiers, but he recognised that this was warfare and certain things had to be done.
To their credit he was impressed that the alarm had already been sounded and the Quiraji army was made aware of his presence. It worked to his advantage, though they obviously didn't know that.
"Do you honestly believe you can take them down on your own?"
Naruto couldn't help but chuckle at the Kyuubi's voice in his head, "You don't know what my plan is, do you? How amusing."
"Don't make me bring you into the mindscape and beat the shit out of you."
On instinct Naruto struck out with one of his swords, taking off the arm of a Quiraji soldier that was threatening to attack him from the flank. The young soldier screamed out in pain and fell back, while Naruto jumped forward into the port.
His initial attack didn't seem to deter the Quiraji soldiers as Naruto's feet hit the ground and he began charging straight into the port without a shred of fear on his face.
The port was well-lit with large lampposts and searchlights that moved rapidly to illuminate Naruto's form, though he was able to stay ahead of the blinding lights with his speed. He ducked and weaved as several of the soldiers who were practising shooting arrows turned and fired at him, teleporting forward and cutting the archers down without hesitation.
Naruto was grateful Hinata wasn't here with him; she wouldn't like what he had to do. He didn't like slicing through their bodies like they were sacks of meat, but Naruto knew they were all going to die when he activated his technique so it ultimately didn't matter.
Having disposed of the ranged attackers for the moment, Naruto stole a moment to have a look at his surroundings. There weren't many buildings in the port larger than two floors, and he was still a few hundred feet from the ocean and the battleships.
Sailors began pouring out of the buildings, arming themselves with a strange mix of pikes, harpoons and swords as they looked around for the intruder. The sirens were getting louder and louder, Naruto was sure that someone had left the port already to inform the Quiraji main forces that they were under attack and needed reinforcements.
A smirk came across Naruto's face; he could see why Shikamaru enjoyed the formation of a plan. It felt great when the enemy played to his tune.
His enjoyment was cut short as he ducked down to the ground, barely dodging an axe that threatened to decapitate him, taking off several strands of his blonde hair painfully.
Lashing out with his left katana, Naruto took off his arm at the elbow and then rolled away quickly so that he wouldn't be sprayed with blood. He was surprised that his katanas were able to cut through bone so easily without using physical energy or chakra, but he wasn't complaining as dozens of soldiers converged on his location.
Damnit, I'm not in position. I can't waste my time on fodder here.
As he ran towards the centre of the open area in the port, Naruto sheathed his swords on his sides and placed his hands together. A shadow clone appeared at his side, running as quickly as he was.
"Tell the others to go," said the original Naruto, moving faster as the clone disappeared in a puff of smoke. He leapt up onto the top of a two story building and took a slow breath.
I am so out of shape. Sitting on that ship hasn't helped my stamina at all…
The soldiers beneath him scrambled around the building in an attempt to get to Naruto while the blonde shinobi kept his eyes on the battleships sitting in the harbour. A part of him was impressed that his plan was going so well, though he could see the two ships in front of him were trying to move away from the harbour to come about and aim their cannons at him.
A frown came over his face, they were late.
As if listening to his thoughts, a clone of Naruto appeared on each battleship, though a few appeared on the same battleship before jumping over to their respective targets.
Once he saw that there was a clone on every battleship and felt the judgemental looks they were giving him, Naruto put up a hand into a handseal. Because he had already spread his chakra to the clones, the technique itself required almost no chakra to perform, though it did sting a little.
With a tiny burst of chakra, every clone on the battleships exploded in a large fireball of destruction, blowing apart the ships in a deafening crash.
Naruto smiled, it hurt as he regained the memories of his disgruntled clones but it was worth it to remove the Quiraji's ocean warfare capabilities. He wasn't foolish enough to believe that he hadn't destroyed all of their ships, but it enough of a dent to serve as a reasonable distraction.
However that wasn't Naruto's entire plan, he couldn't have the soldiers of the port chasing after him when he went back into the main part of the Land of Fire. He could see his destruction of their battleships had sent the Quiraji forces into disarray, but Naruto wasn't done yet.
Jumping off the building in a single motion, Naruto moved as quickly as he could towards the centre of the port, where there was a large opening that looked like it was the place for an army to gather together in one place.
Naruto nodded to himself, this was the perfect place for his plan.
With his swords sheathed at his side, Naruto figured he had less than a minute before he was under attack again, but that was plenty of time as he reached into his pack and pulled out a tag.
I'm glad I prepared this when I had the materials.
Fuelling a tiny amount of chakra into the seal, a metal pole appeared in his hands. With a dramatic roar he drove the pole into the ground before taking a step back and letting the metal pole extend upwards high up into the sky. Halfway up its length it split off into four section, each of which were driven into ground.
Naruto grabbed a special kunai from his pack and tossed it high into the air, causing a bright flash high up into the air.
