Obviously, these characters and this world belong to Masashi Kishimoto.
"¿What do I have to do for you to cut your hair once in for all?" Asked a hoarse and tired voice, desperately.
"Nothing, you honestly can't say anything that will change my mind." Looking sideways to the questioner, glancing at his seemly planning face, the responder threatened beforehand. "What I grant you, though, is that if you dare to do it while I'm sleeping, I will release it. I'm not bluffing," Answered the youngling, threatening at the mere possibility.
"You know I am not joking when I say that it is an issue of world peace, right? Peace or tranquility, whatever you want to call it. The mere thought of what would happen if they realize who you are. Your lineage." There wasn't any joking tone or mimicking behind the man's words. Showcasing that this wasn't a laughing matter in his eyes.
"I just think you are overreacting. If they haven't noticed yet is solely because they didn't want to. Wouldn't attempt to get past it. It will be quite miraculous that they will notice now," The boy stopped for a second, turned to a mirror, and after the confirmation of what he had already established in his mind, resume speaking. "I am not trying to emulate him in every way. Having said that, and with the idea in mind that they served us the same hand, type of hair rather, I concur that this is how to wear it best."
"You are talking about our villagers. The point is that those who do not, begging they might not, have to know are primarily the shinobis from other villages, mainly one of the big five. And in case you haven't noticed, we are very close to the frontier of one of them."
The most experienced figure had to confess to being a bit anxious, not in a good way. It was just a year ago since the two of them left on their temporary journey together. Leaving the village the boy had not been absent from for more than a month in his brief lifetime.
What a year it turned out to be. Not that it was productive, or solely, which was a pleasant and predictable surprise, but the waves of emotions that both encounter and suffered. So visceral, around themes of great importance, some round necessary confessions. For the sake of maturing to face what was coming.
Hidden all year in a place nothing short of particular. Someone could venture to brand it magical, even. Not a hint of danger wherever they looked. It was the perfect place. Why not stay there? Honestly, because they both needed it for they couldn't take more of it.
The concern now revolved around how to go as unnoticed as possible on a land foreign to them, bordering an ancient foe. This place was supposedly amicable, yet it had its dangers.
Very curious land this was, with eyes lurking everywhere they could, in search of any peculiarity that could be suspicious, with coded ears to get any name or any location of interest, and with a non-functional or non-existent sense of smell, given how in this place if your nose wasn't frozen or snot-filled because of the cold, it was completely invaded by the exacerbated smell of insane amounts of incense and candles that made of every stink almost untraceable.
It was a brief stop along their journey, this and a couple of other places, and they would leave for a destination even more remote than the previous one. They just had to avoid being recognized while strolling through…
"Jiraiya-Sama!" A voice emphatically approaches them, yet its owner unseeable among the crowd of the town market.
Surprisingly, Jiraiya turned in the direction from which that high-pitched voice came. Cursing in his head that they had been recognized. With their looks hard not to. 'You just have to say in your head that you don't want something to happen for it to happen seconds after,' thought Jiraiya.
Despite having already turned at the mention of his name, getting himself caught, Jiraiya goes with the first elaborated plan that comes through his mind, giving how not responding now would be stupid.
"Jiraiya of the Legendary Sanin, where?" Jiraiya almost screams, attempting to turn red as if blushing, trying to pretend to be a fan of this mythical figure and his alleged career.
Naruto looked at his teacher and couldn't help but frown. Wondering what the hell he was doing and calling him an idiot a few times in his head. What sense did it make pretending to be clueless when all his characteristics made him as distinctive and easily recognizable as he was? From his wardrobe, that crazy white mane, and his stature.
"It ain't you, sir? Oh sorry, excuse me, I must have confused you for someone else." Said the young man who just called him.
Jiraiya smiled, self-pleased, and ignorant of the boy's sarcasm. Naruto, however, did not follow his teacher, who had picked up the pace as he started leaving the market, believing he had gotten out of this. On the boy's face, Naruto saw disbelief at the Sanin's ignorance.
Before the white-haired man went a step further, he signaled for Naruto to accompany him. In response, Naruto only held up a finger, notifying Jiraiya to turn around and look in the direction he was walking. When Jiraiya did, he saw two undaunted figures waiting for him. Two shinobis from the village of Shimokagure, the village where they were.
'Goddammit.' Thought Jiraiya.
"Jiraiya-San, if you were so kind, Lady Kirana has requested your presence and that of your companion," One of the shinobi added.
Jiraiya knew that this "if you were so kind" was an imperative claim rather than a request. No matter how he felt towards doing so, he had to do so. Resigning and cursing in his head, Jiraiya did what he only could.
