New memories flashed into his mind, one after the other, as his shadow clones completed their task. Memories of long dimly lit hallways that filled the underground base, a nearly endless series of doors, masked shinobi being quickly and quietly eliminated to guarantee that no one would interfere with his mission.
Naruto blinked as the last memory passed. His target was on the move ahead, alert, as if he knew he was being watched. Focus, this guy will kill you if you aren't careful. And he knows something is up.
He along the corridor wall slowly, to prevent his kevlar bracers and armor from scraping against the wall and giving his location away. He inhaled through the pores of his plain white porcelain mask, slow and silent.
Naruto's right hand curled around the long hilt clipped to his belt. It stayed there for a second as he considered using it.
He'll sense it.
He palmed a kunai instead.
Naruto pushed off the wall and slashed at the head of the silver-haired teenager he was trailing.
The man bent over, the knife swinging over his head, before spinning around to face his assailant with a kick aimed at his torso. His bracer took the brunt of his opponent's kick but the force behind it still pushed him back a few feet and caused him to drop the kunai.
So much for stealth.
Kabuto smirked as he adjusted his glasses. "Danzo must really be underestimating me if he sent a brat who's supposed to be in the academy to kill me."
Naruto unclipped the steel grey vajra shaped hilt and charged while Kabuto palmed a kunai. A blade seemingly composed of purple electricity extended from the hilt as Naruto was a foot away. Kabuto was caught off guard and was forced to parry the strike.
Rather than slice through the weapon like usual, the lightning blade jerked to a stop as it struck the knife. Must be made from something special.
But its electricity still flowed through the metal into Kabuto's hand, sending a shocking numbness through his limbs. The paralytic effect slowed him down just enough that he could not stop Naruto's fist from driving into his liver.
The blond smashed his foot into Kabuto's face as he bent over from the previous blow. It knocked the glasses off his face and sent him flying backward a few feet.
Kabuto brought his hands together even as he was in the air and performed three hand seals. Water erupted from his mouth in a powerful jet, shooting at Naruto as he rushed in.
Faster than thought, Naruto sliced the jet of water apart. He had no time to chide himself for the stupid move or thank his luck that it cut a gap wide enough to prevent him from being doused in electrified water as Kabuto was right behind it.
Purple eyes obscured by the mask widened as he leaned away from a downward slash at his shoulder. He leaped up, over the swipe at his legs and but was too slow to stop the cross directed at his torso.
He did not wince as the armor softened the blow considerably. Naruto wasted no time as he jumped back, returning the deactivated hilt to his belt. Bird-Snake-Monkey-Ram. Raiton: Raikyū!
A large orb of dark blue electricity shot out of Naruto's fingertips and Kabuto dropped a smoke bomb. The smoke mixed with the dust left by his technique as it hit the floor and left a crater, keeping the spy out of sight. A soft cracking noise caught his ears.
The floor!
Naruto pushed off, channeled chakra to his feet and stuck to ceiling as two hands emerged from the spot he had been standing on. He palmed four kunai and threw them at Kabuto just as the rest of his body was coming out of the floor.
Kabuto dispelled in a puff of smoke as the kunai pierced his chest. Shit. He pivoted on his foot as Kabuto tore through the ground, from what had been his blind spot and lunged at Naruto, chakra scalpels ready to sever his heart muscles.
Reflexes honed by years of training had saved him from a quick death as he stopped the chakra flow to his feet. The scalpel struck him on the stomach and had him spitting blood into his mask while the power behind the blow knocked him off balance.
Naruto hit the ground with a thud and skidded for a few meters before halting in a crouch. Kabuto landed on his feet almost noiselessly.
"You're good, definitely much better than what I expected but… it ends here," Kabuto said as he sprinted towards the blond.
Naruto held his hands in a cross seal. Two clones materialized on either side of him and charged at Kabuto.
He sped through a sequence of seven hand seals. Kuchiyose: Gamaguchi Shibari! "It does," Naruto said as he slammed his hands onto the ground.
Five seconds.
His clones held Kabuto off and let him stay still long enough for the advanced jutsu to take effect. Pink flesh grew out of the floor, walls, and ceiling of the corridor, completely covering it in seconds.
Both the clones dispelled; their work complete as Kabuto's feet sunk into the squishy surface. While he was trying to free his feet, eight tentacles came out of the walls and wrapped around his limbs.
Naruto pushed off the ground and pulled his sword out once more. Small tendrils of lightning flashed in and out in the air surrounding the sword as Naruto rushed at Kabuto, who was trying to cut through the tentacles with his chakra scalpels.