All around him he could see the Quiraji soldiers converging on his position, clearly out for his blood. With a regretful look on his face, Naruto rapidly through a long set of handseals before placing both of his hands up towards the sky as he sat underneath the metal pole so that he wasn't struck by his own technique.
They better be in position. Otherwise this'll be the least impressive technique of all time.
Chakra poured out of his body as he converted it into elemental energy and shot it out of his hands into the metal pole above his head.
The Quiraji soldiers were barely a dozen feet away, evidently not concerned by Naruto's machinations as they charged forward. The soldiers that weren't attacking the blonde shinobi were trying to survey the damage to the battleships, but every single Quiraji soldier was within the boundaries of the port.
And in range of Naruto's attack.
"Raiton: Raikou Kamikansei!" (Lightning Element: Lightning God Trap)
For a few seconds it appeared like nothing had happened, and the Quiraji soldiers continued to charge towards him. Initially Naruto was concerned that his clones hadn't been in place, until he felt a rumble within his body and he knew it was coming.
Clutching at his head and crouching down just to be sure, Naruto couldn't watch as giant coils of lightning came from every direction and slammed into the metal pole above him. The whole port was drenched into lightning as everyone who wasn't protected underneath the metal pole.
Within seconds, every Quiraji soldier fell to the ground, their bodies destroyed by thousands of bolts of lightning at once. Even the buildings were not immune from the damage, his single attack turning the port into a ruin in an instant.
Naruto waited a few more seconds before feeling the rush of his four clones' memories driving into his brain. Letting out his breath slowly, Naruto looked up at the port with surprise written all over his face.
"Wow…I thought it might take them all out…but this is nuts…"
"What do you expect, brat? You cover a place in lightning; you are going to cause some damage!"
Naruto smacked himself in the head to try and shut up the Kyuubi, but it only caused him to get a bad headache.
He shook his head in an attempt to get rid of the headache, but that only caused it to get worse. Naruto clutched at his head and remembered what his plan had been. He tried to tap the metal pole to make it retract back into its original form, but the metal was unresponsive.
"I guess the lightning damaged it or something…"
With a shrug, Naruto looked around at the port. The lightning had struck high into the air, so Naruto knew that the Quiraji main force would be drawn to the ruined port to investigate the attack.
"That should give me a proper distraction for a few days at least. I'll have to be careful from now on…"
"You are in more trouble than you think, shinobi boy."
Naruto immediately spun around with a katana in hand, watching as the air tore apart a short distance away and a figure stepped out in front of him.
His eyes widened as he recognised the figure's armour, but it wasn't being worn by the figure he remembered. Instead of the white armoured man he and Hinata had fought years ago, Naruto was faced with an attractive woman with pure white hair and a wicked evil expression on her face. She wore the same kind of regalia that the old Quiraji general had, and it was clear to him that it was the same person though in a different form.
"I didn't calculate that you would be here so quickly," said Naruto, trying to sound confident.
The woman crossed her arms over her chest and spat on the ground, "Arrogant swine aren't you? Do you think just because you fought my predecessor that you can compete with the likes of me?"
"Try me, lady. I'll cut you to pieces."
With a chuckle, the Quiraji leader placed her hands out in front of her. The ground beneath her began to rumble as two giant lions appeared to dig themselves out of the ground and stand in front of her with their heads underneath her hands. A large flock of black crows began to circle around her head as if appearing from thin air, while more animals dug themselves out of the ground behind her.
"Don't think I'll underestimate you like he did."
Naruto took a cautionary step backwards, it was clear that she was a different fighter than the other Quiraji soldiers he had faced.
"Do you have a name?" he asked, figuring it was a good time to get some information.
The woman huffed, "You know my name, boy. You fought the last one."
Naruto's eyes widened, he knew who she was, though it seemed impossible. He knew what he had to do as he sheathed his katana on his side and deactivated the seals, making them vanish from his sides.
"Giving up? I won't hesitate to kill you."
The blonde shinobi placed his hands together as the lions in front of him roared loudly.
"You'll have to catch me first."
With that, Naruto disappeared in a large puff of smoke.
The Quiraji leader began looking around frantically while the pack of animals around her snarled loudly. At the top of the tree he had begun his attack on, Naruto let out a long sigh. He was lucky that she had been standing just outside of chakra-nullifying range; otherwise his retreat would have been far harder to do, even with his stealthy use of a smoke bomb.
That's Shouri, I'd bet my life on it. But how is he suddenly a woman…and those animals are completely different than his previous abilities.
Naruto let out a slight groan, things had gotten complex already and he hadn't even been in his homeland for a day.
"You won't escape from me, boy."
The Konoha shinobi jumped ten feet into the air at the voice and teleported on instinct, just as a massive rhino charged into the tree he had been sitting on and demolished it.
Hovering in the air, Naruto spun around to see the woman glared at him with a hateful look in her eyes.
Okay, this just got a lot harder. I might have bitten off more than I can chew here.
He tried to think of where to go next to avoid her, but found himself fighting for his life as a giant eagle came flying towards him with its claws outstretched.