He nodded. Confirming that he would follow, his compliancy hinting that they would not cause a stir.
"What's going on?" Asked Naruto to the shinobi that guided them as they escaped the crowdedness of the market, not upset or anxious.
"It is not every day that a leaf shinobi passes through our village, much less one of the Sanin," The shinobi stopped speaking succinctly to remember. "If it weren't for diplomats and those who guard them, I wouldn't think a single one of your ninjas would have come by. Not since the war, I think."
"War?" Asked Naruto. He had studied them all recently. He was trying to recall if there was a chapter where this village was ever mentioned.
"During the Third Shinobi War, we faced Kumogakure among others," As soon as Jiraiya mentioned the place and the conflict, images, and stories appeared in the mind of a now knowing Naruto. Cognizant of who took part and who stood out in it. "As you may as well know, the Land of Lightning it's a peninsula and where we stand, the Land of Frost is its isthmus. Meaning that to reach Kumo by land, we had by necessity to send some troops through here."
"With eventual conflicts and battles that erupted here and there. Us being trapped and with no voice in them," Said Kazesuda, the young man who first reached them by calling Jiraiya, with his monothematic condescending tone.
They all turned to look at him. He had broken that artificial halo of tranquility that surrounded their conversation.
"Kazesuda!" One of what ought to be his superiors shouted.
"What? I only say it to add truthfulness and punctuality to the story, nothing more" Claimed Kazesuda, not bothered by the looks, rather inviting the conflict. The word jackass rather than smartass ran through the head of one of his superiors.
"Indeed, as Kazesuda here claims, we fought a few battles in this country. It would be insulting to say that they were collateral damages of the war. In our path, we razed houses and provisions that we later tried to amend. We provided shelter on our borders for those who asked for aid, the ones who take the worse tool of the conflict." Jiraiya explained, embodying the narrative.
Naruto's head was already wrapped around the principle that war was a horrid thing, something to elude when allowed rather than invite. The history of his clan, of his home village... It had a stamp of blood. The toxicity that it secreted and the pain that was permeated in all who had lived it, in scarred blood, or lived its consequences, was ominous. He had no divinized idea of it. Looking at the boy, this Kazesuda brat, Naruto could see in his face resentment, rancor, and a posthumous desire to thank Jiraiya for the generosity of Konoha after the irreversible pain they caused.
Right now the question of which side they joined or if they somehow remained neutral didn't even come to his mind. It was not the time.
The world seems to believe, since the dawn of time, that there are only five Kages, or at least five with enough power or abilities worth of such a title, worth remembering. Names like Hanzō been exceptions.
Kodame Kirana, the Shimogakure Kage, had long shone away from focusing on those chauvinistic trivial themes. The only thing she now cared for was knowing the reason behind the recent appearance of shinobis from other villages in the land she vowed to protect.
She could not conceive a scenario where profiles of such renowned ilk and name appearing at the same time was out of a coincidence. By no means was she going to sit idly by, at the mercy of the will of both sides.
She knew that because of the weakness of her village she was to not fall into the bad side of either of them. Nor did she have power in diplomacy to ask for equal treatment, nor could her village survive the childish wrath of one of the great five, not even Suna.
That didn't mean letting them roam free, though. She was set on erasing the bewilderment that roamed in her mind.
Looking out the window, she could spot three of her shinobi accompanying a tall man, with such distinguishable and unique features that he unequivocally had to be the Sanin, and to his right a long-haired blonde boy with hair that fell widely down the sides of his face, in front of his ears.
Turning back, she approached her paperwork filled mess of a table. She placed her things with enough decorum for it to be presentable. Just as she was about to store out of sight a classified document, a sensation... A sudden awareness that led her to be silent, being utterly astonished by what she just encountered when focusing on sensing it.
Kodame had been at rallies with kages, figures of overwhelming power, and chakra capacities, however, and for the second time in the same week, she felt an inexorable amount of it, unquantifiable even. More puzzling and fear-inducing than what those glorified figures had. If it surprised her the first time, this one the dread came from the established idea that she would not feel such power in what remained of her lifetime, yet here she was at the same week with the same dumbfounded expression.
Being a sensor type, her surprise rose as the figures approached and entered her radar, where her abilities were enhanced. To think that Jiraiya of the Sannin had this power... Not only that, but the fact that his companion had that capacity despite being so young. His signature was more typical of a kage or a high-ranking officer than a child... The question that came to her mind is, "What the hell was going on?"
"Kodame-Sama, they have arrived with the Leaf shinobis. Shall I let them pass?" One of his guards said.
