While Naruto and his team were in Tori no Kuni, Sasuke and his team returned, their mission had technically been a success but they'd been attacked by a team from Otogakure on the way back to the village. A powerful group of ninja from the sounds of it seeing as Sasuke was suffering from chakra exhaustion, Choji and Hinata had been hospitalized, and only Shikamaru was fit to even give a report and even the Nara had a broken right arm.
Only the arrival of a border patrol team consisting of Genma, Shizune, Yamato, and Kosuke had saved the team from a worse fate, "What happened?" the Godaime Hokage asked the five ninja in his office, concerned about what had happened so close to the village.
Shikamaru looked more tired than usual, "We escorted the carpenter back to his home village," he began, "but on the way back a group of what seemed like four Oto shinobi attacked us. One of them had red hair and a strange hat, she used a flute to weave genjutsu, another was a really big guy with orange hair, one of them had more than two arms and some weird jutsu to create webbing, and the last guy was actually two with a strange ability to fuse with each other." the Nara explained, "Sasuke used his Sharingan to keep ahead of the genjutsu of the red head but she used kuchiyose to call these large humanoid monsters, Hinata managed to use her Juken to cut the webbing but the spider ninja was able to stab her in the gut, and Choji took one of his families pills to try and hold off the big guy." he explained.
"We arrived in time to see Shikamaru use his clan hijutsu on the last guy," Genma spoke up, "the second he did another guy came out of him and broke the kids arm." the man explained, "I managed to get those two to back off while the rest of my team jumped into action." he finished.
Kosuke nodded sadly, "I tried to assist the Hyuga girl, barely managed to fight him off before he retreated, they all had some strange jutsu that altered their bodies and enhanced their chakra." the old genin explained.
"I managed to rescue Sasuke-san by disabling the monsters of the red haired girl with Mokuton, but the enemy all ran off before we could engage in a proper fight." Yamato added neutrally.
Shizune sighed, "It's a good thing they did, Choji was doing well but he needed medical attention, I managed to keep him stable until we reached the village." she finished the report.
Kakashi steeped his fingers, concerned, "That matches the description of Orochimaru's personal guard and enforcers," he spoke up as he closed his eye, "which worries me greatly. They must have attacked for a reason." he mused.
Shikamaru frowned, "If the attack was targeted then it's worrying that they knew where to attack," he said, rubbing his chin, "but we were a team made up of clan heirs and the last Uchiha." the Nara pointed out. The other four shinobi nodded.
Kakashi sighed, "I'm afraid that may actually be the case," he agreed, "I'll have to talk with Jiraiya about security concerns when he gets back." the silver haired man said before dismissing the group.
Kakashi read the mission report while the ninja in front of him waited patiently, finding the whole thing harder to believe than the original mission parameters, and the original parameters were regarding the extermination of a ghost.
"Well," Kakashi began, putting the empty pipe he liked to use as a prop down, "you completely failed to exterminate the Cursed Warrior." he admonished, noting that none of them looked even slightly ashamed at that, "But Moso, or Hoki I suppose, hired us under false pretenses and now he's dead." the Hokage continued before steeping his fingers, "Naruto-kun, you really seem to be good at rescuing princesses."
Naruto blushed, "Hey," he chuckled as he scratched the back of his head, "what can I say? I'm a hero!" he declared proudly, puffing his chest out. Haku giggled, amused by his younger boyfriend, Tenten sighed and Neji shook his head at the blonde but both were clearly smiling.
Kakashi found it ironic that Sasuke's mission had been completed before everything had gone horribly wrong, but Naruto's mission had been compromised so badly the mission was a failure yet Naruto's team was in high spirits while Sasuke's team had been almost entirely hospitalized. The Godaime Hokage debated telling the blonde about it now, but decided to let the boy and his team enjoy their moment for now.
Naruto and Haku were on their way home when they ran into Sakura, "Oh good," the pink haired girl, surprising the two with their relief, "after Sasuke-kun's last mission I was worried something horrible might have happened to you guys too." she said.
The blonde young chunin frowned, "What happened to Sasuke?" he asked, his worry abated slightly by the fact the pink haired girl wasn't hysterical or overly sad.
"Sasuke-kun's team was attacked by Oto ninja on their way back to the village from their last mission about a week ago." Sakura explained, "Choji and Hinata-san are still recovering in hospital." she added.
Naruto scowled at that, his anger at Orochimaru growing, "That damn snake." the blonde grumbled, crossing his arms.
Sakura nodded in agreement with the angered grumbling, "How'd your last mission go anyway?" she asked to direct the conversation in a hopefully nicer direction.
Haku smiled, "Oh it failed," he said, enjoying the confusion of the pink haired girl that they seemed pleased with that, "but we saved Tori no Kuni and Naruto-kun got to rescue another princess." he explained.
Sakura's eyes widened, "Seriously?" she asked and Naruto nodded with a smirk, "Wow, Haku-san, you better watch out, eventually one of those princesses will fall for him." the pink haired girl teased with a laugh and the dark haired boy pouted, not wanting to admit that had actually seemed to happen.
"Ah don't be silly," Naruto waved off the idea, "I may be an awesome hero, but Haku-chan is the only princess for me." he said with a wide grin that caused the subject of the discussion to blush and try to think of a way to tease them back.
