AN: I figured some people might be a little disappointed that I skipped over the actual smut last chapter, and I will be honest it just felt kind of awkward to write out. That being said I did end up writing it out and decided I'll be putting it up as it's own one shot. Part of my hesitation mostly comes from the ages of the characters I'm writing about, and I figured I could just leave the scene to imagination. That being said I'll be uploading the scene at the same time as this chapter, I considered editing the last chapter but ultimately decided to put it as it's own short little snippet story so that those who aren't interested can simply read this story from start to finish without it and for those who are interested the 'missing scene' can be found on my profile.
My apologies to anyone that wanted the smut to be seamlessly a part of this story but in the moment of writing out the chapter it just seemed better to leave it to a fade to black as it were.
Naruto lead Haku, Hinata, and Choji towards where they were supposed to be meeting a merchant caravan to guard them through the mountains from bandits.
Hinata was still shy around Naruto, but Haku didn't see the girl looking at the blonde with such blatant affection as much and after what he and Naruto had recently started doing he felt much less threatened by the presence of the Hyuga girl.
"Ah, there they are!" Naruto called out, jumping down to meet them, two men approached as the blonde waved to the merchants. Haku and the other two genin fell into step behind Naruto.
"Who are you?" One of the men, presumably a guard, asked them suspiciously.
"Konohagakure Shinobi." Naruto answered with a grin, "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, jonin in charge of these guys." he introduced cheerfully, clearly still quite proud of his rank.
Haku bowed, "I am Haku, vassal of Naruto-kun." he introduced politely.
"I'm Choji Akamichi." Choji piped up with a wave.
"My name is Hinata Hyuga, nice to meet you." Hinata said with her own polite bow and the guards exchanged a look and murmured among each other, "Oh, Hokage-sama gave us something to identify ourselves with!" she added, pulling out a cloth sack.
A young girl with brown hair in a ponytail snatched the sack and took it on top of one of the carts, "Momiji-chan, give that back!" an old woman scolded.
"They're telling the truth!" Momiji declared, pulling out haori with a grin, the clothing said 'Konoha Moving Service' on the back of it.
Naruto's eye twitched, "That damned Kakashi-sensei." he grumbled, Haku sighed and both Hinata and Choji looked displeased with that as well. Haku especially didn't want to change haori, he had the Uzumaki symbol on his current one and Naruto had bought it for him.
The merchants laughed about the haori and the two guards decided to introduce themselves, "I see. I'm Kikusuke," the guard with the white hat said, "This is Yurinoshin." he continued, gesturing to the guard with the beret, "That's Shun." he finished, pointing out a third man waiting with the caravan.
"I'm Momiji!" Momiji introduced cheerfully, waving the haori, "We'll be counting on you movers!" she finished much to the exasperation of the Konoha shinobi.
Despite their reservations the Konoha nin packed away their own jackets and haori to wear the haori Kakashi had sent with them for the mission and assisted with moving the carts of the caravan. Choji pushed one basically by himself while Hinata and Haku assisted Naruto with another as the merchants either pulled them from the front or walked along besides the carts to ensure nothing fell off.
Choji was eating while pushing the cart he was helping with, using one hand to push and the other to shovel potato chips into his mouth. Momiji watched the chubby ninja from on top of the cart he was pushing, visibly impressed, "Wow, you sure eat a lot. That must be why you're so f-" she began to comment and the Akamichi looked like he might snap, "-full figured." the girl finished.
Choji smiled up at the girl, "This is for you." he said, tossing an unopened bag of potato chips up at the girl.
Momiji caught them with a happy smile, "I love people with great strength." she added and the boy laughed.
"Something like this is a cinch!" Choji declared, "Watch this!" he exclaimed and started running the cart up the hill, startling the merchants with him and causing Momiji to laugh as she enjoyed her ride speeding up.
Naruto frowned, "Damn, Choji-san is getting carried away." he commented.
"Move faster, mover." Shun ordered, "We're rapidly falling behind." he pointed out.
"We aren't movers, damn it!" Naruto shot back, annoyed with the mission already, "Why don't you help out instead of complaining, y'know!?" he asked.
"No, it's fine." Kikusuke assured, confusing the three Konoha nin helping with the cart.
"Our cousin, Shun, is in poor health." Yurinoshin explained.
"You don't need to worry, Kikusuke-san, Yurinoshin-san." Shun spoke up, "I had no intention of listening to anything this good for nothing has had to say from the start." he asserted, annoying Haku with his words and attitude.
Naruto took offense, "Good for nothing!? I'll show you!" he declared angrily, pushing hard against the cart and sprinting off to catch up with Choji.
Soon enough the caravan had to stop for a break, although they made good time thanks to Naruto and Choji. The young jonin chugged down his water while Choji caught his breath and kept a lookout.
"Are you okay Naruto-kun?" Hinata asked, slightly worried.
"Honestly, you should have at least taken your weights off before running off." Haku pointed out with a sigh.
"I'm sorry." Kikusuke apologized, "Shun is being unreasonable, here, have some more water." he offered before realizing his canteen was empty, "Oh." he muttered as he upturned it to show barely a drop left.
Naruto frowned, "Mine's empty too." he revealed, reaching for his flak vest under the movers haori for a scroll.
"Then have some freshly drawn water." Momiji offered, tossing a waterskin to the boy.
Naruto caught it, surprised, "Wow, how'd you find fresh water in a place like this?" he asked, glad he didn't have to use the scroll that used fuin to contain water in case it was needed for combat.
"Baachan taught me." Momiji said proudly with her hands on her hips, confusing Naruto until the an old lady explained how they used rods to douse for water.
Naruto thought dousing was an interesting skill and decided to try learning it as he took a sip of the water, already recovered from exerting himself. The boy shared the water with the guards, but Shun and Yurinoshin declined.
Kikusuke took a sip, "It doesn't compare to the water in Na no Kuni, but it's good water." he said, seeming homesick.
"Come to think of it, what kind of place is Na no Kuni?" Naruto asked, curious about the lands outside and around his home.
Yurinoshin spoke up, "Na no Kuni is a small land deep in the mountains." he answered, "Everyone in the land loves nature and is warm of heart." he added with a nostalgic tone, "It really was a paradise..."
"Was?" Hinata asked, confused since she hadn't heard of any strife in the land.
"Oh, it's nothing." Yurinoshin answered, neither Haku nor Hinata quite believed that but tried not to let it show.
"If it's such a great place why do you need our protection, y'know?" Naruto asked, finding the description strange for other reasons.
Yurinoshin seemed unsure of how to answer that, "It's targeted because people take the peace for granted!" Shun answered for the other man angrily, startling the other merchants.
"What do you mean by that, y'know?" Naruto asked, finding that answer even more strange.
"Stuff like loving nature and being warm of heart sounds nice." Shun answered, "But the bottom line is that the people of Na no Kuni are of soft hearts. We live in a troubled time now, something like believing in people is ridiculous." he explained coldly.
"Hey!" The grandmother of Momiji spoke up, "Na no Kuni is not somewhere to speak ill of like that!" the old woman protested, "The Daimyo was kind even to us merchants as we were passing through." she pointed out.
Shun didn't answer and instead stood up to walk away, "Taking up that kind of attitude with an old lady," Naruto mused, "he's kind of a disagreeable guy." the blonde decided, "He's your cousin right?" he asked Kikusuke, "Do something about him."