"Go ahead" Kodame replied promptly.
Upon entering, a sense of surprise took over the room.
Jiraiya and Naruto, on one hand, were astounded, knowing previously nothing of this Kage. The least they expected was to catch sight of a brown-haired woman with pale skin who appeared to be in her thirties. If she even reached them. A voluptuous and muscular figure, clothed with more pragmatism than styling, with shades of white, the homogeneous color that reigns in her clothing. Jiraiya, aware that his current position may as well be one better attributed to diplomats, prematurely banished any rude comments from his mind. Naruto, engrossed, grew quickly respectful of a person who at such a young age had achieved so much.
Kodame got up to shake hands with the visitors, already proving to be closer and more candid than the other Kages. Even though a mere blissful smile lay on her face, her surprise and disbelief grew uncontrollably in a matter of seconds. In her head, a cry of confusion at something so ungraspable.
'That power came from the boy. Impossible!' Kodame looked at the blonde, without showing surprise. Who the hell can have that power at such a young age? She felt two sources of energy in the boy, two songs and even two verdicts of the world, one much more cheerful than the other. They were almost antagonistic.
"What can we help you with, Kodame-Sama?" Jiraiya asked.
"I'll be direct, don't you think?" Both nodded to the Kage "I would like to know what you two are doing in my village. Why one of the Sanin embarked, I repeat, embarked, did not come on foot, to our southern shores. What is the aim of your visit and what will be the duration of your stay?"
"You see ..." Before Jiraiya said another word, Kodame cut him off, having felt not only the fluctuation in Jiraiya's chakra, but the eloquent tone of one who tells a dream-like story rather than the events that brought on this situation.
"Don't try to fool me Jiraiya-san, I can be very incisive and I know perfectly when I'm been taken for a fool," Respectfully and cordially stated Kodame, or as capable as possible when saying those words.
Jiraiya took a deep breath and rummaged through his pockets for a wrapper, pulling a sheet out of it. Stretching his arm, he put it on the table. Kodame looked at the paper, in it a symbol or rather a signature, a signature that she already knew well.
'They also come for the same thing.' Kodame thought. 'That fucking fool. Who does that?'
"Shimokage-sama, we found this symbol on the handles of certain artifacts, weapons, mainly a sword we took from the corpse of one assassin. We have evidence of them in more than just a casual killing. Used too to destroy one post within our border. We logically specified that it was the signature of a sword master, a blacksmith with residence here. Presently, it's the only trace that we have on the perpetrators of those acts." Jiraiya confessed.
"Do you think we are involved in this?" Kodame asked without predilection about what they were about to answer.
"With all due respect, we did not eradicate that option. However, if so, it would prove excessively reckless. It is a very remote option. Our initial intention is to know who had bought them." Jiraiya said.
"Considering that this refers to a citizen of my village whom you would have questioned without even informing me, honestly, under what authority and law would you have done it?" Kodame asked for the second time in the same week, fed up with the arrogance of the great villages.
"We hoped it would not have to come to that. I reiterate that we started with the conception that the blacksmith is only responsible for the construction and sale of weapons. Underlying all these acts, we believe it more appropriate to attribute it to another actor," Jiraiya answered honestly.
"And having come," prompted the Shimokage.
"We would have done our best to keep things from escalating," Jiraiya said, again being sincere. He wanted to show the Shimokage that their intentions were not malicious. "As you have probably guessed we are not even a team, we are here for a last-minute plea to which we responded rather by our proximity than our capacity to deal with this matter. Our stay, if everything goes according to the established, will be brief."
The Shimokage propped her elbows on the table, and her face on her entwined hands, pondering.
Right now her nation was involved in a gruesome plot involving nations that she did not want to have dealings with. Much less a deal in which they had to be defending themselves from charges that could lead to war. Sigh, she preferred to leave this in the hands of the leaf than in that of her neighbors.
"Okay." With her hand, she motioned for one of his Jonin to accompany them to the inn where the blacksmith worked. "Jiraiya-San, you must know that you are not the only ones who have come here in search of the same thing. There is a team of Kumokagure in the village, they arrived two days ago and they have not left since."
"Why tell us?" Naruto asked
"For two reasons. One is that despite my general contempt for the pride and arrogance of all the five villas, it is Kumo for which my nation feels more animosity. The other reason is that I want this problem of international dimensions solved before it wreaks havoc on my villa."
"Thank you very much Shimokage-Sama, with your permission we will withdraw. We will do our best not to cause any problems." Jiraiya concluded, indicating Naruto with his head to get up and follow him.