Sakura just scoffed, "I don't know when you got so smooth," she told her blonde teammate with a shake of her head, "has Jiraiya been coaching you or something?" she asked and Naruto just laughed, finding the idea of being given advice about smooth talking from the super pervert hilarious.
"Bah, kids these days, my books are literary art." Jiraiya spoke up as he approached, surprising the three of them, "But no, I didn't coach him." the old man added with a shrug.
Haku saw his opportunity, "Well he certainly learned how to peep on girls from you," the boy added with a sly smirk, "thankfully the princess got over it."
Sakura sputtered, turned red and glared at Naruto, Jiraiya raised an eyebrow and smirked, and the blonde himself just seemed confused, "Hey I didn't know it was a bath when I looked," he defended himself, "I was investigating! It was for the mission!" he insisted, trying to calm the angry pink haired chunin down.
Jiraiya just laughed, "Investigating huh? Poor Haku-chan, he'll have to learn that Oiroke no Jutsu of yours from the sounds of it." the old man teased, riling up the angry kunoichi more.
Haku decided to throw a wrench in it before Sakura got violent, "Oh I tried that," he began, startling the Sennin and chunin, "turns out I have nothing to worry about," he continued with a grin as he looped his arm with the blonde, "Naruto-kun insisted I drop the jutsu before he got in bed with me." he finished, enjoying the looks on their faces and Naruto's bright blush as he lead the young blonde away.
Jiraiya's hand on Haku's shoulder stopped the retreat of the two young teens, "Woah hold up," the old man said, "we need to go talk to Tsunade-chan at the hospital." he explained, gesturing towards the building with his thumb.
Haku turned pale, "We didn't actually do anything, we just cuddled and made out!" he defended himself immediately, remembering the oddly protective buxom Sannin. Sakura raised an eyebrow at the older boy's reaction.
Jiraiya smirked, "Yeah sure, that's not actually why we're going there." he explained in an amused tone, "Your guilty conscience is noted." he added as he lead the blushing teens to the hospital, leaving a bewildered Sakura behind.
Tsunade noticed that Naruto and Haku were a little flustered when Jiraiya brought them in, "Did you catch them in the middle of something?" she asked, prompting the old man to chuckle as the two teens averted their gaze.
"No no," Jiraiya assured, "well maybe if I'd left them alone for a bit." he added with a shrug and the two teens glared as he intentionally gave Tsunade the wrong impression, "Anyway let's get this check up over with," the Sennin began, "after that he can have another chat with that Kaguya kid and see his friends before I take him to the training field."
Naruto frowned, "Check up?" he asked, clearly confused.
Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "You've never had a check up?" she asked, expecting the question to be rhetorical but the blonde shook his head, surprising the other three ninja in the room with him, "Seriously? What the hell Sarutobi-sensei?" the blonde woman grumbled, "Whatever, just take your shirt off and lie down." she ordered.
The buxom Sannin ran through the check up, checking Naruto's vitals, chakra, and any health concerns she could think of testing, "Well you're doing fine, a little malnourished but you've been recovering from that," the woman commented and Haku seemed proud about that, "as a result your height is a little stunted but you're due for a growth spurt eventually, just a little later than your peers. Your muscle growth is also slightly slower than your peers considering how you work out but your chakra capacity makes up for it and with your Uzumaki vitality once you fully catch up you'll probably outpace anyone but an Inuzuka or Akamichi, or that Lee kid I suppose." she rambled on for a bit.
Tsunade stood up, "Alright kid you're fine, go ahead and put your top back on." she said, "Your lung recovered from the stab amazingly well, no burnt tissue or dried blood build up on the inside either." she explained, marking down some notes as she spoke.
"Damn, I can see why the Uzumaki were so feared," Jiraiya piped up with an appreciative whistle, "I knew Kushina-chan was sturdy but never really knew the extent. Between that vitality and the Fuinjutsu it's no wonder." he finished.
Haku was relieved Naruto was fine but the way the old Sennin spoke bothered him, "So, what happened?" he asked, Zabuza had never spoken of it, and it was before his time so he had no idea, "What happened to the Uzumaki I mean?" he expanded. Naruto had pulled his mesh shirt on and was looking curiously at the Sannin as well.
Tsunade sighed, "They had their own village," she began, "Uzushiogakure no Sato. During a war they were ganged up on by multiple ninja villages while Konoha, their allies, were tied up on multiple other fronts due to the fear of their abilities with Fuinjutsu." the Sannin explained, "The survivors scattered and became refugees across the world, the red swirl on Konoha flak vests is reminiscent of the Uzumaki clan symbol in remembrance."
Naruto frowned, "So this white symbol?" he asked, holding up his jacket.
Jiraiya nodded, "That's your clan symbol, Karin must have been aware of it to have it put on yours and her outfits like that." he answered.
Naruto looked thoughtful as he pulled on his jacket and flak vest.
Jiraiya decided to take them to Kimimaro first, in case they discussed something that left a bad taste in their mouth for visiting friends and visited Choji first, "Yo!" Naruto greeted with a grin, happy to see his friend despite the circumstances, the Akamichi seemed to appreciate the cheer.