"R-right." Yurinoshin stuttered, averting eye contact.
"He's probably a bit touchy from the bad things that have happened." Kikusuke excused, "I'm sorry..." he added in apology.
Naruto frowned but didn't protest further, Haku didn't seem happy about it either but Hinata seemed like she understood and nodded. Choji noticed Momiji wandering off on her own and followed to guard her and make sure nothing happened to the girl.
"Naruto!" Choji called out a few moments later, startling the Konoha ninja, Naruto and Haku rushed to the Akamichi and young girl to see the two were looking at black smoke rising in the distance.
"What's that?" Naruto asked, concern evident on his face.
"That's the direction of Na no Kuni, isn't it?" Choji asked, looking equally concerned.
"I'll check it out," Naruto began, taking out a kunai he'd put his Hiraishin formula on and handing it to Choji, "hold onto this and take the others to go on ahead. Haku-chan and I will be right back." he ordered before the blonde dashed off in the direction of the smoke with Haku following behind.
"Listen." Choji said to get Momiji's attention, "What we saw here is a secret." he told her, "We don't want the others to get worried." he explained and the small girl nodded in agreement.
Choji returned to the caravan with Momiji on his shoulders, "Where are Naruto-kun and Haku-san?" Hinata asked.
The Akamichi struggled to think of an answer, considering saying they needed a bathroom break but that would be a strange answer, "They, uh, needed some alone time." he tried instead, making the Hyuga blush at the implication.
Naruto and Haku made their way towards the border of Na no Kuni, leaping through the tree branches of the forest as they went. They stopped on a branch and the jonin pulled out a map as Haku stood close and looked over his shoulder.
Suddenly a shuriken tore through the map and Haku was forced to pull away from Naruto as it grazed his cheek. The two leaped back off the branch, dodging more shuriken as they took cover in some shrubbery. Naruto was as surprised as he was angry that Haku had been hurt, the two hadn't felt any presence at all.
"Who're you guys!?" Naruto called out in anger from his hiding place, looking around for the culprits.
"You kids are with Konohagakure, right?" A voice called out, Haku recognized that the voice was being thrown and palmed some senbon in his left hand.
"So what if we are? Why are you targeting us?" Naruto asked, he hadn't even come looking for a fight but he'd fight to kill if these guys were trying to hurt Haku.
"It seems the ones we're looking for are heading in this direction, you see." The voice answered, keeping their answer vague, "So those who prowl around will die!" he declared as a kunai flew through the air and landed in the bushes Naruto was hiding in with a kibaku fuda tied to the back of it.
Haku and Naruto jumped away from the shrubbery to land on separate branches, shuriken flew through the air and struck the two in their backs sending their haori clad forms to the ground. Two ninja jumped from their own hiding places to inspect the corpses.
"Did we get them?" One of the ninja asked only to widen his eyes at the logs inside the pair of haori.
"Kawarimi no Jutsu!?" The other ninja exclaimed, surprised they'd been fooled by such a basic D rank jutsu.
The two ninja swiftly dodged the hail of senbon and unsheathed their ninjato, a kunai struck the ground between them and they leaped apart expecting a kibaku fuda. Naruto appeared standing over the kunai and ran through hand seals, "Suiton: Suiryudan no Jutsu!" the blonde exclaimed and unleashed the torrent of water from his mouth that shaped itself into the head of a dragon as it launched at one of them.
The other ninja tossed shuriken at the blonde as he used his blade to protect his vitals from more senbon from Haku, who leaped between branches while tossing the thin projectiles. The shuriken struck Naruto too late to stop the Suiryudan from slamming it's target into a tree and Naruto disappeared in a puff of smoke as he was struck, revealing that Naruto to a kage bunshin as another Naruto dropped from the tree above the ninja who had been knocked into a tree by the Suiton no Jutsu and another Naruto leaped to intercept the ninja who had thrown shuriken at his bunshin.
The airborne ninja swung his sword at the blonde who caught it on the metal of his forearm guard and reached out to grab the man by the arm, halting his momentum so a pair of senbon could strike him in the neck. The other Naruto used Suiro no Jutsu to capture the other ninja with the remains of the Suiryudan.
Haku landed next to the one he'd put in a death-like state and began tying him up with ninja wire as Naruto approached the one captured by his Suiro, "Alright, start talking. Who are you guys after?" he demanded to know as he picked up the kunai he'd used to Hiraishin between them.
The ninja entrapped in the bubble of water glared, "I'll tell you nothing." he promised, voice distorted by the water bubble.
Naruto frowned, he wasn't a torture specialist and wasn't actually sure of what he should do about this, "Haku-chan?" he called out and the older boy threw a pair of senbon past the blonde and into the orb of water, sending that ninja into a death-like state too.
"There's no way to be certain, they have no markings of a ninja village so it's best to take them with us as prisoners." Haku answered calmly, "Although it is strange that they'd be after the people we're protecting as they're just merchants who aren't even from Na no Kuni." he pointed out. Naruto nodded as his bunshin dispelled and he caught the unconscious ninja to tie him up with wires too.
Naruto and Haku tied the two ninja together and the older boy held onto the two as the younger boy gripped the shoulder of his lover before making the seal of confrontation with his other hand and returning them to Choji with Hiraishin no Jutsu.
Choji and Hinata both jumped in surprise as Naruto and Haku returned with two seemingly dead and tied up ninja, the merchants noticed and became afraid too as they wondered what had happened, a few murmured among themselves in worry.
"What the hell man?" Choji asked, "Why did you bring corpses back with you?" he questioned quietly.
Naruto was confused by the question until he remembered the senbon in their necks, "Oh, they're not dead, that's just how Haku-chan disables people with senbon, they're tied up because they'll be fine." he explained with a careless grin.
"We don't know who they're after," Haku added, turning away from the group of merchants and speaking in hushed tones, "but they attacked us for being in the area and said the ones they're looking for are moving in this direction." he explained as he pulled the haori Naruto had bought for him back on over his kimono.
Hinata frowned, "What should we do?" she asked, turning to Naruto since he was the jonin in charge of the mission.
Naruto shrugged as he retrieved his jacket, "They wouldn't talk when we first captured them, so we have no idea how many of them there might be that come looking for them." he said, taking off his flak vest and giving Hinata and Haku a look at his mesh covered torso while he spoke, "So all we can do is use these two as hostages if more come, but it'll likely become a fight even if this caravan isn't their true target." he explained as he pulled on his jacket and zipped it up before pulling his flak vest back on over the jacket.
Choji and Hinata exchanged a worried glance but didn't argue with the young jonin. Naruto got the caravan to keep moving, warning them to keep an eye out for anything suspicious and let him or his team know if someone they didn't recognize was in the caravan.
Hinata strayed behind the caravan as it continued ahead to lay some traps, and when she caught up she noticed something strange, "Where is Kikusuke-san?" the Hyuga asked, concerned.
"Ah, he went on ahead." Yurinoshin answered and Haku narrowed his eyes, detecting a lie in the tone of voice the man used.
"Taking those kind of liberties at a time like this is dangerous." Naruto said, frowning that he hadn't been informed until Hinata noticed the man was missing. Haku found it odd that he hadn't noticed the man slipping away from the group.