He drew his right hand back and stabbed Kabuto in the chest. Blood gushed out of the wound, spilling onto the stomach lining that covered the floor and walls some spraying his mask and armor in red.
Naruto was not done, however. He pumped Raiton chakra into the sword into the skewered medic.
Just to be sure that you don't heal.
Kabuto screamed in agony for a few seconds and his own struggles worsened the wound in his chest.
"I was sent precisely because he knew what you were capable of," the blond whispered into Kabuto's ear. Seeing Kabuto close his eyes, he yanked the sword out. He placed his palm on the floor and the tentacles receded into the walls and the corridor returned to its normal state.
Naruto sealed the body lying on the floor in a scroll and made for the exit. He stopped outside the base and his hands twisted into the snake seal. He disappeared into the dark forest after hearing the sound of a series of explosions and crashing of rocks.
XxX
The sound of steel hitting steel reverberated across the training ground as Danzo watched his best operative spar with one of his bodyguards. A ghost of a smile appeared on his face at the competitiveness and brutality of the contest.
The grass under their feet was being trampled mercilessly by the fast and deadly movements of both combatants. Naruto parried Torune's slash with his ninjato, the substitute to his usual weapon, and lashed out with a vicious spinning kick to the head, almost enough to make him lose grip of his tanto.
Torune recovered fast enough to block Naruto's heavy strike. Torune's shorter blade, superior size and strength allowed him to overpower the blond.
The boy had met all his expectations and Danzo was pleased with the results that were playing out in front him. Ordinarily, this was something that he would have deemed adequate but, his expectations for Naruto were so high that meeting them alone was a near-insurmountable challenge.
His hand tightened around his walking stick, as he heard the crunch of grass under a sandal but relaxed as the aroma of tobacco made itself known in the air. He wondered if smoking was a hereditary trait of the Sarutobi clan. He also never understood how it was any different from the cigarettes Asuma, his son smoked. Either that or he did not care enough to find out how they were different.
It is just tobacco in the end.
"Bored of watching children play ninja in the academy, Hiruzen?" Danzo asked.
"I just wanted to check in on his progress," Hiruzen said.
"Given how disappointing the rest of his generation is, you might have wanted to see something that would assure you that at least one of them is competent," he said as sparks flew when Naruto's bracer stopped Torune's tanto.
"It would hardly fair to the students if they were expected to be jounin level by the time they graduate, now, would it? Children mature at different times, shinobi progress at different rates."
"Are you saying that one of them may become as skilled as him?" Danzo asked.
Hiruzen did not say anything in favor of observing the kenjutsu duel that was taking place. While Torune's shorter blade had more maneuverability, Naruto's skill with the ninjato and speed were enough to keep him on his toes. It was a battle of experience against prodigious talent.
"Well, there are a few talented ones. Given time, who knows?" Hiruzen said.
Torune palmed a kunai and used both his blades to pressure Naruto. The blond made space and sheathed his sword. Two kunai spun in both his hands as he sought to halt the masked man's advance.
"I do not see that happening at any point in time, Hiruzen."
"I suppose it is highly unlikely. The fact that two unbelievable talents emerged so close to each other is nothing short of a miracle in itself."
Danzo handed Hiruzen the scroll that was in a pocket under his cloak and said, "Another successful mission. There was some valuable intel in his base in the Land of Grass."
"To think that his right hand man was among us for so long. I always told Orochimaru that his arrogance would be his downfall. After this, I'm not so sure."
"Although I am certain that your softness will be yours," Danzo said.
"Only time will tell, old friend."
It felt like all the sound in the clearing had vanished in an instant when Torune held a kunai over Naruto's neck while Naruto's kunai was a millimeter away from Torune's chest.
"As to why I am here, it is time for him to step out of the shadows now," Hiruzen said.
How predictable.
He had been waiting for this to come. It was the only logical assumption that he could make given the rather sudden increase in the frequency of the Hokage's visits.
"Is there no other alternative?" Danzo asked.
"I'm afraid not."
"I only hope that his talents are not wasted," Danzo said.
"The Elemental Nations need to be reminded that Konoha stands strong after the events of the last twelve years. It is only fitting that the last one of that clan is the one that shows them."
XxX
A huge thanks to Knyght at DLP for his help. Feel free to drop a review on your way out. A fav/follow will obviously be appreciated. If you liked my writing, check out my other work Desideratum from my profile.