"One more thing Sannin," Jiraiya turned to look at her face again as she spoke. Expectant. To his surprise, the woman had her gaze solely on Naruto. "I'm not the only sensor currently in this village," Konade finished without looking away from the now uncomfortable blonde.
It startled Jiraiya to find out about that. The concern that he previously felt reappeared. Nodding, he silently appreciated the warning and left the room. Naruto noticed his teacher's change of demeanor. It didn't take long for him to ask. As soon as they went out, following the guide that had been assigned to them.
"What is a sensor?" Naruto asked.
"Shinobis with an ability that few in the world have truly developed, or can even develop. In some it is just a marginal capability. I would venture to say that the number of truly capable sensors outside of a few clans is countable with my two hands. Your father was one of them." Jiraiya said, still somewhat surprised. "While we are all capable of feeling an immense chakra, sensors can sense and discern the chakra of their targets with precision and at a great distance without it needing to be Jonin-like, even in non-combat situations. Abilities vary. Imagine your friend Kiba's sense of smell, only complexed and applied only to Chakra." As Jiraiya spoke, Naruto realized the reason for the concern.
"So they can sense the Kyūbi's chakra by just being in the same town," exclaimed Naruto.
"Exactly. No matter how good the seal, it's impossible to completely hide a bijū's chakra. Also, she has confessed to us that the sensor comes with them," Jiraiya thought about it "Things gets complicated. We are going to do one thing." Jiraiya carefully explained. "We will try to find who bought those weapons as quickly as possible and we will leave. I very much doubt that they will not discover us if they haven't already done it. The good thing about them stopping us is that there is a testimony that we had been here. If it occurred to them to attack us, it would not take long to start a war. I do not think they are interested, but we will not give them the opportunity. Oh, and do me one favor, don't use the Rasengan no matter what." Naruto nodded.
While Naruto enjoyed nature, the tundra of this place, Jiraiya did nothing but look ahead. It was not long before they saw the inn, separated from the urban nucleus.
"Interesting" A silent yet scary voice sounded.
"What's wrong, Shī? Did you feel something?" The squad leader asked when he saw the boy's eyes almost explode out of their sockets. His quick change of demeanor five seconds in his meditation and given his composed self worrying.
"He is not the only one who has felt it," said a powerful, feminine voice. "He's here."
"Who is here?" Asks another hardened voice, that of none other than Yugito Nii. A dark-eyed, blonde woman, well known as a Jōnin of Kumogakure.
"I just sensed the chakra of two shinobi. They are humongous!" Shī said, having no clue to estimate them.
"What are we talking about here?" Hishida wondered.
"This ... I ... I wouldn't know how to put it" Shī hesitated, did not want to say out loud what was going through his head. It was laughable and would only provoke disbelief and mockery. "I have felt nothing like it. It's beyond Yugito-san's and Bee-Sama's capacity."
Yugito turned away from the now incredulous group to ask a voice that inhabited her mind. Her inner beast seemly knowing what was happening and who that subject was. While she was doing this, her companions could not avoid expressing to Shi that he was wrong. Ridiculing his statement despite no previous failures when assessing the situation.
"Matatabi answer. Who is here?" Yugito asked, expecting a concise answer.
"Kurama. The Nine-Tailed Fox," Confessed Matatabi.
Yugito did not know what to answer. What to do after. She had barely met three of her condition and right now within her reach was the supposedly most powerful of them all. Another jinchūriki.
Fleetingly in her head came a thought.
She wanted to meet him.
Turning around, she approached the group. Shī was still defending his words and that ephemeral stimulus before the deaf ears of his companions. Without raising her voice and placing herself right in the middle, Yugito interrupted the discussion and took the title of the issuer in the conversation.
"Shī is not crazy, he has not gone mental. The Kyūbi is here, there is no doubt about it, Nibi has confessed it to me. It has to be the Leaf," Yugito solemnly proclaimed.
They all fell into a state of amazement. Hishida Hone, the team leader, reminiscent. Her team continuing their banter in his seconds of silence when thinking.
"What now?"
"What are you looking at me for? I don't know the answer".
Hishida intervened.
"The reports said that the jinchūriki was a young boy, he must be between 12 and 15 years old now. I do not think he is a danger to us considering that it is impossible for him to control the powers of his bijū at such a young age," Hishida declared. "Do not attempt anything without my order. I have an idea who accompanies him. If the actual little information we have is accurate, he will be with Jiraiya, one of the Sanin."