Soon enough the caravan stopped again when they heard an explosion, the Konoha ninja shared looks as they considered it was probably the allies of the ninja they'd captured, who still weren't talking. Hinata was concerned since the explosion couldn't have been her trap from the distance and size of the blast.
"What is it?" Shun asked as he approached the group of four, "Is it about the ninja you captured?" he asked, "Then we should divide this group into two." he said when nobody answered him.
Naruto frowned, "It's hard enough to protect the group as one." he said, even with Hiraishin he couldn't be everywhere at once, "What's the point of dividing the group into two?" he asked.
"Naruto-kun," Hinata spoke up, "maybe we should hear Shun-san out?" she suggested nervously. Naruto frowned but didn't disagree.
"This is what I mean." Shun began as he got down on one knee and picked up a stick to draw ten crosses in the dirt, "Let's say there are ten persimmons here." he began, pointing to the crosses he'd drawn.
Naruto crouched down to inspect the crosses, "Is anything okay if it's a food?" he asked, surprising Shun who nodded his head and assumed the boy simply didn't like persimmons for some reason, "Then I want it to be ramen!" the jonin declared with a wide grin.
Hinata blushed slightly, she liked Naruto but even she found this embarrassing, Choji raised an eyebrow wondering exactly how much the blonde liked ramen, and Haku just sighed in exasperation, having thought the boy had gotten a bit better with Isaribi's home cooking.
"Then we'll make it ramen." Shun agreed to get on with the discussion, "Someone is after these ten bowls of ramen, and there are four people to protect the ramen." he continued, "So each person should be able to protect roughly two bowls of ramen." he explained, knowing the math was closer to two and a half but that wasn't actually relevant.
"No," Naruto interrupted, "no, if it's ramen we should just eat it all before they come." he said as he clearly lost track of the analogy, "That would settle things." he decided.
Shun just stared at him, wondering how that even fit with the analogy, "N-Naruto-kun," Hinata spoke up as Haku buried his face in his hands and Choji frowned at their squad leader, "this ramen is for delivery to someone, so we can't eat it." the shy Hyuga tried to explain.
"Really?" Naruto asked, revealing that his mind had been completely overtaken by the ramen, "But the ramen won't be tasty if it gets soggy." he pointed out and Haku decided he needed to start bringing instant ramen on missions for when the blonde got hungry, it wasn't that much worse than a ration bar anyway since they were usually just carbs and sugar to keep a soldier going.
"I'm moving on." Shun declared, deciding that he'd need to ignore the ramen obsession if he wanted the talk to go anywhere, "If four people protect ten bowls of ramen, then each person protects roughly two people." he continued, "But this ramen has legs for escaping." he said and the blonde seemed fascinated by the idea of ramen with legs, "Five bowls are quick on their feet, and five bowls are slow on their feet."
"Right, right..." Naruto said, nodding slowly, "Things are getting kind of crazy." he muttered, imagining bowls of ramen with legs.
"I see." Choji spoke up, "So if we split up into two groups like that..." he began.
Hinata piped up, "Of course, the pursuers would target the slow group." she realized.
Shun nodded, "So if the strongest two shinobi are protecting the slower group, and the weaker shinobi guard the fast group, the faster group has a better chance of getting away as the burden to protect them is lessened." he explained.
"So the slower group are the elderly and the children?" Haku asked, finding the idea of using the weaker members of the caravan as bait to be distasteful.
"Exactly." Shun agreed, "It's a strategy that kills two birds with one stone." he finished.
"However, the elderly and the children will..." Yurinoshin began, stating out loud the concerns Haku was having.
"I just stated a rational plan," Shun interrupted, "There's the possibility of complete annihilation if we stay in a group." he pointed out harshly, "Am I wrong, Yurinoshin?" he asked.
"Well..." Yurinoshin hesitated since he couldn't disagree, Haku didn't like the plan either but could find no fault in the logic either and it didn't seem to sit well with Hinata either.
"Then it's settled." Shun decided, "Let's split everyone up into two groups." he finished with a finality to his tone.
Naruto and Haku stayed with the elderly and children while Hinata and Choji went on ahead with the rest of the caravan, it was an easy decision to make, neither of the genin had been offended since their old academy classmate had become a jonin while they were still genin. Momiji had been displeased by the outcome of the split, having taken a liking to Choji during the short journey. The two prisoner shinobi were kept with Naruto's group, the blonde putting a fuin array that would kill them if activated to make them more useful as hostages.
"Haku-chan, kuchiyose me if anything happens." Naruto said once the groups had split, "I want to double back and check on the traps Hinata-chan set." he explained.
Haku frowned, "Naruto-kun that's dangerous." he warned, not liking the idea one bit.
"I'll be fine, you still have the lucky charm I gave you y'know." Naruto waved off the concerns with a grin before leaping away and using shunshin once he landed on a branch.
Haku sighed but got the others moving. The boy became worried when he sensed a killing intent, it wasn't quite directed at him but there was a bloodthirsty aura nearby that set the hairs on the back of his neck on end. He noticed it was starting to rain and frowned, reaching up to his mouth to bite his thumb when he realized the rain wasn't falling naturally.
The dark haired boy need not have bothered as Naruto was there in a flash, creating four kage bunshin to protect the cart from every angle, all of the bunshin drawing kunai as the water closed the gaps, surrounding them in a dome. Naruto didn't know what kind of jutsu it was but wasn't going to risk anyone to find out, his bunshin tossed their kunai and activated the kibaku fuda tied to their handles, blowing up the water dome and startling their half of the caravan. To his shock some of the water activated the array he'd placed on their prisoners, killing them with a burst of chakra.
"Whoever it was left." Haku noticed disturbed by the ruthless murder of the two hostages, "Why give up so easily? Why kill their own colleagues like that?" he wondered, keeping his guard up in case they were merely concealing themselves better.
"Perhaps we don't have what they want?" An old woman suggested.
"Everyone get on the cart, we have to catch up with the others!" Naruto ordered, "Haku-chan, I'll push, you steer." he added, taking his leg weights off and sealing them in a scroll that he stashed in his flak vest. Haku nodded, moving into position as everyone got on the cart and they took off as fast as the blonde could push.
By sunset they'd caught up with Choji and Hinata's half of the caravan, "What happened?" Choji asked, confused.
"The situation changed, they're after something being hidden by your guys half of the caravan." Naruto explained simply as Momiji ran over to Choji.
"But who would be hiding something?" Momiji's grandmother asked, wondering what they could be transporting that had their caravan being targeted.
"I think Shun and Yurinoshin know." Naruto said, giving the two a hard look that surprised the others. Yurinoshin looked guilty at the accusation, confirming something to the shinobi but they still didn't know what.
"Don't be absurd!" Shun denied, "What even gave you the idea to accuse us?" he asked, putting on a show of being offended.
"Kikusuke is dead." Naruto answered, "I found him dressed up like a ninja and dead, can you two explain that?" he asked angrily, "Do you realize that hiding mission details like this can put everyone in danger!?" he added, having personal experience with the matter.
"Kikunojo..." Yurinoshin muttered, surprising the Konoha ninja with the familiar but different name.
"Kikunojo?" Naruto asked, raising an eyebrow as the man fell to his knees.
"Do you mean Kikusuke?" Choji asked as a guess.