"Hey guys," Choji greeted, he didn't look too bad but he was almost done recovering, "heard you got a mission in Tori no Kuni, something about a ghost?" he asked curiously.
Naruto laughed, "Ah there was no ghost," he waved off the superstition, "we failed our mission unfortunately, turns out the ghost was actually the daimyo trying to figure out who killed her family and get revenge, and her family was killed by this group of Watari ninja." the blonde explained.
Choji was surprised, "Wow," he said, "so what happened there? Is the daimyo okay?" he asked, wondering how Naruto's mission had gone that far sideways.
"Oh she's fine," Haku spoke up, "Naruto-kun completely disregarded the mission parameters to help her get revenge, he even held down the shinobi who assassinated her family while she sentenced the man to death and then carried out the sentence with her own hand." the boy explained, "Which would make that the second princess turned daimyo that now regards Naruto-kun as a hero of her homeland." he added with a smile.
Choji stared at the blonde slack jawed, "Woah, you're serious?" he asked and Haku nodded, "Damn," the Akamichi said with a laugh, "no fair."
Naruto grinned, "So what happened with you guys? I heard your team got attacked?" he asked and the chubby ninja frowned.
"Yeah," Choji answered, eyes downcast, "four ninja from Oto, they were crazy strong." he said, "I ended up fighting this big guy with orange hair who used some Doton no Jutsu, he also had this one jutsu that drained our chakra when they opened the fight that we barely escaped, I think it's why Sasuke ended up so exhausted in his fight since he needed to use Chidori just to get us out." the Akamichi explained.
"Well I'm glad none of you died." Naruto said with a nod, "Get well soon big guy, we should grab some ramen when you're better." the blonde promised with a grin that lifted the Akamichi's spirits.
Haku was exasperated that Hinata still blushed whenever Naruto so much as looked at the girl. You'd think she'd get over it, not that he particularly disagreed with the Hyuga's taste in guys but still.
"Yo, Hinata-chan!" Naruto greeted cheerfully, oblivious as ever as he raised a hand in greeting, "How're you doing?" he asked.
Hinata looked a little worse than Choji, a lot paler for one, and she had an IV in her arm, "I'm fine." she stuttered quietly, "I just got hurt on my last mission." she added with a downward glance.
"Yeah, I heard," Naruto began, "you fought an Oto nin right?" he asked and the girl nodded, "Damn jerks, still messing with Konoha," the blonde grumbled, "they're going down when I get my hands on them." he decided.
Hinata seemed pleased with that, "Um, I heard you were on a mission too, how did that go?" she asked, poking her fingers together.
Jiraiya decided to speak up, "Oh they failed, turns out Naruto can't help but save the princess." he teased, Naruto was unbothered and Hinata seemed awed and interested, Haku remembered she was an heiress and immediately wished that hadn't been brought up at all.
"I fought this Watari ninja," Naruto began, "he was trying to become the ruler of Tori no Kuni through deception, he even pretended to have the Shikamaru's clans hijutsu by using genjutsu and wires." he explained, remembering the fight, "Once you got past his genjutsu he actually did know a lot of ninjutsu but he was no match for me!" the blonde bragged. Hinata clearly thought the Uzumaki was amazing.
Haku agreed with the Hyuga but also felt the need to stake his claim, so he stepped behind Naruto and wrapped his arms around the younger ninja's shoulders. The vassal knew he was being clingy but also he didn't care, and the Uzumaki didn't mind the affection or notice the reason for the sudden possessiveness.
Jiraiya did notice and found it amusing, he debated on teasing but decided against it, mostly because they had to get moving, "Alright kids, let your friend get some rest." the Sennin said, "We got other things to do." he explained, letting them say their farewells and well wishes.
Kimimaro wasn't sure why he was visited by the blonde young ninja and his vassal yet again, although he had to admit the Uzumaki boy was not trash since he had the interest of Orochimaru and was capable of that intensely malevolent killing intent. The Kaguya knew enough about killing intent to know it was no mere genjutsu, although some confused it as such, and truly it was not a jutsu at all, it was a thirst for blood projected by chakra. It was more a phenomena than a jutsu, there was more to it than just a desire or will, there had to be the promise of power behind the intent to give it intensity and the intensity the young chunin exuded spoke of power that Kimimaro wouldn't believe if he hadn't felt it.
The fact that the blonde young shinobi usually seemed so bright and cheerful was at odds with this intent, the malevolence Kimimaro had felt when he threatened the dark haired vassal was even more intense than even Orochimaru, albeit less refined. The white haired teen knew of the kitsune and mused that the boy must have some command over that beast to enhance his killing intent to such levels, but the fact the young Jinchuriki had managed to direct it and cut it off was still impressive.
"So, what is the purpose of this visit?" Kimimaro asked, raising an eyebrow at the three, he still hadn't figured out the purpose of the first two, but he'd noticed that Jiraiya never visited him without the blonde haired young ninja in tow, he also noticed the vassal always seemed to be with the blonde.
Naruto shrugged since he didn't actually know either, "Ero-Sennin never explained it well," he confessed, causing the Kaguya boy to glance at the old man, "but I have a more important question anyway y'know. Some of my friends were attacked by Oto shinobi, one of them was some big guy with orange hair, know them?" the boy asked bluntly, surprising the older teen.