Yugito cursed, she knew he didn't say danger because of the boy being a jinchūriki, at least not necessarily, but him a Leaf ninja, but that his condition almost immediately meant doom, danger, destruction, an incitement to control of that disembodied force, caused her a burning sensation. Her gaze, even as invariable as it seemed, did not go unnoticed for who has been since she was very young her sensei.
"We are not here for sentimental meetings, Yugito. You should not believe for a second that he is an ally or a potential friend. Our orders are clear, given the rejection of the blacksmith to answer any of our questions and having no jurisdiction, we must wait till the Shimokage forces him to so we can get a name from his registry. We are to let politics do their job for once and expect that under the clear value and proof, she will do that. Till then remained focus and together. Am I clear?" Few nodded once Hishida made his comments.
"Yes, taicho."
"Wait for politics, just perfect. By the time the order arrives, and she concedes, a couple more accidents will happen. Who knows, maybe then this proof will count for nothing." Said Yugito, having disdain for that course of action.
"Shall we follow them?" Asked the fourth and last member of this team.
Hishida queried, looking to the team's sensor…
"Shī, do you know where are they going?" Hishida asked.
"To the northwest, they are heading to..." Shī postulated before being interrupted.
"You were saying?" Asked Yugito, looking distinctly to his sensei.
"Alright, forget everything I just said, they have given us an answer. Let's head there, with caution," Advised Hishida.
"Here it is. Follow my lead. Let me speak first. If your Kumo friends are still here, it's because he didn't even bother to speak to them. There was a time when he brandished one of his menacing swords at them...So then..." Argued eloquently the Jonin near the door.
"Got it. Naruto, do you know what to do?" Jiraiya asked.
Naruto joined his hands and performed the first jutsu he had ever learned.
After making 4 carbon copies of himself, in the blink of an eye, they all disappeared in the brush after a single jump. The Jonin who was accompanying them looked incredulous. It again forced Jiraiya to confess what Naruto was doing, securing the perimeter; so that the Jonin did not feel threatened.
"Better be safe than sorry. We do not know what's going on, they will watch over us," Jiraiya confessed.
Reluctantly, the Jonin accepted his explanation and knocked on the door with force and gradual repetitions given the non-response. 5 minutes later, after shouting that they were coming by orders from the Kage, the blacksmith opened with a less than pleased expression.
With suspicion he invites them to pass, glad at least that they were not from Kumo. He had nothing against the Leaf, for now at least.
"What in God's name do you people want?" Asked the blacksmith, obfuscated not only by the recent attention but also by the sweat that ran north on his face, resulting from the heat of the casting he was practicing until they knocked. Passing a towel through his face.
"Is this your signature?" Jiraiya asked, approaching the paper he had previously shown so the blacksmith could see it clearly.
"Yes." The sword master took less than a second to respond, obviously it was his signature. He cursed in his head for his need for recognition. Not all blacksmiths signed their works. He nevertheless signed all, not just katanas. "And what of it?"
"We can't just go in. She won't allow us," Shī crouched back. "There is another shinobi with them, it is likely to be from this village."
"Damn insidious bitch," Hishina said out loud. "The Shimokage is helping them!"
"Let's not venture to make judgments without evidence. She is a very conscious woman, I very much doubt that this is a plot against our village," Yugito said.
"Then explain it to me," Hishina spoke until Shī raised his hand, meaning for them to stop. "What do we have Shī?"
"Outside the house, there are 8 different sources," confessed Shī.
"Didn't you just said there were only three?" The other nameless figure asked him, nameless more for insignificance than occultism.
"4 of them are the same as the jinchūriki" Shī mentioned before Yugito's threatening gaze found her way to him, earned after saying that term. Shī's voice trembled a bit. Till now his attention was not on Yugito. After her threat, that changed. "They must be clones. The other four came out of nowhere, honestly. They are new and getting closer. Behind us."
"How closer?" As Yugito said that, an inordinate amount of kunais were approaching, aiming at them.
"Very!" I cry Shī as he dodged.
Out of nowhere 3 figures sprouted. Hooded. The question that the leader of the squadron had then, while everyone brandished their weapons and took a defensive stance, was where was the fourth figure.
A new round of kunais was approaching, Hishida quickly did the hand seals.
"Earth Style: Rock Shield."
Hishida raised the ground, literally. Covering enough to shield two of his shinobi.
Shī, however, was forced to dodge and abandon the formation. Unbeknown to them, two planned things happen. Discriminately, one of the enemies went straight ahead to Shī. The blond male grew scared given how nor kenjutsu or taijutsu were his strengths.
They split him from the group.
Shī's scare was ample enough that it wasn't till it was too late that he realized where the fourth was.
"Behind your back, in the tree!" Shī yelled as he classed his kunai against the enemy's sword.