Damn that tenacious woman…
Naruto clutched at his chest tightly, breathing heavier than he had since his wedding night. He was blending with a stone wall with a ninjutsu technique he had learnt from Hinata, as Quiraji soldiers ran past him in dark red armour and razor sharp blades in hand. It was extremely difficult to keep his hard breathing quiet, but Naruto didn't have the strength to fight off his pursuers.
How did it come to this? The old Shouri was never this persistent.
Within his head he could hear the Kyuubi laughing loudly, but Naruto did his best to ignore him. If it hadn't been for the Tailed Beast's dodgy directions he would have gotten away from his pursuers hours ago, but it was clear that it was still annoyed at him for some reason or another.
The village he had fled to was surprisingly intact, but there were no normal villagers like there had been years ago. It had been heavily fortified and served as a base of operations, and while Naruto had been proud to have infiltrated it without being detected, it had all gone to hell when the female Shouri had shown up with those red armoured soldiers and started to scour the village for him.
Naruto had tried to take on one of the Red Guard that had separated from the others, but for some reason his chakra techniques hadn't been effective. If he hadn't used his Kattoken to tear the armour off its body, Naruto knew he would have been discovered and either taken prisoner or killed.
My stamina is really low…and I clearly can't fight back without risking myself. Should I pull out, or risk a few more days?
It was a difficult decision, but Naruto felt he hadn't found enough to justify the risks he had taken.
I have to find out what those soldiers were talking about.
Holding himself within his shroud, Naruto waited almost an hour for nightfall before the Red Guard were mostly gone from his nearby vicinity. It went against all of Naruto's instincts to be patient, but when death was on the line he discovered he could wait for hours on end.
It also helped to have the ability to mess with the Nine Tails within his mind.
"No, seriously! I took his head clean off!"
"Haha! What happened next?"
"And then he crapped himself! It was so pathetic! Haha!"
A pair of Quiraji soldiers turned a nearby corner laughing hysterically. Unlike the Red Guard, they looked like normal people, wearing basic leather armour and Quiraji weaponry on their backs. It was obvious by their red faces that they were drunk, and as they stumbled closer to his position a plan slowly came into Naruto's head.
He couldn't use a Henge to disguise himself within the village; he figured they likely had a way of detecting shinobi techniques. That was how he figured Shouri was tracking him.
When the two drunken soldiers walked in front of his position Naruto dropped his shroud and knocked them out with a quick one-two. He reached out and grabbed their bodies, holding them over his shoulders as he leapt into a dark alley and made sure that no-one saw his movements.
Naruto looked down at the bodies, noticing that a trickle of blood fell from each of their heads.
I must have hit them harder than I thought. I guess I was frustrated.
Within a few minutes Naruto looked exactly like one of the basic Quiraji soldiers. He had stuffed his normal clothes into his pack and wasn't wearing his normal weapons as he donned the weaponry of the enemy, though strangely he felt his chakra being drained just by holding the hilt of one of their swords.
So their weapons can destroy chakra? How many different ways are they going to create to kill us?
Looking down at their bodies, Naruto knew he couldn't leave the two of them to be discovered. After taking their clothes, he knew they were both dead, and in a time of war there were certain things that had to be done.
Taking a match from one of his pockets, Naruto threw the bodies into a garbage can and sat it in the middle of the alley so it wouldn't spread to the other building. He lit the match and threw it in.
He didn't look back as the bodies burned, walking out of the alley with an angry look on his face. If he had to play the part, he may as well play it well.
Walking through the village, it was clear from the lack of suspicious looks from the other Quiraji soldiers that his disguise was working. At first he thought the best place to get information would be in a place that appeared to be a barracks, but Naruto wasn't sure he would be able to resist the urge to cause some sabotage so he kept away from the larger buildings.
After a few minutes Naruto thought he was completely lost in the village, until he came across the familiar sound of drunks failing to sing a song and the unfortunately familiar scent of vomit and personal dissatisfaction.
It's so sad that I can recognise a bar of drunken people by instinct. I'd like to say the wife would be ashamed, but I'm still haunted by the image of Hinata standing on the unconscious bodies of all those sailors, a mug of ale in each hand and singing the Drunken Leaf.
Before entering the bar, Naruto couldn't resist a chuckle. He was proud of his wife for many different things, but that was the first time he'd felt like she was the one who wore the pants in their marriage.
Damnit, I really want to go back to her now.
Shaking his head to regain his senses, Naruto walked into the bar with his expression the same as a Quiraji soldier.
The bar was like the one he had snuck into in Suna during the Chuunin Exams, though instead of shinobi sitting and chatting there were Quiraji soldiers getting drunk and bragging about how they had killed shinobi.
Naruto tried to stay in the mindset of a Quiraji soldier as he sat down at the bar and tapped his hand on the wood to get the bartender's attention.
"What's your poison?" asked the bartender, staring at Naruto with ice blue eyes.