"I do not personally know every ninja of Otogakure," Kimimaro said, although he had suspicions about who they were talking about he would not reveal them, "I do not concern myself with all of my master's tools." he said simply, annoying the younger ninja.
"Well it sounds like they were part of Orochimaru's elite guard," Jiraiya spoke up to help his blonde apprentice, "the girl was a red head, there was a guy with multiple arms, and a couple of guys joined at the hip literally." he explained, confirming Kimimaro's suspicions.
"So you must know about them!" Naruto accused, the white haired teen figured that was obvious but still made no attempt to give up further information, "What are their names? I need to know if I'm going to kick their asses!" the excitable chunin declared his intentions.
Kimimaro was surprised, the younger ninja wasn't asking for details on their abilities, jutsu or powers, "You just want to know their names?" the Kaguya asked, further surprised by the Uzumaki's confirming nod, "Are you a fool? Those four are hand chosen by Orochimaru to guard him and you aren't even asking their abilities?" he asked.
Naruto shrugged, "You wouldn't answer those questions anyway, the best way for me to confirm it's them before I kick their ass is knowing their names." he responded, "Besides, I need to kick Orochimaru's ass eventually anyway, and in battle you never know what your enemies abilities will be. I'm better off being ready for anything than going in thinking I know how they fight and getting surprised." the chunin explained.
Kimimaro had to admit there was some logic to that, but he was still surprised, "Very well," he decided after a moment, "they're all orphans." he answered, "They were selected by winning in arena combat against ninety nine other aspiring shinobi and given Juinjutsu like my own. The red head with the foul mouth is Tayuya, the one with six arms is Kidomaru, the large one with the orange hair is Jirobu, the last are Sakon and Ukon." he explained, "Under my leadership we were the Otogakure no Shinobi Gonin Shu, without me they are the Otogakure no Shinobi Yonin Shu."
Naruto seemed confused, "Wait, five? Four? With you wouldn't there be six?" he asked, counting on his fingers.
Kimimaro sighed, "Sakon and Ukon are joined at more than just the hip, they are twins with a strange Kekkei Genkai. They are practically a single ninja." he explained, refusing to go into further detail than that. Jiraiya was impressed Naruto had gotten that much out of their prisoner.
"Alright, thanks Kimimaro." Naruto said gratefully with a grin, "I'll let you know when I kick their asses, you want to see them again if I can bring them in alive?" he offered, startling the recovering prisoner and the other ninja in the room.
Kimimaro glared, "I have no interest in seeing those trash ever again!" he shot back vehemently, "I worked with them for the sake of Orochimaru-sama, and if they're weak enough for you to take alive I will do nothing but mock them." he explained, turning his nose up.
Naruto frowned, "Wow," he began, "well I'll try to bring them around anyway, you seem like you could use the company." he said with a shrug, turning to leave.
Haku nodded, "His eyes are very lonely." the boy commented as if Kimimaro couldn't hear him as he moved to follow the blonde. Jiraiya left with them and Kimimaro wasn't sure what to make of the encounter, but he couldn't help but feel he'd underestimated the Uzumaki his master had taken an interest in yet again.
"Alright brat, put some chakra in this." Jiraiya said as he handed Naruto a chakra kannoshi, "It'll tell us your elemental affinity," he began at the questioning look he received, "like how your girlfriend has a mix of water and wind to make his Hyoton Kekkei Genkai, everyone tends to have an affinity towards one of the Godai Kihon Seishitsu." he explained.
Naruto still looked confused, "I already know a bunch of Seishitsu Henka though." he pointed out, much to the exasperation of his sensei and the two jonin watching, Yamato and Asuma wondered if the boy had been promoted too soon.
Jiraiya sighed, "Yeah, you kind of jumped right into that. Usually you're supposed to learn your affinity and learn jutsu related to that affinity." he explained, sending an accusing look at the dark haired boy that followed his student everywhere.
"I only knew Suiton no Jutsu and Hyoton no Jutsu, but Naruto-kun insisted on learning cool ninjutsu." Haku answered and the Sennin knew that what went unsaid was that the vassal couldn't say no to the younger ninja.
"Well," Jiraiya began with a cough, "in any event, as well as learning and using jutsu you have an affinity for easier, it costs less chakra to perform Seishitsu Henka aligned with your natural affinity." he explained, "For example I have an affinity to fire so I find Katon no Jutsu easier to perform and learn, but I've learned still learned Suiton, Doton, and Futon despite this. Generally ninja don't learn multiple elements until they become jonin, Sarutobi-sensei was even known as the Shinobi no Kami because he'd mastered all of the Godai Kihon Seishitsu." the man lectured and noticed how proud the blonde grew to know as many ninjutsu as he did.
Naruto beamed, "So I must be super awesome to know Suiton, Raiton, Katon, and Futon y'know!" the boy exclaimed happily, putting his hands on his hips and puffing his chest out.
Jiraiya wanted to take the boy down a peg, "Well, yeah," he confessed, "but honestly you're a bit of a fluke. Your chakra control is terrible, the only reason you've gotten to this point is because you train hard and you have the insane chakra reserves required for you to push yourself as hard as you do." he lectured, annoyed that he didn't really have much of a way to curb the pride of his apprentice, the boy was damned impressive when it came to ninjutsu.