"What?" Shouted in response Hishida, puzzled and looking to the sides of his created wall.
By the time they wanted to notice, behind them, the whistle of a sword sounded before contacting the meat, slicing it. Followed by the noise of someone drowning in his own blood.
And finally, the sound of a head falling to the ground before its innkeeper.
"Oh, shit!" said Yugito as she swiftly turn to face the shinobi who killed her friend.
They smashed Hishida's barrier with a single impact. Expectant of an attacker who was coming head on, it was a mere miracle embodied in Hishida's reflexes that he eluded an enemy that had surrounded them.
They were overcoming them. They were more coordinated that them, were beating him, and he was failing.
The only plan that Hishida's amidst battle could come up with was to attract two of them and thus relieve his team of pressure. Recklessly, he approached one of them, throwing his target to the ground.
Seeing that one of them came to the aid was a relief. Just when he went to take his enemy's life, a wind technique took him out of the immediate picture.
When they got up, whoever they were, they seemed undoubtedly focused on him.
'Come for me, come on!' Hishida screamed in his mind. When they recklessly ventured after him, he smiled. 'I have you.'
"Earth Release: Clay Barrier Prison" Out of nowhere a stone circle imprisoned the two members, who immediately tried to jump seeing that there was no roof. To their wonderment, they did not have the strength.
Hishida threw some kunais with explosives at them. By making contact, they did what they were designed for. Jumping, Hishida leaned on the circle, expecting to see the two dead shinobi in there. To his surprise, far from it, only emptiness.
"Clones, shit!" Before he even knew it.
"Fire Release: Great Fire Blast."
Naruto, rather a clone of Naruto, was resting on a branch when he heard a noise, preceding a light whisper of steel colliding with stone. Immediately he ventured to see what happened.
The sound grew as shinobi techniques were undoubtedly being deployed.
An explosion emerged, and the occasional flare. Creating another shadow clone, Naruto ordered the newly formed to undo himself so the original and the remaining clones on the field got the idea that there was trouble. In case that Jiraiya, somehow, didn't notice.
Meanwhile, the clone advanced. It wasn't long till he got to see a shinobi from Kumo, a blonde young man with a sleeveless attire, defending himself from a hooded figure. Seriously struggling. Almost by inertia, Naruto intervened in a battle in which he neither had a side nor a call.
Instinctively, he defended the one who did not have to mask his face. From branch to branch, Naruto quickened his pace. The other boy couldn't stand it anymore. Naruto saw him block his rival's sword but get propelled a few meters by a kick that he had not seen coming.
From the ground, the desperate boy, or man, did the only technique he seemed to have at hand. From his hands, a blinding light shone, disorienting his adversary and Naruto, fortunately not at the same time.
Seeing that he wouldn't reach in time, Naruto opted to use one of the few middle-range jutsu he had in his repertoire. Quickly throwing two kunais, making after the hand seals.
"Shuriken Shadow Clone Technique," The kunais multiplied.
Before Naruto knew it, he was also struck but the light, therefore temporarily blinded.
Shī who had seen it all caught a glance of the body of his enemy, completely punctured by an insane amount of kunais. So was the immediate area that surrounded him. Looking to the left, he saw the boy, the jinchūriki, who ought to be the one that saved him.
Shī tried to move but he just couldn't, an ugly cut and exhaustion because of that last jutsu preventing him from doing so. When the shinobi of the Leaf came out of his state of shock, he leaped to the injured man's side.
"What's going on?" Asked Naruto.
"You mean you don't know?" Replied Shī.
"I just came to aid you, what do you think?" Naruto claimed, "You are incapable of moving and almost defenseless. Either you give me a chance to help you and your comrades or we remain here arguing."
They heard a trot, someone was running towards them. A tall blonde woman emerged from the dawn, Yugito. Who seemed to have come out of her skirmish without a scratch on her.
"Shī!" Yugito said out loud once he saw him, taking no time to see who was with him. "Get away from him"
Naruto stared at her, overwhelmed. This feeling of immediate, not affinity, but familiarity without ever having known of her left him bewildered. The awakening and whispering of the being inside him caused him migraines.
The Kyūbi breathed out words, repeating how interesting this was and calling her Nibi a few times.
The power that emanated from her. Naruto only had one decontextualized question.
"Who are you?" Said another clone that came out of nowhere.
"Unless you thought I was born at night, but not last night. God all mighty! Why in the hell would I give you my records?" Asked the fuming blacksmith showcasing predominantly disbelief, or portraying it.