"Yes," Yurinoshin answered, "and my name isn't Yurinoshin." he added, "It's Yurinojo." he revealed. Haku could see the logic behind the fake names, if they were similar to their real names a potential mistake could be covered up easily enough if there was a near slip of the tongue.
"Stop, Yurinojo." Shun ordered quietly, trying to shut the man up.
Yurinojo shook his head, disagreeing with the order since he was forced to agree with the Konoha ninja, "This person is Haruna-hime, the only daughter of the Daimyo of Na no Kuni." he explained.
"Haruna-hime?" Momiji's grandmother spoke up, "You've grown up so much!" the old woman praised happily.
Naruto blinked owlishly, "You were a woman?" he asked in shock, then he realized this was the third time he'd met a disguised princess on a mission.
"Haruna-hime, these ninja are right." Yurinojo began, "We must not endanger the entire caravan by lying any longer." he explained his reasoning. The woman disguised as a man didn't disagree but looked annoyed that the truth was out.
"Why is a princess hiding among merchants anyway?" Naruto asked, crossing his arms.
"There was information of a coup in Na no Kuni." Yurinojo answered, "The land is peaceful and calm, but not very prosperous. Before we knew it more than half of the courtiers had been bought off." he explained.
Hinata frowned, "Who would do such a thing?" she asked sadly.
"The ringleaders are three brothers called Janin, they came from across the sea." Yurinojo responded.
"Janin?" Naruto asked, having never heard of them before.
"Yes." Yurinojo answered with a nod, "They're guys who use a particular ninjutsu, and are called such because of their frightful natures. They've taken many lives and think nothing of it as long as it's for their own gains." he explained, "They treat people like worms..." the man finished sadly.
"But why Na no Kuni?" Hinata asked.
"Truthfully we don't know." Yurinojo answered, "The Daimyo had Haruna-hime hide among the merchants with myself and Kikunojo for protection. But we felt insecure with just us and commissioned Konohagakure under the pretense of protecting the caravan from bandits." he explained.
"Why didn't you tell us something so important?" Hinata questioned, clearly confused by the deceit.
"There's no way we could have told you." Haruna answered, "My escape needed to be top secret." she explained, "Besides, telling you would have done us no good, you'd just run away in confusion." she pointed out cynically.
"No way." Naruto said bluntly, "Even if this mission is upgraded to B or A rank we can handle it, and we'd have been fine with you being unable to pay the correct amount." he said truthfully, "Kikunojo-san might still be alive if we'd known the details from the start." he added coldly.
"Or maybe one of you guys would have ended up like Kikunojo." Haruna argued back, showing her cynic nature blatantly.
"We're actually fine." Choji spoke up, "But to think you'd involve old women and children." he added with a hint of disgust in his tone.
Naruto's eye widened, "It couldn't be!" he exclaimed suddenly, "Were you planning on using the elderly and children as decoys so you could escape yourself!?" he asked.
"What of it?" Haruna asked arrogantly, angering the blonde jonin.
"You're really ticking me off." Naruto warned as his genin team for the mission glared at the princess from behind him.
"So what of it!?" Haruna asked, unaware of the power the young blonde could wield with his rage, "If something were to happen back there, I would be the only blood relative of the Daimyo. If I can just survive things could be restored someday, even if Na no Kuni were to be destroyed!" she explained.
"Just what the hell do you think peoples lives are!?" Naruto snapped, not truly having intent to kill as he stepped forward and threw a punch to punish the woman. Haruna was stunned as she stepped away from the blonde but was not as fast as a ninja, luckily for her Yurinojo was there to take the strike onto his own cheek for her.
The remaining guard of the princess was surprised at how hard the blonde could hit and was knocked down in front of his charge, "Please, forgive Haruna-hime." he begged as he got back up to his knees.
"Isn't it your job to protect me!?" Haruna asked the blonde boy angrily, shocked that the boy had been about to strike her.
"No, we were hired to protect this merchant caravan." Naruto reminded coldly, "The princess of Na no Kuni is not in our mission parameters." he pointed out. Haku was surprised with the blonde but nodded in agreement.
"Protecting someone of your political stature would be an A rank mission." Hinata pointed out, her displeasure with the woman clear on her face as Choji nodded with an equally displeased look.
"So you'll just forsake me!?" Haruna asked in shock.
"I'll protect you with my life, Haruna-sama." Yurinojo assured, causing anger to flash across her face.
"Shut up Yurinojo!" Haruna ordered, "Kukinojo was your senior disciple, there is no way you alone can defeat someone who he couldn't defeat!" she pointed out harshly.
"Then that will be our destiny when it happens." Yurinojo responded, startling the woman as a look of fear flashed across her face.
"That aside," Naruto spoke up, "I may not like you, but I'm not going to let you die either." he decided, "Hinata-chan, Choji-san, you two escort the caravan to a nearby village and take refuge there." he ordered, "Haku-chan and I should be enough for A rank threats on our own." he added. Haku didn't like the idea as he didn't like the princess much either, but couldn't help but smile at the blonde.
"Please forgive Haruna-sama." Yurinojo asked of Naruto again while the caravan was preparing to move out, "She was sent to a foreign land as a hostage all by herself when she was little. It happens in small lands in a war torn world. When Haruna-sama returned from the other land, she had completely lost her feelings of trust towards others." the man explained at length.
The caravan left, Momiji seemed pleased to be in the group with Choji this time and Hinata looked worried for Haku and Naruto, "Please be careful." the Hyuga requested.
"You guys be careful too." Naruto responded casually and confidently as the merchants left with the two genin as guards.
"Why are you separating them from us?" Haruna asked, "They still have value for my personal use." she pointed out.
"Are you still going on about that?" Naruto asked, annoyed at how easily the woman thought of others as tools and decided he liked Koyuki and Toki much better.
"If it's going to be like that we should also leave this place." Haruna reasoned.
"We must not." Yurinojo disagreed, "If we go into hiding, there is a possibility of that group being attacked again." he explained.
"Exactly." Naruto agreed with the man, "This time it's our turn to be the decoys to protect them." he told the princess. Haruna didn't look like she liked it, but agreed to let them do as they pleased.
Night fell and the small group set up camp. Haruna went to bed and the three ninja kept watch, Yurinojo felt strange taking orders from such a young shinobi but the boy was apparently jonin and had proven he was capable of taking charge of his team. The man just hoped the two young boys were as strong as the confidence of the blonde implied.
"Oh yeah," Naruto spoke up while the three sat around a fire, "here. Kikunojo-san was holding this." he said, offering up a kunai with a flower pattern cloth wrapped around the handle.
"Thank you, Naruto-kun." Yurinojo said gratefully as he accepted the tool, "Kikunojo san was a master of Hana Ninpo passed down in Na no Kuni." he told the Konoha ninja, "We were students together, but I could never beat him. Now I'll never get the chance to try." he said sadly.
"You still have the chance." Naruto said, surprising the man, "Just beat the guy who defeated him, then you'll have surpassed him." the blonde said with a grin, lifting the spirits of the melancholy ninja.
Suddenly the three of them all felt the killing intent, "They're here." Yurinojo commented, taking a defensive stance as Naruto raised his forehead protector to reveal his Sharingan and Haku backed up to the tent Haruna was in.