Asuma decided to speak up and help, figuring it's why he was here, "Anyway, it's good to know your affinity so you can practice with it further, then you can learn to flow your chakra into weapons or your own body without using ninjutsu and use your element to your advantage." he explained, "Plus you need that kind of next level training to create your own ninjutsu." he added and the blonde perked up at that, he wasn't sure if it was the advanced training or inventing your own ninjutsu but the blonde snatched the chakra kannoshi from the Sannin.
The paper split down the middle, "Huh," Jiraiya said, "I half expected it to be water honestly." he admitted, Asuma was surprised the kid shared his element.
Haku smiled, "Naruto-kun, you share an affinity with me." he pointed out happily, causing the blonde to grin too.
Asuma smirked, "A rare affinity too, I was just here to demonstrate my mastery over chakra nagashi but as luck would have it I'm one of the few in Konohagakure who shares that affinity." he spoke up, "Wind is probably the best for offense." he added as he pulled out a kunai and chanelled chakra into it before tossing it at a training post, causing the younger two shinobi to go wide eyed as the thrown weapon cut clean through the wooden post.
Yamato decided to speak up as well, "This would make your Hyoton most advantageous Haku-san," he added, "as water is a good for defense." he explained, "Although earth is arguably the best defensive nature, water can still be used as a sturdy shield or armor against physical attacks."
Jiraiya nodded in agreement with his two jonin assistants, glad he'd gotten Asuma for this, "Once you've mastered it you'll be able to enhance the cutting power of your weapons, similar to how the Kiba blades turn your chakra into Raiton chakra automatically to enhance their own cutting power or assist in Raiton no Jutsu." he explained, "For now we might as well get you two started on wind, grab a leaf from a tree and work on cutting it between your palms with chakra, right Asuma?" he asked to confirm he'd remembered right and the jonin nodded.
"A quick tip before I go, to get your Futon chakra sharp you want to grind it against itself to form an edge." Asuma said as he turned to leave, he had his own team to train.
Haku was a little proud that he was doing so well with the new training, but he felt bad for Naruto who was becoming frustrated at the slow pace of the training. It was only natural as it was technically a chakra control exercise and Naruto had difficulty with such things. The young blonde still needed help stabilizing his Rasengan while Haku could now form them alone, but Naruto could spam ninjutsu like nobody else, even his kage bunshin could unleash monstrous amounts of ninjutsu.
The dark haired teen was still amazed that the younger ninja was essentially a one man army waiting to happen, yet the boy still wanted to be stronger. Logistically speaking even opponents with far more skill than the blonde had difficulty defeating the pure numbers he could put out, and with that dojutsu Sasuke had given him he could adapt to those opponents mid fight. Combined with his chakra reserves and stamina the blonde was already able to match A rank enemies.
Naruto even continued training after they were dismissed, taking leaves with him to focus on cutting while they walked. Haku wasn't slowing down so the boy could catch up, he hadn't cut fully through a leaf yet either, but he did need to rest, he didn't have the chakra reserves or the stamina of the younger ninja.
Haku was glad the younger boy still wanted to visit the hot springs after training, but the chunin glared daggers at his own hands the entire way there, well he was glaring the the leaf clasped between them but no one could see that.
Naruto stopped them on the way to the hot springs by an apparel store, surprising Haku when he bought a light blue haori with white trim. The blonde had the white Uzumaki spiral put on the back and over the left side of the chest but Haku was pretty sure the younger teen didn't own any kimono. Then the haori was put in his hands.
"Here you go, Haku-chan." Naruto said with a grin, surprising the older teen even more, "I noticed your haori doesn't have my clan symbol on it yet." he added by way of explanation and Haku clutched the haori close as they continued to the hot springs.
Karin sensed Naruto and Haku were coming home and hid the little orange book she'd been reading while Kin was in the shower, replacing it with a medical textbook so she looked busy. The red eyed girl was surprised to see Haku's new haori, and even more surprised at the clan symbols it bore. She knew that Naruto must have bought it for him so she didn't say anything but she did wonder if the blonde knew what it meant to let a vassal wear your symbols, then again they were basically lovers so it wasn't too strange for the chunin to have bought it for Haku.
Sasuke found Naruto and Haku at their usual training ground, he was looking for another match but he was surprised to see the two were just sitting there with their palms clasped together, "Are you two praying or something?" he asked.
"Practicing a chakra control exercise for Seishitsu Henka." Haku answered, holding up a torn leaf to show it to the Uchiha, "We're supposed to make our chakra into Futon chakra and flow it into the leaf to cut it." he explained as he stood up to grab another leaf.
Naruto sighed and let his leaf drop to the ground, "Apparently once you've mastered it you can flow your chakra into weapons to enhance them, and it's required for inventing your own ninjutsu of the element in question. We're working on wind because we both have that affinity." the blonde chunin explained, by the time his explanation was finished the Uchiha had grabbed a leaf and was joining them, trying to burn a hole through the leaf with his Katon chakra.