"Because whoever you have sold them to has used them to attack a member of the Land of Fire in repeated instances, and without those records, we have no hints as to who could be behind them." Responded Jiraiya.
"Besides, Kodame-Sama has strongly recommended it to you, aware of the problems that this has brought on," Said the Jonin. "You are the one who has drawn them here, so it kind of is your responsibility to help us."
The old man was recalcitrant in his idea and was not willing to give up anything.
"We have no interest whatsoever in your accounts or in anything other than a mere name. A mystery buyer to whom you have sold numerous pieces. It is not in your interest to cover for him. I mean, whoever it was, came here instead of another site knowing that you signed what you produced, with the full awareness that once he did any messing, we would find you. So, I recommend that you give us a name." Jiraiya concluded.
"Okay, give me a second." Said the old man, concluding with his point.
An explosion suddenly alarmed those in the house.
"Naruto what the hell is going on?" Jiraiya asked.
Naruto didn't bother to give an answer right away. He was waiting for one of his clones to disperse or for one they produced themselves to do so, so he got the picture of what was happening. He didn't have to wait long. Blinking repeatedly, he got the memories of one of them.
"We have company, someone is attacking the ninjas of Kumo," Briefed Naruto succinctly.
"Who?" Asked the Jonin.
"Don't know. They are wearing hoods and masks. I didn't get to see any headbands," Naruto claimed as he went to the door, not before making two other clones to remain by the blacksmith's side. The Jonin of the Frost like the idea and, needing to see what was going on within their borders, did so too.
"Water Style: Water Clone Jutsu."
'This one is the Nine-Tails jinchūriki?' Yugito briefly thought to herself. The boy couldn't be more than a 14-year-old, yet within him lived the power to level a landscape.
She didn't have a picture beforehand of what he would be like, yet this was surprising. She had seen some of those features somewhere...
'This is not the time.' She considered before facing wondering back about their enemy.
"We have no time. Shī, try. I'm going to aid Hishida, any clue where he is?" Yugito asked as she checked out Shī's injuries. Noticing that none of them were worrisome and knowing he could heal them himself and be active in no time. She was on the verge of leaving in aid of her superior.
An explosion monopolized the attention of the crowd.
"Just follow the sound." Said Shī, pointing in the direction, just in case.
The clones were about to follow until Yugito promptly stops them.
"You stay here and guard him." She said commandingly. Naruto didn't have time to argue as she left.
Yugito runs, pursuing that sound, hoping she was not too late. While her faith in his sensei's strengths is strong, she didn't want to leave things to chance, not if she could turn the tide by just arriving. The attackers were without a doubt good and coordinated, and while she didn't have too much problem with her foe, Hishida had to face two at the same time.
Plans could beat strength and they for certain didn't have a plan, they had beaten Shī and killed one of their members. She for certain would do her best for that to be an abnormality, no other ally perishing today.
The force in her steps cracked the brunches where she propelled herself from. She heard another enormous explosion. Her fear rose by the minute. She had to be close.
That continuously mentioned worry continues to grow, as something that shouldn't be there was. Silence.
In the forest, she caught sight of an enemy body. 'One to go,' she thought to herself. Suddenly two more bodies appeared. Against a trunk remained the body of her comrade, without moving, being approached by the remaining enemy, crawling with a dagger in hand with the intent of not walking alone into the other side.
With one last leap, she interposed herself between them. Giving her back to her sensei.
Looking down Yugito was about to end the life of that bastard, as she claimed him to be in her mind, by full forced smashing his head with her foot.
Three other figures appeared, determined to not let her do that at this point.
"Wait!" Shouted Jiraiya, hoping for her to show mercy for a second so he could beat an answer of the in a few seconds to be a corpse.
"I told you to remain by Shī's side!" Declared an angered Yugito to Naruto, the original one. Who was confused, not only by her shouting but for who she was and the sensation she was induced in him.
"He's alive, barely!" Warned the Jonin from the Frost.
Without Yugito noticing, he had approached Hishida. Yugito walks to them both and without asking looked at Hishida's state. He was severely injured; she didn't know to what degree. The most glaring problem was in his now gruesome and devastated leg. The flesh and muscles were torn and ripped apart to such a degree that she could see which bone he had broken because she could see the bone itself, she could for sure see the tibia.
"I don't think he will make it to the hospital, he needs first aid right now! None of you would happen to be a medical shinobi?" Shouted the Jonin.
"Here!" Shouted Shī, slowly approaching them with two Naruto at his sides, aiding him since he couldn't walk alone. Yugito stood and approach them quickly so she could speed up the process of Shī walking up to her sensei.
"He is alive, just unconscious." Said the Jonin.