The blonde shinobi looked at the other occupants for a moment before turning back to the bartender.
"Whiskey, two fingers. Two cubes of ice, and make it quick."
The Quiraji bartender looked at him for a moment before nodding and busying himself with making his drink. Naruto sipped at the whiskey once it was placed in front of him, it was a crap whiskey but the atmosphere was enough for him to blend in properly.
After a few minutes a female Quiraji soldier sat down besides Naruto and twirled a coloured drink in a glass. "Where you from, friend?" she asked with a deep slur.
If Hinata was here, she'd flip out. I wonder if I should exploit this for personal amusement.
He looked over at the female Quiraji soldier, noting that while she was reasonably attractive, the lifeless look in her eyes was entirely off-putting.
Okay fine. Stupid conscience.
"I just arrived. Bad business at the port."
"Oh yeah, we heard about that." The soldier smiled drunkenly, baring her white teeth at him. "But Lady Shouri will get the culprits, she always does. Those shinobi bastards will pay for what they did, the men they killed."
Naruto nodded and raised his glass slightly, "To the dead."
"To the dead," said the Quiraji soldier, solemnly closing her eyes in respect.
The blonde shinobi drained his whiskey and called for a mug of ale, as the female soldier edged closer towards him.
"You know…I'm shipping out tomorrow morning…"
Hinata, forgive me…or just never find out, either way works.
Naruto grasped at the ale the bartender gave him and turned to the soldier with a sly smile, "Really? Where are you off to?"
The woman looked at him for a moment before her smile widened and she clumsily draped an arm over his shoulder. "We are going to some shinobi village shrouded by water. Apparently Lord Kyoukou will be leading the attack himself."
An attack on Kirigakure! Do they know of the plan? Keep calm; there might be more to it.
"That's rare, it must be important," said Naruto, having no clue who this Kyoukou she was speaking about was.
Placing her empty glass on the bar, the female Quiraji soldier stood up from her seat and leaned her head towards Naruto's. Her lips barely brushed the edges of his ear, sending a uneasy shiver through his body.
"Why don't you come over to my place? I'll show you a good time before I have to go tomorrow…"
Is this how the teme experiences things? I'm going to have to sock him a few times…just for the sake of it.
Naruto put on his best attempt at a happy smile, "Definitely. Show me the way."
The woman seemed genuinely joyful at his acceptance and placed a hand on top of his, pulling him away from his ale and off his seat.
He could hear a few wolf-whistles as she led him out of the bar and into the darkened village.
I am still innocent…I am still innocent…
She led him through the village for less than a minute before arriving at a small apartment near the edge of the village. She struggled to find her keys in her pocket, and nearly slipped off her feet as her balance was practically zero in her drunken state. Despite his vows, Naruto couldn't help but reach out and grab her in his arms. The woman giggled and began stroking his arms up and down with her fingers.
I am still innocent…I am still innocent…
When her face was looking away, Naruto clasped the doorknob and used physical energy to turn it far enough to break the lock. He walked into the apartment, smiling to himself as he saw the tiny house the woman apparently lived in. It kind of reminded him of his old apartment, before it was destroyed with the rest of Konoha.
"Mhm…be…gentle…gentle flower…first time…"
I am still innocent…I am still innocent…
Naruto laid her onto her bed and stepped back, watching as the girl curled up in a ball and began drooling into her sheets. Looking at the apartment, Naruto figured there might be something he could find before he left back to the others.
After a few minutes of searching he came to the woman's closet. A part of him felt guilty for going through her things, but he figured the greater good justified his actions.
And Hinata had no issue with him going through her clothing. Or at least he was sure she'd be fine with it, if she ever found out.
While going through her jackets, Naruto frowned as he came across a military jacket that seemed rather impressive compared to her other jackets.
He figured she must be some kind of commander, and as he searched the pockets of the jacket he grinned as he felt a stack of papers with his hand.
"Ah, perfect."
From the bed in the other room he could hear the woman groaning loudly. "No, no…left…up…harder!"
Naruto gritted his teeth and pulled the papers out of the jacket pocket.
I am still innocent…I am still innocent…
The blonde shinobi knew he shouldn't stay too long in the woman's apartment, if not for his mission, for his own sanctity. He quickly glanced through the papers, unable to crack the language it was written in.
But after a minute the same name kept appearing.
"The Home of the Four…what does that mean…"
"If you lick there…I'll...I'll…"
Naruto rolled his eyes, now it was getting creepy.
I need to get back to my wife…and have a bath. But this Home of the Four…I feel like it should be investigated. I'll bet the Four is related to those four warriors that the Kyuubi showed me.
"Mhm, if you use your tongue like that…"
Shoving the papers into his pocket, Naruto slowly crept out of the apartment. He did his best to not look at the woman who had found some way to kick off her dress and was now lying in her underwear, though he failed miserably just as left the apartment and closed the door behind him. The lock wouldn't let it shut completely, but that didn't matter now.
I need to find this place…maybe I can interrogate someone from here, or attack a patrol.