Sakura found her teammates and Haku sitting in a circle, more of a triangle really, with their palms held against themselves and intense looks of focus on their faces, "Are you guys praying?" she asked, confused since she'd never known them to be particularly religious.
"Chakra control exercise." Naruto answered, dropping a torn leaf and grabbing another one.
Sasuke pulled his hands apart to show a smouldering leaf, "Seishitsu Henka specifically, apparently we'll be able to push our chakra into our weapons as the affinity that matches what we practice." the Uchiha added as he grabbed another leaf.
"It's required for inventing your own ninjutsu of the affinity in question." Haku explained as he dropped his own torn up leaf, "Naruto-kun and I are practicing Futon chakra, Sasuke-san joined us and is practicing Katon chakra." he added.
Sakura remembered her own Doton affinity and grabbed a leaf, wondering how she was supposed to make it crumble to dust.
Jiraiya had asked Yamato to check on Naruto and Haku for him while he was out of the village, so when he found Kakashi's entire team practicing he wasn't sure what to make of it, "What are you two doing?" he asked the pink haired chunin and the Uchiha.
"Katon chakra training." Sasuke answered simply, dropping another smouldering leaf to the ground.
"Doton chakra training?" Sakura asked, showing that she hadn't really done anything to her leaf at all.
Yamato sighed, slightly exasperated but impressed, "Well, it's good for a team to train together," he said, "but Sakura-san, you need to make a pebble crumble for the first step of Tsuchi no Seishitsu Henka." he explained and the girl blushed since no one had explained that to her and she'd just joined in on what everyone else was doing. The pink haired girl went to find a rock from a river, quickly returning to work on the chakra control exercise.
The jonin decided the kids were fine as long as they didn't try to keep up with Naruto's pace, and from the way Haku was taking a break he assumed that wouldn't be an issue and left to go report to Kakashi.
Kakashi was looking over the border guard assignments and wondered who to assign. They really were spread thin, but it was standard protocol to have at least two jonin per team. The Hokage debated with himself on whether or not to have Naruto and Sasuke just fill in since Naruto could take both his vassals anyway, and if he included Sakura as another chunin his team could work together again.
The issue was how cursed the two boys of his old genin team seemed to be on assignments like this, and he needed a team for patrolling the border near Oto no Kuni. Kosuke was available too and that genin was practically an A rank ninja himself.
A team of six was a bit more than what was normally used for patrols, but strictly speaking Konohagakure and Otogakure were two ninja villages at war. It wasn't a large or publically acknowledge war, the daimyo and civilians of Hi no Kuni and Oto no Kuni weren't involved yet thankfully. Kakashi did worry about when Orochimaru would escalate and attack farms or other civilian infrastructure.
Kakashi decided to put Yamato on as the team leader, the jonin was strong too and had Anbu experience as well as more combat experience, plus it would be good for his students to learn to take orders from people that weren't himself or each other.
A team of seven could be seen as pushing it but since the team only had one jonin and three genin it should be fine.
Naruto had been surprised to learn that Kosuke Maruboshi, an old man, was a genin at his age. The blonde had been even more surprised when Sakura revealed her own father was still a genin and that her mother had retired from the shinobi corps while still a genin. It had never occured to him that most people were actually rather average and that there was a reason he and his team were considered the Nidaime Sannin, it turns out reaching chunin at such a young age was part of that.
In the defence of the Uzumaki his sensei had become a chunin even younger than they had and he'd spent most of his time around the best his generation had to offer. It had never occured to Haku that the young blonde had considered himself average so he was more surprised by his reaction than the old genin.
Naruto was also surprised to find Yamato could be scary if he wanted to be, Haku thought it was a bit ridiculous that the man simply pulled a scary face and called it ruling with fear but he wasn't one to disobey orders or argue anyway.
Sasuke and Sakura were just staring at Kin the whole time as they hadn't been aware of who his second vassal was, Sakura was mostly glaring and when Naruto made no move to explain himself or even acknowledge something was odd Sasuke just looked at him with an expression of annoyance, "Naruto, why is your other vassal an Oto nin?" he asked.
Naruto seemed confused and Kin pointed to the Konoha symbol on her forehead protector, "Relax, I'm one of you softies now." she said as if that explained everything.
Naruto suddenly seemed to realize what the issue was, "Oh yeah, you guys haven't seen Kin-chan since the exams!" he exclaimed, neither Kin nor Haku seemed pleased with the chosen honorific, Sakura seemed even less pleased, "Uh," he paused, trying to think of a way to explain it, "she's sorry." he decided with a nod and a grin, "Right?" he asked.
Kin rolled her eyes, "Yeah I'm sorry I ever had to work for that snake," she said, "look I've been a good and well behaved kunoichi of Konoha." the girl told the two who were still looking at her as if she'd attack them at any moment.
Haku shrugged, "It was this or she'd be killed," he spoke up and the girl in question glared at him, "but honestly she seemed fine with death at first. This was Naruto-kun's idea." he explained, Naruto continued to grin.
"Her options being work for Naruto or die doesn't exactly fill me with confidence as to her loyalty." Sasuke pointed out bluntly and Sakura nodded to show she agreed with the concerns of the Uchiha.