Droplets of water rose up towards them before a hail of kunai and shuriken flew from the distance, changing direction in mid air to strike at the shinobi protecting Haruna from multiple angles, Naruto closed his blue right eye and focused, dodging and weaving between the flight trails of the projectiles and Haku swiftly erected a Hyogan Domu around himself and the tent of the princess, knowing he'd have enough chakra to maintain it for a while and give Naruto a source of ice. Yurinojo barely managed to protect his vitals and ended up grazed, stunned by the power of the much younger shinobi.
"Hana Shuriken: Hikarakuyo!" Yurinojo declared as he ran through hand seals, his chakra picking up flowers, sharpening them, and tossing them where the enemy attack had come from only for the flowers to be ripped apart by the floating water droplets.
"Well well well..." The enemy shinobi called out as he revealed himself, a purple haired man with yellow eyes, light blue teardrop face paint under his eyes with the same shade triangle face paint on his chin, a dark blue sleeveless shirt with arm warmers the same shade of blue, light grey baggy pants, blue sandals, and an auburn skirt held up by a green sash. He carried twin tonfa as he looked over his enemy, "Hyoton no Jutsu," he remarked, looking at Haku's defensive jutsu, "I've always wondered how my jutsu would fair against that particular bloodline." he remarked.
"Not a chance, I'm kicking your ass." Naruto declared as he took a defensive stance.
"Ah, of course." The man said, seeming to recognize the blonde for some reason, "Uzumaki no Sharingan!" he said the unfamiliar title, surprising the boy jonin. Haku found the title ironic since generally the eye of a storm was supposed to be calm and Naruto was anything but calm, "Which would make the pretty boy hiding in his ice Uzumaki no Fubuki?" he asked, confusing the two Konoha ninja further.
"Who are you?" Haku asked, worried about how this Janin knew enough to come up with such nicknames they'd never heard of and secretly pleased that he was referred to as Uzumaki as well.
"I'm Ruiga of the Janin." The enemy ninja introduced, spinning his tonfa, "I was wondering since I noticed you protecting the caravan, but hadn't expected you two to actually be a member of the Nidaime Sannin and his lover, how lucky for me!" he laughed.
Naruto wondered what kind of reputation he'd gotten without realizing it, "Well you got one thing wrong, this isn't lucky for you!" he declared, tossing a pair of kunai and frowning as the water droplets floating through the air deflected them before they even got close.
The blonde scowled and ran through hand seals, deciding to test the defense of his enemies ninjutsu, "Futon: Daitoppa no Jutsu!" Naruto exclaimed before exhaling the chakra infused gale winds. The water coalesced around Ruiga and rippled under the force of the jutsu but held firm.
"My ninjutsu can withstand any amount of shock or force, and as the water doesn't touch me you can't even conduct that legendary blade against me effectively." Ruiga bragged, "I'm really a bad match up for you, brat." he mocked as he sent the water at Naruto.
The blonde clenched his teeth as he dodged, ducked, and dived to avoid the water but it was no human opponent that the Sharingan could easily predict and soon it cut off all avenues of escape, forcing the blonde to Hiraishin into the Hyogan Domu with Haku.
"Ah, well isn't that an interesting formation, but you left someone out here." Ruiga said, directing the water towards Yurinojo. Naruto started forming a Rasengan and Haku helped stabilize it before the blonde left the dome with another use of Hiraishin and leaped at his opponent with the melee ninjutsu.
Ruiga smirked as the water coalesced between the two and caught the Rasengan, the wall trembled under the swirling orb of chakra before it burst around them as more water collected from the ground and coated Naruto's legs. The blonde scowled and used Hiraishin to get out of the water, flashing between the two kunai he'd thrown before leaping to avoid the chasing water and going through hand seals as he landed on top of the Hyogan Domu.
"Hyoton:" Naruto began, startling his opponent, "Haryu Moko!" he declared, directing some of the ice from the dome into a massive tiger that launched itself at Ruiga, freezing the water defense as it crashed through it. The Janin was shocked and forced to dodge as the tiger crashed into the ground were he stood and covered the ground in a layer of frost, apparently not expecting the blonde to be capable of Hyoton no Jutsu as well.
Yurinojo tossed shuriken at the man who blocked with his spinning tonfa as Naruto shifted his hands to the tiger hand seal, "Hyoton: Tsubame Fubuki!" the blonde young jonin declared, sending winged needles of ice chasing after the tonfa wielding ninja. Ruiga dodged and twirled his tonfa to block the bird shaped needles that changed direction to chase him, wincing as a few of the wings grazed his legs as the needles flew under his defense.
The Janin tucked his tonfa away and ran through hand seals quickly, Naruto focused with his Sharingan and copied the hand seals as he watched carefully to see how the chakra of his enemy moulded, "Suiton: Suiten Hofutsu!" Ruiga named his jutsu, and Haku thought it was quite a conceited name but couldn't deny it's strength, "The water of the earth will always rush to my defense, I know it must cost you far more chakra to freeze the water than it takes for me to call it." the man said with a smirk.
Naruto decided to show how much he absolutely didn't care about chakra consumption and started running through hand seals, "Suiton: Daibakufu no Jutsu!" the blonde shouted before creating the massive amount of water with his chakra. Ruiga was openly gawking at the rising vortex as his jutsu moved to protect him, the waterfall cascaded down on his position, obscuring him from view as it hollowed out the landscape where it struck.
When it was done the sweating Janin was standing on a patch of untouched land that had been protected by his jutsu but was clearly shaken by the natural disaster level Suiton no Jutsu that had just been leveled at him, "Oi oi oi, are you serious? Aren't you worried you'll run out of chakra and just give me more water to use against you?" he asked. Yurinojo was stunned as well, wondering just who the hell they'd actually hired and Haruna was peaking out of her tent at the commotion.
Naruto responded by going through more hand seals, prompting Ruiga to shiver, "What the hell is with your chakra!?" the man shouted, taking an involuntary step back.
"Hyoton: Haryu Moko!" Naruto responded, sending another tiger of ice at Ruiga from the Hyogan Domu. Ruiga dodged again, bringing some water with him this time and readying his tonfa in concern. The dark haired teen who made the ice Naruto had been using took the opportunity and flared his chakra through the flooded battlefield.
"Hissatsu Hyoso!" Haku declared and sharp pillars of ice rose up to catch Ruiga, freezing through his water defense and striking him in the abdoment while he was in the air and unable to dodge. The Janin seemed to be unable to believe that he'd been overpowered by the two but his belief mattered little as his blood dripped down the frozen spears holding his cooling body in the air.
Haku frowned, he still didn't like killing, but he could tell he was the only one who could take advantage of the opening Naruto had made and with two more enemies of that caliber left he didn't want his blonde young lover to spend more chakra than he already had.
Naruto closed his left eye and opened his right as Haku released the defensive Hyoton no Jutsu, "What the hell kind of power was that?" Haruna asked, stunned.
"Naruto-kun isn't just a jonin because his sensei is Hokage." Haku answered with a shrug, quite proud of the blonde despite his nonchalant attitude.
"We're here to-!" Choji shouted as he leaped towards the camp before blinking owlishly at the battlefield, Hinata following behind him and staring at the dead Janin in shock, "What the hell happened here?" the Akamichi asked, "It looks like this place got hit with a hurricane." he commented.