He took a long breath before looking out over the village. It was strange to think that a village that had started out so innocently had been turned into something so terrible, and yet being in that bar had taught Naruto something he hadn't considered.
The Quiraji had soldiers just like the shinobi did; they weren't so different from each other.
That feeling was pushed down as he saw the bright white armour of Shouri walked through the village surrounded by Red Guards. He was still in enemy territory; he couldn't afford to lose his perspective.
First things first, Naruto. Escape this village, then we can find this Home of the Four. And we won't have to mention how we came about this information to anyone.
"I'm telling Hinata."
DAMNIT KYUUBI!
The next day Naruto clutched at his side as he climbed to the top of the cliff and looked down at the valley below. Within the mostly barren valley sat a single building that appeared completely out of place with everything around it, even with the Red Guards standing in front of the entrance.
Naruto grunted in pain and let go of his side, it wasn't bleeding anymore so he figured the cut was healed for the most part. Reaching up to his face however, he couldn't say the same thing for the long cut across the bridge of his nose.
You could heal that for me, Kyuubi, you know.
"And miss out on the chance of seeing your wife's reaction to your disfigured face? Captor, you wound me!"
Naruto sighed and ran a finger over the wound, shuddering unintentionally when he remembered how close he had been to losing his head. He considered himself lucky that he had been able to finally get away from Shouri's tracking abilities, but he knew that he couldn't chakra at all; otherwise she'd be right back on his trail.
He didn't feel at his other wound, but that was primarily because he wasn't sure he really wanted to know how much of his right ear had been bitten off by one of the Quiraji leader's bats. He could still hear through it, so it couldn't be that bad, but that was as far as he was willing to investigate, since the Kyuubi was once again finding a way to mess with him.
My Uzumaki heritage might mean I have greater stamina, but I still need the bloody fox for healing.
Judging by the look of the building in the valley he had arrived at was the place he had been looking for; it matched the description the soldier had told him when he'd snuck into a pack of Quiraji soldiers.
The Home of the Four huh? Judging by the Red Guards, the single entrance…the overwhelming negative vibe coming from it…I won't be able to sneak in.
He looked back at the path he had taken to get to his present location, making sure that he hadn't been followed for the tenth time. When he'd left the group and his wife for the Land of Fire he hadn't expected it would be so difficult, but he knew that the trip would overall be worth it at the end.
Taking several long breaths, Naruto turned around and stood up tenderly. He'd been thinking about it a lot since his last encounter with Shouri, if it hadn't been for the old man Magnus teaching him and Hinata how to use physical and spiritual energy, both of them would be dead a long time ago.
Even though we apparently were pre-disposed to that kind of combat…it was strangely convenient timing. If he wasn't so nice, I would have been suspicious of his intentions.
Naruto shook his head to get rid of the idea, now wasn't the time to be questioning old friends. He hoped he would have the opportunity to meet the old man again, but he had his own concerns at the moment.
Well, if I'm going for broke, I may as well cover my bases. I doubt Shouri is close enough to attack me for at least an hour or so.
He punched one hand into the other, he had to take a few risks if he wanted to get the information he suspected was inside that base.
In one hour, I'll tear that whole building down.
Taking the risk, Naruto created a single clone and handed it a seal. "Get as close as possible to Konoha and plant the seal. Their defences will probably be really tight, use whatever means you can."
The clone stared at him for a moment before rolling his eyes and shoving the seal into its pocket. "I know, you idiot. I'm you, remember?"
"Oh…right." Naruto nodded for the clone to leave and turned his gaze to the building in front of him.
As he had suspected, the Red Guard had sensed his use of chakra and were steeling themselves for battle. A part of him considered the fact that if he couldn't get past the guards the whole mission was a failure, but another part of him enjoyed the prospect of a straight up fight.
Summoning up his spiritual energy, Naruto began to swirl wind energy around his arms, feeling the familiar sting of the thousands of cuts his arms were suffering.
If I had the energy I'd harden my arms with physical energy too, but I don't have time.
It still felt strange that using spiritual and physical energy for battle felt more natural than chakra, but they only achieved certain things, whereas chakra had far more diversity and ultimately more power, despite the Quiraji's strange immunity to its effects.
The five Red Guard readied their blades and took up defensive stances around the door. It was clear they were wary of his approach; he figured they had fought countless shinobi in the past.
But they hadn't fought someone like him before.
Naruto's arms swirled with wind energy as he charged at the Red Guard, but as one of them stepped forward to cut him down he disappeared and reappeared behind the Quiraji soldier. Before it could turn around Naruto reached out and grabbed the back of the Red Guard's head.
With the intense speed of the rotation of his wind energy, his target's body began to spin rapidly while Naruto struggled to keep his grip on the armour that had no effect on his spiritual energy.
The Red Guard's allies charged at him with blades raised to try and save their companion, but after a few sections the Red Guard's armour snapped with the rotation and with a sickening crunch his bones snapped and his body spun out of control, blasting out of Naruto's grip a long distance away.