Kin scowled, "Look, I didn't want to work for Orochimaru either but it was that or die." she said with equal bluntness, "I'm not stupid, I can tell this blonde is a much better master than that snake ever was, mostly because he actually cares about his subordinates." the dark haired girl explained.
"Alright, that's enough, Hokage-sama specifically requested both of Naruto Uzumaki's vassals be brought for this border patrol mission." Yamato spoke up to curtail any further discussion on the matter, "So behave yourselves and coordinate as a team." he ordered, pulling his scary face.
Sasuke and Haku just stared blankly at the ghoul eyed expression, Kin and Sakura tried not to show how much it creeped them out, Naruto nodded and was clearly terrified by the expression, and Kosuke just smiled at the energetic group he was working with.
Kosuke proved to be good at patrol missions, gathering game and herbs for cooking while on the job, the old man was surprised that Haku had fallen into a helpful role in such a matter so naturally. Kin wondered where the older dark haired teen had learned wilderness survival so effectively.
On the second day of patrol while moving along their route Yamato stopped them, "I don't know what it is, but I just saw something up ahead." the jonin said, narrowing his eyes.
Sasuke activated his Sharingan and frowned, "Spider web?" he asked before his eye widened in recognition, "Get down!" he ordered, shoving his superior officer out of the way of a strange golden weapon.
"Aw, Sasuke-chan remembered us!" A voice taunted from the forest and the group took defensive positions, "They've got us outnumbered from the start this time too." the voice mocked as Naruto raised his forehead protector to make use of his own Sharingan.
"Who gives a shit!?" Another voice responded, a girls voice but very angry, "If they try to take us two on one then one of them will get stuck in a one on one and that guy is fucked!"
"Ah, Tayuya-chan, girls shouldn't talk like that." A third voice admonished.
"Shut the fuck up, fatass!" Tayuya responded.
Kin was terrified and her shaking legs made it obvious, "I recognize one of the girls, seems that one of our own defected." a fourth voice said and Kin froze, "Deal with it, Jirobo." the voice ordered. After a moment they noticed the shadow above them and looked up to see a massive slab of rock descending upon them.
Yamato quickly ran through hand seals, knowing the intent was to have them scatter, "Mokuton: Jukai Heki!" he declared, interlocking wooden branches rising up from the ground around him to form a net that caught the giant boulder that had apparently been thrown at them.
A large muscular humanoid dressed in a green jumpsuit with a purple rope belt around it's waist swung a large metal club at the branches, smashing through them as four Oto nin surrounded the Konoha nin. Yamato cursed and made a single hand seal, trying to bind the monstrous creature coming at him as another two flanked it and came at him as well. The red haired girl, Tayuya, seemed to be controlling them with her flute.
The large orange haired of the four enemy ninja, Jirobo according to Kimimaro, rushed at Kin. Kosuke stood between them and unsheathed his sword.
Sasuke recognized the four enemy and leaped at Kidomaru, the tanned ninja with six arms, perceiving that one as the greatest threat to his team. The Uchiha pulled out the vajra hilt of Raijin no Ken and activated the electrical blade as Kidomaru brandished six golden blades of odd design, almost resembling the mandibles of a spider. Sakura wasn't sure which enemy to fight but in the heat of the moment she palmed a pair of shuriken in her left hand and a kunai in her right before jumping to assist Sasuke.
Haku palmed a handful of senbon in his left hand and brandished his half of Kiba with his right, moving to assist the outnumbered Yamato, tossing the senbon at the red haired girl who jumped and directed the strange armless monster with needles sticking out of it's backwards facing head to attack him.
Naruto took in the battlefield as he palmed a kunai he'd placed his formula on, he noticed the final of the four enemy shinobi moving to take out Kin and tossed the marked weapon at him, assuming the light purple haired man to be Sakon, which meant Ukon was in there too. Naruto created three kage bunshin as Sakon caught the kunai with a smirk and leaped at Kin, Naruto formed a Rasengan with the help of one bunshin while the other two moved to help against Tayuya and Kidomaru.
Kin jumped back away from Sakon as Jirobo ran through hand seals, Kosuke leaped back with the girl to assist and avoid whatever the large enemy ninja was doing, which was going to be a close range attack judging from his scowl and the way he gave chase with his hands still in the last seal. Suddenly Naruto was in front of Sakon with his free hand in the seal of confrontation and he plunged his Rasengan into the purple haired man.
Jirobo halted his advance on the two genin and slammed his hands into the ground in front of Naruto as Sakon was sent flying away in a spin, dropping Naruto's kunai as a result, "Doton Kekkai: Doro Domu!" the large ninja declared, encircling the young blonde in the earth of the chakra draining ninjutsu, to his surprise the chakra of the blonde chunin disappeared in a moment.
One of Naruto's bunshin ran through hand seals and unleashed a Suidan at the armless monster advancing on Haku before brandishing his own half of the Kiba. Haku raised his half and the two tapped blades, sparking a Raikyu into existence before throwing it at the muscular monster, dispelling it as Yamato was forced to release the first one he'd captured by the final monster.
Sasuke dueled Kidomaru in close quarters as Sakura tossed shuriken, another Naruto bunshin ran through hand seals as he approached, Chidori chirping to life in his left hand before he jumped, brandishing Kiba as he tried to cut through the six armed enemy. Kidomaru backed off from the three, tossing hails of golden weapons that he seemed to create with his spit at them.