"It was more like a maelstrom." Haku answered with a proud smile.
"This far inland?" Hinata asked, not getting the pun at first before she looked at their blonde jonin commander who was grinning.
"Hinata-chan, Choji-san, why are you guys back?" Naruto asked despite being happy to see them.
"Oh, uh, we got the merchants to the village and came back to help." Choji said, tearing his eyes away from the corpse of the enemy ninja.
"We're a team for this mission right?" Hinata asked, "Teammates should not abandon each other." she declared.
Naruto grinned wider, "Yeah, but this is probably going to be dangerous. Be on your guard." he warned as he looked around for the next opponent.
"Do you think they'll keep coming one at a time?" Yurinojo asked hopefully, hoping they could continue to use numbers advantage.
"We can only hope they're foolish enough to test Naruto-kun's stamina." Haku responded, although truthfully after one fight he was already starting to feel slightly tired, it was late at night and they'd helped the caravan all day by that point. Still, as long as they worked together the adrenaline should help him keep it up, and he did have hyorogan if things got really bad.
"No such luck." A voice called out as a group of masked adult ninja, six of them showed up, outnumbering the group of Konoha nin. One of the six was not masked and seemed to be the one who spoke, "I'm surprised you took out Ruiga-nii, he always bragged about his Suiten Hofutsu being unbeatable." the man said, he was larger than the other ninja in weight as well as height.
There was a slight resemblance between the man and Ruiga, although his hair was a dull black and his eyes were grey, he had two dark red stripes of face paint on both sides of his face, he also dressed similarly to his brother minus the skirt and carried a kusarigama.
"Are you the next Janin?" Naruto asked the large man, pulling his fanged legendary blade from his sash as he did, holding it in his left hand.
"Oh how nice, you know of me." The man said with a laugh, "When you get to the next world brag that it couldn't be helped since you were killed by Jiga-san." he introduced, spinning the weighted end of his kusarigama while his five underlings unsheathed ninjato.
Hinata frowned, herself and Choji were from clans who specialized in close quarters taijutsu combat, so being outnumbered by armed opponents put them at a disadvantage. Choji realized this too and palmed a kunai in his right hand as Yurinojo unsheathed his own ninjato and Haku readied his own half of Kiba in his right hand.
Naruto opened his left eye again as he closed his right, "As if I'll lose to you." he responded to the taunt and palmed a pair of shuriken, flowing Futon chakra into them and tossing them at the man and the underling closest to him. The Janin caught the shuriken going for him on the weighted metal ball on the end of the chain he was spinning, surprising the Konoha nin when the shuriken stuck in place, but the underling attempted to deflect the shuriken off his blade and lost the blade as the projectile cut it in half and left a deep gash in the shinobi's arm.
Jiga tossed Naruto's shuriken back at him, the blonde deflected it off the edge of his fanged blade and ran at the man, uncaring that he was charging into the group of enemies. Haku used shunshin to get behind the blonde and back him up as the four remaining armed underlings of the Janin rushed to intercept.
Naruto halted and raised his blade as Haku came up on his left and raised his, the two tapped Kiba together and flowed their chakra into the legendary blades, "Raikyu!" they declared in unison, catching one of the underlings off guard and frying him as the other three circled around.
The injured underling leaped at Haruna with his broken blade as Jiga went around the three underlings surrounding the two Kiba wielders. Yurinojo moved to intercept the wounded underling, blocking their swing and kicking them in the stomach. Hinata and Choji moved to stand between Jiga and the princess.
Naruto took the other half of Kiba from Haku as the older boy crouched and performed a hand seal while the blonde blocked and parried the three ninja to protect his lover as the crouching dark haired boy performed hand seals, "Futon: Toppa!" Haku declared, blowing one of the underlings away and giving the blonde an opening to cut down the other two underlings.
Jiga flung the weighted end of his weapon, aiming past the two genin and at the princess. Choji rushed the man with his kunai as Hinata struck the chain of the weapon only to be surprised when it suddenly altered direction to wrap around her wrist. Jiga blocked the incoming thrust from the Akamichi with the scythe of his weapon before lifting his knee into the younger overweight ninja's stomach as he lifted Hinata into the air with the chain and tossed her into the ground behind him.
Yurinojo moved to assist Choji and Hinata while Naruto handed both blades of the Kiba to Haku while he rushed Jiga and ran through hand seals. The final underling returned to try and get at the princess again only for Haku to intercept him and cripple him with well placed cuts from the numbing edge of the legendary weapon.
Jiga shoved Choji away by his forehead protector and weaponised Hinata, throwing the girl at Yurinojo using his kusarigama as he turned to face the blonde jonin charging him. The ninja of Na no Kuni forced to drop his weapons in order to safely catch the Hyuga girl.
"Suiton: Suiten Hofutsu!" Naruto declared, startling Jiga as the water at his feet suddenly surrounded him like a Suiro, the blonde smirked at the struggling ninja and performed more hand seals, "Don't underestimate Konoha ninja, Chidori!" he exclaimed proudly, lightning flaring to life and chirping like the birds of the jutsu namesake in his left hand as he continued his charge.
Choji suddenly flew through the air at Jiga, slamming headfirst into the weighted end of the struggling Janin's kusarigama before being thrown at Naruto. The blonde halted in shock, grabbing Choji's collar with his right hand and spinning to redistribute the momentum as the Chidori in his hand fizzled out so he wouldn't hurt his chubby teammate.
Naruto gasped in shocked pain as the shuriken he'd blocked earlier flew towards Jiga and caught him in the back of his flak vest. Haku wondered what kind of ninjutsu the Janin was using and ran at the trapped man to try stabbing the Kiba blades into the water but stopped short when Choji was pulled out of Naruto's grip and into the water with Jiga by some unknown force.
Jiga twisted the shorter boy in the water, wrapping the chain around his neck and holding the scythe blade of his weapon up to the boy to show he had taken him hostage. Naruto scowled but released the man from the water, however he kept his chakra in the water.
"Sorry, Naruto-san." Choji apologized, not sure what had happened but feeling guilty for getting captured.
"Don't feel too bad kid," Jiga said with a smirk, although he looked winded, "you guys didn't stand a chance against my Jishaku Ninpo, I've been eating iron since I was a child to develop this." he explained, "Now hand over the princess." he demanded.
Haruna shivered, worried the Konoha ninja would give her up to save their friend and took a step back, ready to run for her life. Choji scowled, "Didn't you hear our jonin?" the boy asked, "Don't underestimate Konohagakure!" he shouted before performing Baika no Jutsu and tucking his limbs and head into his body to escape the chain of the kusarigama.
Jiga was knocked back in surprise, barely managing to land a shallow cut on the large genin's cheek in response. As Choji prepared to roll away the kunai he'd dropped in his fight with Jiga suddenly flew into his large form and the Janin hammered down on the round boy with the weighted end of his kusarigama.
"Choji-kun!" Hinata called out in worry as the Akamichi fell out of his jutsu and to the flooded ground, clutching his left shoulder where the kunai had struck and wincing in pain from where his kidney had been hit by the weighted weapon of the Janin.