Naruto didn't get a chance to marvel at how effective the move had been as he put up his arms to defend himself from two Red Guard that brought down swords at his shoulders.
The sharp blades stopped just above his skin as the constant rotation of energy kept him safe, but since his energy was focused on maintaining his Kattoken he wasn't able to react when a third Red Guard leapt over its companions and drove the hilt of its halberd into his face, sending him flying backwards.
Naruto groaned as he picked himself up, he could tell his nose had broken again. The pain was excruciating, though more because he knew he probably looked even worse than before. The four remaining Red Guard all turned to watch him take up a new stance as blood slowly trickled down his face, seemingly unimpressed that he had taken out one of their number with relative ease.
Damnit, the Kattoken takes up so much stamina. Chakra attacks don't work on these guys either.
"You will not enter the Home of the Four!" yelled one of the Red Guard, sheathing its sword onto its belt.
For a moment Naruto couldn't understand why it had sheathed its sword, until he saw the Red Guard crouch down slightly with its hands prepared to draw its blade.
Iai?
He was barely able to dodge away as the Red Guard rapidly drew its sword and slashed at the air between the two of them, sending a shot of spiritual energy that skimmed across the edge of his cheeks.
As Naruto landed on the ground he saw the other two swordsmen charging towards him, weaving between each other so that he couldn't attack one target without being countered by the other. He could appreciate their method of attack; it meant he had to change how he was going to approach the battle.
As the swords came towards him he cut off his spiritual energy to his technique and rolled away from the strikes, rummaging through his side pocket frantically. He could only roll his eyes as he felt through all the stuff he had put into his pocket.
Why the hell am I carrying around a rubber duck?
He continued to dodge the Red Guard's attacks for almost a minute before he finally found what he was looking for.
If Hinata knew I was carrying around this stuff she'd flip out.
As one of the Red Guard slipped through his defences and made a motion to cut off his head with a single swing. With a flick of his wrist he torn the lid off of the jar he had taken out of his pocket and spun around in a circle, hurling the contents into the faces of the two Red Guard attacking him.
Bright red crystals scattered through the air while Naruto teleported away to avoid being struck the two Red Guard copped the full blast in their faces.
It didn't take long for the crystals to activate, bursting out in small explosions of dark orange flames. While the Red Guard's armour disrupted chakra attacks, they had no defence against the special powder that Naruto had found on an island between their two continents.
They were clearly the elites of the Quiraji army, and yet they still screamed like banshees as their faces were burned to a cinder, dropping to their knees as they died in an extremely painful way.
Naruto didn't want to look at them as they fell, he knew how the crystals worked and he'd seen them burn straight through an elephant's stomach in seconds.
Why an elephant was on the island, he had never worked out.
With three of the Red Guard down, Naruto sensed victory and charged towards the Red Guard who had slashed at him earlier, teleporting in front of it and slamming his fist into the centre of its armour, having taken the opportunity to reactivate his Kattoken.
The Red Guard slashed at his sides just before the wind energy broke through its plated armour and sent it flying, Naruto grimacing as he felt the blade pierce through his waist.
"Shit…that really stings…"
He was barely able to recover in time as the final Red Guard sliced through the air with its halberd, bringing up his arms to parry the strike. He could see the Quiraji soldier bringing back its other hand to slam into his face, but Naruto anticipated the strike and intercepted it with his foot, bouncing back a short distance away.
I can't waste any more time. I have to take this one out now, and get in there before Shouri catches up.
Biting back his fatigue, Naruto jumped forward with his fists raised as the Red Guard struggled to recover from the exchange.
The elite Quiraji soldier was able to dodge two of his blows before the third one slammed into its face, the spiritual energy devastating his enemy in a few seconds.
Naruto looked down at the bodies with a frown; he was beginning to wonder if he was turning into some kind of monster.
"Don't flatter yourself boy. You'll never truly know what it's like to bathe in the blood of your children and tear your enemy's flesh from their bones."
Naruto groaned loudly and deactivated his Kattoken.
Fine, I'll make you a sandwich in your mindscape.
The Kyuubi laughed in victory as Naruto walked over to the pair of burned up bodies and picked up the empty glass.
All the trouble I went through to get that powder…I'm lucky I thought to leave a seal on that island.
Naruto had to shudder as he remembered the trials they had gone through trying to find treasure before all they found was that strange volcanic powder. It had taken Hinata hours to convince their captain not to take the powder onto the ship, but Naruto couldn't help but take some for his own.
His clones had yet to forgive him for that.
oOoOoOo
The first floor within the building was strangely empty, a long dark grey corridor with no writing or indications on what was contained inside.
Maybe this is a trap, thought Naruto as he walked down the corridor. Running made the wound in his side reopen, whereas walking appeared to help his healing immensely.
The Kyuubi was still being a stubborn bastard, as usual.