"What can you do?" Asked Yugito, not urgingly. Despite the situation, she remained aware that by her panicking she would become more a problem than a help.
"I will stop the bleeding." Claimed Shī, that while incapable of regeneration tissue or having tsunadeesque type of healing ability, and despite how devastated Hishida leg was, felt confident that he could do it. "Do we have a cast? Something that we could use to protect the leg since we need to move him," Shī asked as he promptly did what he thought.
The Jonin of the Frost took out his vest, while big when pressured against the now somehow not so destroyed leg, could be of use. Shī put the vest under the leg and wrapped it twice around it till firm. Being sure to have grasped the outer and inner layer of the vest and holding it up, Shī asked for Yugito's aid.
"Now, I need a piece something to tie at least three knots in the upper, middle, and lower side for this to hold up and be of use." Shī requested.
As soon as he did, Yugito unbuttons her cloak to reach her shirt. Rather than break it, she unraveled it with precision thanks to her claws. Shī was thankful that the task at hand was to save his leg and not his life, for they all appeared before Hishida's injuries could ever be of great danger. Hishida up to that point hasn't bled that much.
During this process, Jiraiya had already taken the dagger from the crawling and weakened lone survivor of the enemy squad. He picked him up by the collar, so the enemy shinobi was at near eye level with him in his one knee stance. Ordering Naruto to go help the others, Jiraiya wanted to get to know the truth by methods of his own to the judgment of no one.
"Who are you? Who send you?" Asked Jiraiya.
Without the hood, there was no hiding, no shield that could lead someone to conceive you as something other than a man. A scared man with teary eyes who even on the verge of death was trying his best to not show terror. As Jiraiya shook him, maybe out of fear or out of apparent intention, the slowly breathing man smiled. Attempting to speak up, what resonated instead was a cough, accompanied by blood.
Jiraiya knowing that there was nothing this one could tell him that will be of use, out of a hunch, did something that he hoped was nothing more than a delusion. Something that would not show once he died or was unconscious, something that the now paralyzed man could do nothing to stop. Jiraiya covered them both with his body from the sight of those who were healing near the trunk. Opening the dying men's mouth, he looked at his tongue.
'Oh, no,' Jiraiya cursed in his mind.
The still breathing man had his tongue tainted with something that to the naked eye, to the civilian eye, could simply be ink; but that to the experience one was a seal. The root seal. A curse seal.
'What are you playing here, Danzo? A cue? This doesn't make any sense. Why would you need to involve this of all places?' Jiraiya thought. The man cried involuntarily, his tears going in different directions. More out of necessity and secrecy than mercy, Jiraiya put an end to this one's suffering. "You aren't all so cold after all".
Immediately Jiraiya searched for any clue in his clothing, something that could help him make a sense of this, having already sent someone to check the other bodies. This one had nothing more than the casual things you ought to have if you were in this business. Jiraiya was taking out of his thoughts by a shout.
"Jiraiya-sensei, come here!" Yelled Naruto. Jiraiya obliged.
"What?" Asked Jiraiya as he approached. Catching a glimpse at what they were doing, they had patched the Kumo guy up pretty nicely.
"We need to get him to a hospital without him rocking side to side, damaging more his leg. Can the Chief carry him in his hands? He fits there and within a jump they could be outside the hospital," Naruto suggested.
"No need. Watch" Jiraiya suggested with his glace for everyone to look.
A team of the village approached them, led by the Shimokage herself. It didn't take long for someone to take care of the situation with an easier solution than the one that would cause to have summoned Gamabunta of all toads to this bordering freezing environment.
They briefed her on what happened.
"Any explanation?" Asked the Shimokage.
"Not yet, as you can see, we were interrupted," Replied Jiraiya.
"Very well. I will accompany you this time to see the blacksmith, the rest go back to the village. There will be rooms in the hospital already waiting for the both of them," The Shimokage ordered, looking mainly to Yugito. "You four search for the bodies, get any clues you can from them. And someone respectfully pick up their fallen friend," Meaning the dead shinobi from the Lightning.
Naruto was about to follow his sensei before this one stopped him.
"The rest includes you, Naruto, go with them. Once we reached the blacksmith, I will order your clones to disappear. This is up to us," Jiraiya ordered. "You have another thing at hand, one question that you should not leave unattended."
Immediately Naruto looked at the blonde woman. It's true that his desire to know about who she was didn't come from interest, but an internal sense of necessity.
"Who is she?" Naruto asked his sensei, just for him to not answer.
"You ought to ask her that yourself, believe me." Jiraiya left without glancing at the confused boy.