Naruto risked no more time of his opponent being alive and poured chakra into his Sharingan, making the tiger hand seal to help him focus it as the three tomoe shifted into the Mangekyo Sharingan and Jiga was swiftly engulfed in black flames. Haku rushed to Choji, tucking the Kiba blades into his sash before checking the injuries of the Akamichi as Jiga screamed in pain.
Naruto released the chakra flow to his eye and sighed as the screams of the Janin died down, closing his left eye again and swaying in place. Hinata rushed over to help Haku with Choji as Haruna stared at the Konoha shinobi team with an awed look.
"Are you okay, Choji-san?" Yurinojo asked, also shocked but deciding not to concern himself with the strange black flames that continued to burn on the surface of the water. Choji nodded but Haku was concerned about the placement of the kunai and stopped Hinata from pulling it out.
"He needs medical attention from a specialist, the kunai is in his clavicle." Haku spoke up, "We need to get him out of here now." he explained.
Naruto frowned, "Will he have time to get to Konoha?" he asked and Haku nodded, "Yurinojo-san, could you help Hinata-chan get Choji-san home?" he asked, "Haku-chan and I will guard the princess from the last Janin." he promised as he pulled out a bottle of hyorogan and swallowed one.
"This flooded battlefield is well suited to Naruto-kun and I." Haku pointed out to assure the others that he and the blonde would be fine.
Yurinojo nodded and lifted the Akamichi, letting Hinata lead the way. The Hyuga looked back, concerned for Naruto and Haku, the worried look on Haku's face was concerning but the confident smile Naruto maintained helped the girl assure herself the two would be fine.
"Why?" Haruna asked after it was just her alone with Naruto and Haku, "I thought you guys didn't accept the mission to protect me, so why are you risking your lives so much for me?" the woman clarified her question at their confused look.
Naruto shrugged, "I just don't like seeing others get hurt or be sad in front of me, that's all." he answered simply, not having thought about it further than that. Haruna was surprised since the boy had cut down multiple enemy ninja that night alone.
"Personally I do not agree with you or the way you think." Haku told the princess with a cold glare, "However, I am as soft of heart as Naruto-kun is kind, even so I could not stand by and let that Janin hurt others either." he explained, showing his agreement with his young blonde lover.
The night passed and it was morning before anything happened, Naruto was feeling fine thanks to the combat drug he'd taken while Haku was starting to feel the fatigue setting in and considered taking a hyorogan himself.
"Waiting here all night for little old Renga?" A voice finally called out, surprising the two Konoha ninja who hadn't heard anyone approach and surprising them further that the voice came from above. When they looked up they saw a man with long brown hair and beige-coloured eyes, with three purple fang-like markings on his face, with one on each cheek pointing up towards his eyes and the third pointed down from his forehead. He wore a purple vest-like shirt with red for the collar and the sides and a blue T-shirt under this along with blue wrist coverings on his lower arms
"He's flying?" Haku asked in confusion as his blonde partner opened his left eye to see for certain.
"I don't expect low class ninja like you to understand my jutsu." Renga said arrogantly, but the Sharingan could see he was standing on an almost invisible platform in the air, "Now hand over the princess before I use it to kill you. I already captured your friends." he warned.
Naruto glared at the news his friends were in danger but Haruna seemed terrified, "Are you guys going to abandon me too now?" she asked, ready to run for it if she needed to. Haku frowned at the woman, having thought they already made their stance clear.
Renga laughed, "Aw, the princess is selfishly asking you to save her life. Well I can't blame her, I'm the same." he said in an amused tone, "Which reminds me, I actually need to thank you two." he said as he looked over the battlefield, seeming unconcerned by the corpse of one of his younger brother suspended on melting spears of ice or the black flames marking where his other brother was reduced to ash.
"Thank us?" Naruto asked, confused by the very idea.
"You got rid of my younger brothers for me." Renga said callously, shocking the two young ninja, "I'm sure I'd have to get rid of them myself soon enough when they started asking me for land and money. Na no Kuni only needs one daimyo and that will be me." the final Janin answered.
"You don't care about your family at all?" Naruto asked angrily.
"Not one bit, it doesn't matter who I use as long as I come out on top." Renga answered with a shrug, "Haruna-hime gets it, now hand her over and I'll release your friends." he said, trying to come off as pragmatic.
Naruto glared, "As if I can trust the word of someone who treats family like that!" he snapped back, "I'm protecting Haruna y'know! I'm not some low class ninja, I'm a jonin!" he exclaimed, palming a pair of kunai in his right hand as he ran at the cruel man.
"Ah of course, Uzumaki no Sharingan, you are considered an A rank threat aren't you?" Renga mused and Haku wondered again where that title and ranking actually came from, "But you're still no match for my jutsu." he declared, waving his hands at the blonde.
Only the Sharingan allowed Naruto to see the nearly invisible attack and dodge it in time, the blonde retaliated by throwing both kunai at the man only to be confused when Renga made no move to dodge. The lack of reaction was explained when another transparent sheet of something Naruto had yet to identify crystalized out of thin air and blocked the weapons.
"What's going on?" Haku asked, unable to see the transparent objects the Janin was using and confused, hoping the blonde knew thanks to seeing it with his Sharingan.
Naruto was confused even more after seeing it form but was able to analyze it better, "He's using transparent crystalized ice." he answered, which confused Haku as well.
"My oh my, that Sharingan sure is amazing." Renga said with a laugh, "Yes, I can fold the moisture out of the air and crystalize it. I don't even need a Kekkei Genkai like your partner there, I'm just that good." he confirmed arrogantly.
Haku wasn't even aware that was possible, he knew the shinobi of Yukigakure had developed Hyoton that used existing ice and that Naruto had been able to copy that kind of Hyoton with the Sharingan but this really was on a different level. What made matters worse was that Naruto and he were both growing tired, the dark haired boy pulled out a hyorogan and swallowed it quickly to help him keep up with the blonde, getting the impression he'd need the combat drug.
Renga smirked and waved his hands at Naruto again as Haku ran through hand seals, Naruto dodged the nearly undetectable attacks, glad the enemy was going for him as the dark haired teen launched a Suidan formed from the water at his feet at the Janin only for the bullet to splash uselessly against a transparent shield of ice.
"I've always wondered how my jutsu compares to one of your cursed blood." Renga told Haku, waving his hands at the other ice used. Naruto's eyes widened but his Sharingan saw that Haku was ready, the dark haired boy forming another Hyogan Domu around himself and Haruna.
The blonde jonin used shunshin to appear next to Renga and threw a punch only to be surprised by the speed the man could create the ice shields. Naruto winced from the pain of punching the solid ice shield and was struck in mid air by multiple discs of crystalized ice from the Janin, managing to protect his vitals with his forearms guards but getting grazed in the process. He knew he would be fine but each injury was a drain on his chakra and the boy scowled as he tried to think of a way to deal with the man.
"Are you really going to hide inside that jutsu while your boyfriend does all the fighting?" Renga asked mockingly, smirking down at his opponents.
"I won't let you take a hostage to use against Naruto-kun." Haku answered simply, focusing on maintaining his chakra.
"Damn shame, tell me, do you lot know the weather forecast for today?" Renga asked.
"Weather forecast?" Naruto answered with a question, confused as to what that had to do with anything.
"It's a nice sunny day with some clouds." Renga informed in an oddly cheerful tone, "Perfect weather for you lot to die." he answered with a cruel smirk. Haku was confused by the words, then he was confused by the sun suddenly growing brighter, finally he was startled as his Hyogan Domu was completely destroyed by a blast.