After a minute of walking, Naruto came to a spiral staircase leading down to a lower level. He was confused for a moment as he could have sworn the building was two stories high, but that didn't stop him from descending downwards without any further hesitation. After several spirals he came to the first door, with the staircase continuing to lead downwards beyond.
"What the hell is going on here?" exclaimed Naruto as he placed his hand on the half-destroyed door. There were several holes that looked like someone had punched their way through to the other side. He took a cautionary glance to see that inside the door was completely covered in rubble, it looked like the floor had collapsed in on itself.
And the staircase was unaffected. This place is super creepy.
Seeing that there was nothing to be gained from standing around, Naruto began descending the staircase again, his side having healed as much as it was going to without his wife's help.
He shortly came to a second door, one that appeared to be actually intact. There was no handle, but with a slight push it slowly creaked open. For a few moments Naruto wasn't sure what he was looking at, until he worked out that it was a science lab.
Taking a step inside, Naruto felt like a fly on the side of a wall as he looked around at the dozens of large glass capsules in front of him. There were rows and rows of them, all empty except one Naruto saw near the end.
As if walking into the room had triggered some kind of effect, the single occupied capsule began to hiss and produce large amounts of smoke. Naruto immediately hid behind a capsule and watched events unfold.
Within the capsule floated a single figure that the blonde shinobi couldn't quite make out, though he knew that it was a human judging by its shape, and something told him that it was about to emerge from the capsule.
His suspicion was quickly confirmed as he heard a large crunch and a few seconds later the glass of the capsule shattered into tiny pieces and the figure stepped out into the dark lab.
Naruto could tell the figure was male judging by its face and figure, but other than that Naruto didn't know who he was. He wore dark red plated armour and some kind of gelatine material hung off him, Naruto figured it was what was inside the capsule, and there was something about his face that set his blood cold in his body.
That was until the red armoured figure opened his eyes, and Naruto felt every nerve in his body scream out in protest, even at his distance. He had a pair of bright red eyes with light blue rings around them, but it was the strange pulsing that set Naruto on edge.
The figure didn't appear disorientated by its apparent birth, and before Naruto could find out anything else, he disappeared into thin air in a manner that Naruto had seen once before.
Who was that man? What the hell is going on here?!
"You know who he is, boy. You've fought his brother, and recently his sister."
Naruto sighed, that made sense considering the name of the complex. He wasn't sure whether it was a healing pod or a birthing pod, but something told him that things were only going to more chaotic from here on.
Well, let's see if I can get any information from this place.
Looking around the room he saw that, besides the glass capsules, there was nothing else for him to discover or utilise. Naruto knew he needed to improve his infiltration abilities and learn some information gathering skills, but for now he could only rely on what he saw in front of him.
Going back to the staircase, Naruto found himself wondering how long he had until he was going to be attacked again. The next level had a door that appeared to be made of some kind of aged stone and impossible to open, until Naruto bashed it down with a burst of physical energy.
To his disappointment however, all that was contained in the room was a single torch sitting in the middle of an otherwise empty room.
"Oookkaaayyy then…"
Taking several back steps out of the room, Naruto decided he didn't even want to know what was going on in that room. He went back to the staircase and descended it for one final time.
To his surprise there wasn't even a door for the last room, only an archway leading into a room that appeared similar to the one where the red armoured warrior had come from.
However there was one difference and that was a single computer screen sitting in the middle of the glass capsules, who were also empty.
"Ah! Now we are talking."
"It doesn't bother you that there haven't been any guards within the complex?"
"Of course that bothers me," said Naruto, strolling into the room. For some reason he suddenly felt more tired than he had the entire time he had been in the Land of Fire, it was as if his body knew his journey was coming to an end.
Sitting in front of the computer screen was a keyboard, which caused Naruto to frown slightly; he hadn't seen something like this before. There were strange symbols on it that he didn't recognise, and no actual computer connected to the screen.
Before Naruto had the chance to access any information on the computer however, the screen turned to static with a loud buzzing sound that nearly caused him to drop to his knees in pain.
A few seconds later the static cut out and changed to a dark background with a single figure that he couldn't quite make out.
"You are tenacious, shinobi."
The blonde shinobi grinned with a tired expression, despite the fact that the deep sounding voice turned his blood cold. "I get told that a lot."
"What is your purpose here, boy?"
Naruto looked around at the lab beyond the screen. "Well I was going to destroy this place…maybe eat a sandwich…"
He couldn't see the figure properly, but he could have sworn it shuddered slightly.
"Do you really believe what you are achieving here will matter in the war?"
"Who are you?" asked Naruto. "Are you one of the Four?"
The deep voice chuckled strangely, "I have no interest in telling you anything, shinobi. Don't think you are an equal to me."
Naruto resisted the urge to groan, it was so stereotypical it made his head hurt. "Well, if you aren't going to tell me anything, then I have no reason to stay here and talk. I'm sure there is plenty of stuff here that is interesting to my people."