Kosuke moved at Jirobo, waving his sword side to side. The large ninja dropped the ninjutsu and frowned when he saw multiple blades coming out to cut him, and gasped when one he hadn't seen cut him as the old man rolled past him. Jirobo recognized he'd been trapped by a genjutsu and wondered when that had actually occured but dispelled it anyway by activating his Juin.
The bunshin assisting Haku and Yamato was dispelled as a strange worm-like spirit suddenly came from the mouth of the shirtless monster with wrist blades, it's stitched mouth splitting open to reveal the ethereal mouthed creature that dispelled the bunshin on contact. Naruto appeared next to Haku and the two tried another Raikyu but the odd entity devoured that too. Yamato attempted to bind the club wielding monster with Mokuton while the other was preoccupied.
Sasuke chased Kidomaru, not wanting to let the enemy ninja get away or move to range, remembering what had happened to Hinata, but was intercepted by Sakon. The Uchiha swung his legendary weapon altering his trajectory to avoid having his arm caught due to his Sharingan but getting caught anyway by another arm he couldn't see coming out of the arm of Sakon to catch his sword arm. Naruto's bunshin forced Sakon to back off with a swing of Kiba but Kidomaru had disappeared into the trees.
"Damn it, Sakura get back to the others." Sasuke ordered before his eye widened in shock, the bunshin of Naruto with him mirrored his expressed as a golden arrow pierced Sakura, the projectile striking the ground beneath her hard enough to form a small crater as it left a fist sized hole in her stomach. The pink haired girl herself seemed stunned too as she stumbled before starting to fall.
Both the Sharingan in Sasuke's eye and the one in Naruto's bunshin morphed then to resemble three intersecting eclipses before another arrow struck the bunshin. Sasuke's eye tracked the flight path and he glared at where it come from before the forest where the Uchiha glared ignited and a malevolent killing intent pressed down upon them all.
Haku wasn't sure what had happened, one second Naruto was helping him fight the strange monsters of Tayuya, and the next he suddenly froze. Haku and Yamato both panicked as wrist blade of the monster and the worm entity came at him before suddenly the killing intent of the kitsune crashed down upon them and the monster and worm both ignited in black fire. The dark haired boy noticed another black fire burning in the direction Sasuke had chased his enemy and wondered what in the world had happened.
Sakon swiftly moved away from the enraged Uchiha, barely taking cover between trees as they caught fire before he managed to shunshin away, noticing Kidomaru had lost one of his right arms at the elbow and was stemming the bleeding with his webbing.
The red chakra of the Kyubi no Yoko bubbled around Naruto before the blonde dropped his half of Kiba, made a seal, and stood over the kunai Sakon had dropped earlier, the almost physical cloak of chakra taking on a fox-like shape as the red eyed blonde glared at Jirobo who swiftly activated the second stage of his Juin.
Sasuke returned with Sakura in his arms, blood dripping from his eye and Haku got an idea of what had happened but still didn't understand where the black fire or the change in the Sharingan had come from. The vassal ninja moved swiftly, tucking Kiba in his sash and taking out his medical kit as he approached Sasuke.
Tayuya pulled back from the conflict, dispelling her last trapped monster as she activated her own Juin. Sakon and the wounded Kidomaru regrouped with the red haired girl as Jirobo was engulfed in black flame, "Fuck this." she summed up the situation.
"We're retreating." Sakon agreed but before they could a kunai landed at Kidomaru's feet and suddenly Naruto was there, the yoko no koromo around him stabilizing a Rasengan that he plunged into the stomach of the spider-like ninja. Kidomaru hastily activated his Juin in an attempt to escape as his two remaining team members jumped back to get away.
Tayuya gasped as she was caught by Mokuton branches, having been too focused on the Jinchuriki to notice the jonin moving to intercept her. Sakon was similarly intercepted by Sasuke, who caught him in the rings of lightning emitted by Raijin no Ken before engulfing him in the black flames.
Kidomaru thought he might be the only one to survive by activating his Juin until the clawed hand of Naruto's yoko no koromo grabbed him by the leg and he was dragged through the air, and a tree, before being thrown into the ground and black flames engulfed him too.
Sasuke and Naruto both turned on the captured Tayuya, who felt the hand of death on her, "She's alive!" Haku's voice spared her fate and the two enraged chunin suddenly stopped short before leaping to check on Sakura, the chakra of the Kyubi withdrawing but the physical changes it brought on and the killing intent still present until the blonde saw the pink haired girl was breathing and his right eye became blue again.
Sasuke and Naruto's Sharingan returned to their three tomoe state, "We have to get her back to the village, I only stabilized her, she needs attention from Tsunade-hakase." Haku explained quickly and the two younger ninja carefully lifted their teammate.
Kosuke had no idea what had just happened, the black flames were still burning, although thankfully not spreading fast but even with Jirobo's corpse entirely charred they burned as if the need for fuel was no concern for them. Kin was stunned, she decided that she was very glad she decided to side with Konoha after that particular display.
Yamato finished wrapping Tayuya up in branches and the ninja of Konoha returned to their village with a prisoner and an injured ally.