"Haku-chan!" Naruto called out in concern, relieved to see the other boy was moving but he was hurt. The blonde wasn't sure how the Janin had destroyed the defensive Hyoton no Jutsu but used Hiraishin to get to Haku in a flash and picked both him and Haruna up to leap out of the way of another explosion.
Haku was relieved to be rescued, having taken a moment to realize Renga was using a lens of ice to concentrate sunlight into blasts, but as a result Naruto's Sharingan couldn't predict where it would strike and only the light growing brighter moments before the blast gave away the attack coming for them. Combined with having to protect the two Naruto was barely avoiding the attacks as he took them into the forest nearby for cover, the flooded battlefield not worth trying to control against that opponent.
Renga somehow tracked them through the woods, sending blasts of focused sunlight at them despite the cover they should have, Naruto using his Sharingan to help him protect the shellshocked Haku and Haruna from debris as trees burst into shrapnel around them. Naruto noticed they were being watched by lenses when he caught the reflection of Renga's eye watching them and struggled to think of a way to protect the two.
Haruna was clearly terrified and Haku was desperately trying to come up with a way to defeat the person, feeling ashamed that the ice of the Janin seemed superior to his own. Naruto panted, having been using the trees as cover from the blasts and swiftly running out of cover as he became more injured from chunks of wood and rock striking him with each blast.
Amaterasu was an amazingly powerful jutsu, but Naruto didn't want to risk Renga just throwing flaming ice at them and if it didn't work he'd be completely out of chakra, his reserves were running low as it was.
Haruna felt something wet land on her face and looked up at the ninja protecting her, seeing that Naruto was bleeding, "Why are you two protecting me?" she asked and Haku didn't have an answer for that, he was just following his blonde partner.
"Good question." Naruto responded, "I have no idea." he answered as he took them under a rock outcropping to take cover in the shade so he could catch his breath, "He's tracking us with lenses," the blonde said, closing his left eye to conserve chakra, "I'll distract him, you two run for it." he ordered, intending on holding out for as long as he could and using Hiraishin at the last possible moment.
"No." Haku answered, surprising the younger shinobi with the disobedience, "I'm not leaving you behind, there has to be a way to defeat him!" the boy declared, although it really did seem like a terrible situation.
Naruto couldn't remember the last time he'd felt this outmatched by an opponent, "Haku-chan, I'm going to let loose." he said simply, startling the older boy, "I don't want you around when I do, I'm going to need to use as much of that chakra as I can pull to defeat this guy." he explained.
Haku shook his head, horrified and confusing Haruna, "No! There has to be a better way." he reasoned desparately, although he couldn't think of one. If Naruto could use his ice mirrors he could probably reflect the attacks back at the moment they struck but Haku doubted he'd be able to form a mirror in time to pull it off.
Naruto frowned as he tried to think of something too, "What about Kirigakure no Jutsu?" he suggested, "It'd take me all my chakra to make it thick enough to stop his jutsu, but if you can take him out then that should work right?" he asked.
Haku looked down, "I don't think I can beat him." he confessed before looking up with a determined look and another hyorogan in his hands, "I'll do the Kirigakure no Jutsu, your Chidori is our best bet at cutting through his defense." the boy explained.
Naruto didn't like the sound of Haku taking another hyorogan but nodded, getting ready when he caught a glimpse of the reflection of Renga looking at them through the lenses. The outcropping exploded and Haruna took cover, Haku swallowed the second combat drug of the day and used the Kirigakure no Jutsu to completely blanket the area, pushing all of his chakra into the jutsu.
"What the hell is this?" Renga asked from his position above, "This doesn't change much, soon you'll run out of chakra and I can just kick you brats around until then." he pointed out, "Then when you're helpless I'll blow you brats to hell with the power of the sun." he declared with an arrogant laugh before he heard chirping and saw a kunai coming at him out of the mist.
Renga didn't even need to block it, the kunai sailed over his head, but then he wished he had blocked it when Naruto appeared in a flash of Hiraishin no Jutsu, "Thanks for giving away your position, low class!" the blonde mocked and cut through the crystalized ice with the Raiton no Jutsu in his left hand, plunging it into the Janin's heart before the two fell to the earth.
Haku moved to catch the falling blonde as Naruto tore his bloody hand from the dead Renga but swayed with exhaustion and was grateful that Haruna was there to catch his blonde boyfriend for him as he fell to his knees. Everything seemed to finally catch up to them and the two shinobi just sat there exhausted as Haruna loudly sobbed over Naruto. Haku wanted to take the blonde from her but could barely move and felt like he might pass out if he tried to stand.
The voice of Shikamaru caught them by surprise, "Damn, you guys sure got beat up." he said, causing the three to look over and see the Nara with Ino, Asuma, and Shizune, they even had Choji, Hinata, and Yurinojo with them.
"We came to secure you guys when the Hokage caught word of a coup in Na no Kuni." Ino explained, "He said Naruto might be doing something reckless and outside of mission parameters." she added with a wry smirk at her fellow blonde as Haruna stared at the newcomers in shock.
Naruto grinned, "I'm glad you guys saved Choji-san and Hinata-chan, I was worried about them." he said gratefully, causing the Hyuga to blush and Choji to scoff since the blond looked even worse off than he did after Shizune healed his shoulder, "Ah, check on Haku-chan too y'know, he ate two hyorogan!" he added with concern.
Shizune frowned and quickly checked the boy to see he was going to be suffering from awful chakra exhaustion and currently had a mild case of toxic shock, "He'll live, but we need to get him back to Konoha and the hospital right now." she said, "Haruna-hime, your country has been secure, and Konohagakure has sent a missive to the lands around you that you're the daimyo, we'll provide what assistance we can since your father was so kind to Tsunade-sama in the past." she explained to the woman.
"My father...?" Haruna questioned, tears staining her cheeks, "Wait a moment! If I could request one more thing?" she asked.
Shizune was confused by that, "What is it?" she asked, wondering what else the girl needed since the threat was mostly gone and her bodyguard Yurinojo was healed.
"Please, Naruto-kun is strong, I would like to request his help rebuilding my land." Haruna said, startling the barely conscious Haku and surprising the blonde himself, "I'm willing to offer him a position in my court as a military leader." she added quickly, knowing that requesting a jonin was a tall order.
"I-" Naruto began, stunned, "Sorry, but I can't." he said apologetically, "I still need to train and get strong in Konohagakure so I can protect my own home and loved ones." he explained as he stood up out of the grip of the princess, "But when I'm Hokage your land can be considered under my protection." he added with a grin before he swayed slightly and Shizune caught him.
Haruna looked a little dejected but smiled, "I'd like that, thank you Naruto-kun." she said before being surprised when the blonde offered her a kunai, "What's this?" she asked.
"It's a good luck charm." Naruto said with a grin, "If Na no Kuni needs me just hire me by name and I'll be able to appear thanks to that." he explained. Haruna accepted the gift happily and left for Na no Kuni with Yurinojo while Shizune escorted the two exhausted ninja back to Konohagakure no Sato, the iryonin finding it a bit cute how Haku clung to Naruto and the blonde insisted on supporting the older boy despite his own exhaustion.