The moment he said that a loud klaxon sounded throughout the complex, with bright red warning lights flashing around Naruto's location.
"I guess I should've expected that."
"Not very bright, are you shinobi?"
This is a waste of time.
Naruto balanced himself carefully as the ground began to shake violently. He could hear explosions thundering in the distance; he figured the building was self-destructing rapidly.
It makes sense for them to booby-trap the building, but why did he contact me on the screen? Maybe I can find something out from him before I go back to Hinata.
"Bright enough to infiltrate your facility and force you to destroy it," he said with a grin. "Were you expecting that?"
"Presumptuous boy, aren't you?"
This isn't getting anywhere, he's stalling.
"How is it that the Shouri my wife and I fought years ago suddenly became a woman? Did you get sick of him or something?"
To his surprise, he could almost hear the hesitation in the figure's voice. He was merely curious about how that could've happened, though something about what he had seen earlier told him he already knew the answer.
"You will not be able to extract information from me, shinobi. Do not even try."
"Well, if that is so, I guess I'll get going." Naruto put his hands together into a handseal.
It sounded like the figure hesitated again, but it didn't last long before it spoke up again.
"…tell me your name, shinobi."
Interesting, it sounds like he is giving me some modicum of respect.
"Uzumaki Naruto, shinobi of the Village of the Hidden Leaves."
The voice scoffed, "A shinobi without a home. Our pasts are similar, boy."
It didn't take Naruto long to realise who he was talking to, though the Kyuubi screeching obscenities in his head didn't help. It hadn't been an image he had thought about too much, but Naruto knew it had to be true.
"You are the real leader of the Quiraji, I gather. I know of your past. Do you have a name at least? Or should I keep calling you my 'primary target'?"
"When I fought against the shinobi of old, I had a name. When we were betrayed, I discarded it and adopted a new name."
Betrayed? What is he talking about? Kyuubi, do you know anything about this?
To his surprise, the Kyuubi responded immediately, without any shred of its normal sarcasm.
"This is the man who defeated each of my brothers and sisters and drove us back across the sea. You can't trust anything he says, the man is made of lies and deception. Do not underestimate his power."
Wouldn't that make him about a thousand years old?
The Kyuubi made a sound that Naruto could only imagine was it either shuddering in fear or making it sound like it was biting his head and savouring his flesh.
"He may be hidden by this contraption, and his children are slightly different, but his voice has not changed one bit. I do not feel fear, Naruto, but that man will be the death of this country, of that I have no doubt."
A metal girder came crashing down from the ceiling, barely missing Naruto's head. He knew he should leave now, but something was holding him back. There was one final thing he needed to know.
"Tell me your new name, and I will tell my people who we face."
"Hmm, you have stones to challenge me, boy. I will see you on the battlefield before the final death of your people, and I will carve my name into your bones."
Oh dear god, it's like Sasuke went full emo and started writing war poetry. Bad war poetry.
"I am called Benkei."
With that the screen cut to black and the explosions multiplied as the glass containers around Naruto's position began to shatter and the walls started to crumble.
Seeing that there was nothing else of value to be found in the building as it came down around him, Naruto considered his mission finally complete and fuelled a small amount of chakra into the seal on his chest.
He vanished in a small crack of lightning without a trace as the building collapsed.
Author's Note:
I want to talk about Naruto for a moment. I have no interest in making him overpowered, and if he seems that way then that is my error. Naruto is strong, one of the strongest shinobi in the story, but he is not the strongest, and in my opinion shouldn't be the strongest. If your main character is the strongest fighter, then that removes some of the tension from the story. It's one of the problems I have with the current story actually; Naruto and Sasuke are far too powerful compared to the rest of the cast. He's meant to be powerful, but there are barriers that the main character shouldn't necessarily be able to cross. In this story Naruto still has weaknesses and can be beaten, despite being able to do so much destruction in one go.
Also, the resurrection stuff isn't like Edo Tensei shenanigans. It'll be more explained later down the track, I just don't want you thinking that I'm recycling bad guys out of a lack of originality. Consider how different Shouri is to her previous iteration.
I was umming and ahhing for ages on whether I should reveal the name of the Quiraji leader now or later, but considering how far into the story we are I thought this might be a good spot. A problem that I have with the current manga is that the bad guy isn't terribly well defined, and I definitely wanted to avoid that. Props to anyone who recognises the homage I'm paying with his name without having to look it up.
If anyone is interesting, Iai is the technique of rapidly unsheathing and sheathing a sword in one single motion for a powerful strike. See One Piece for that kind of thing, that's where I got the idea.
Another point of interest, I'll be taking a week off to work on a short story for a competition, so there won't be a chapter until a fortnight from now or so. I'm sorry for the delay, but as I'm only able to concentrate my energies on one story at a time I need to get this short story done. Thank you for your patience.
Please review and tell me what you think. I try to take each review into account, and believe me I read them all. Tell me what can be improved, what you liked, what you didn't, everything. I'm a writer so I'm always open to criticism.