- No... fucking... way... we actually did it...
Obito approached the dead body of the Behemoth, staring at the entire length of the animal with Kakashi right beside him.
- A thing like that could easily destroy a country...
He crouched down, glaring at his sensei, who was facing the opposite direction from where the Behemoth was lying.
Although no one had the courage to say it out loud, everyone had the same thought. Naruto's chances of surviving that creature were small... too small, to the point of being almost nil.
-... Come on... we have to search the lair.
He said in a neutral voice, jumping towards the creature's lair.
Shisui alternated his gaze between the two for a few moments, until he jumped towards Minato.
Kakashi and Obito looked at each other, and nodded. Taking a scroll from inside a storage ring he was wearing, Kakashi takes out a very large scroll, and places the Behemoth's head in its center, closing the scroll, and soon after, placing it back in the ring.
When they arrive at the creature's lair, they stand next to Minato and take a closer look.
From the state of that huge white snake's body, it had been killed and had part of itself devoured, but the bite marks still visible were too small to be from the behemoth they killed, not to mention that the wounds made after it died, although apparently strong because there weren't even any traces, were not exactly the same.
Many human bodies and remains were there, heads of men they even recognized, being wanted nukenins.
But, what caught their attention the most was the body that lay on the ground ahead, in the center of what appeared to be a ritual.
Its head was cut off, as was its paw, and part of its body had been chewed up and spit out.
-... From the shape of the body... the signs and marks we found... I think this was a cub.
Obito's eyes widened, staring at the fallen body, while the other two from his team remained with unchanged faces, despite their surprise and clear concern.
- A cub... damn... should we be thankful that it is dead? But where is the male... or the female?
- Shut up, Kakashi!
- But-
- SHUT. UP! Nasty bastard!
- The question is not only that... why is the cub dead? What was this ritual that thing was doing? And most of all... who killed the cub?
Obito arched an eyebrow, confused, approaching the fallen body.
- What do you mean... body clearly chewed up and regurgitated... argh, gross... that thing must have killed it... for whatever reason.
- No... look at the head and paw... cuts... not very clean, rather nasty if you ask me, but... something else killed the cub. Something strong and clawed, maybe...
He looked around, looking for some animal or something that could have done this, but without success.
For just a few seconds, moments of thoughts that were mixed with his hope, anxiety and worry, he thought of Naruto.
There was not even a sign of his body, and if the Behemoth hunted all those bodies, there was a chance that it had taken the boy to the nest as well.
"... Nah, there's no way Naruto could have done that."
- There are signs of a struggle here... those holes in the wall, the mutilated body of the snake... something strong enough to take the cub down... and by chance the body of that being, or that person, is not here...
- It is in the cave... We will investigate the cave, we'll leave some clones here... if we don't find anything... we''ll go back to the village.
The young man's voice brought Minato out of his thoughts, and he sighed as he made his clones.
The four ninjas entered the dark cave with flashlights attached to their belts, watching the trails of destruction.
- Really, whatever it was... it ran this way... by the paw marks, the Behemoth chased it while spitting out those chakra beams.
They looked around intently, not wanting to let any details go unnoticed as they walked deeper into the cave, following the creature's obvious tracks.
- Hm... judging by the rocks and the destruction... it wasn't the Behemoth that did this.
He said, looking at the pile of destroyed stones scattered in front of him, with holes in the ceiling.
- Whatever it was chasing, it tried to slow the behemoth down by knocking down the ceiling... it didn't have much effect.
They kept walking until they reached a place where the cave divided in several directions, with trails of destruction following for all those branches.
- Hm... was it chasing more than one prey?
- It's possible, but... those arms, or rather, chakra paws would chase everyone anyway.
- I think that's exactly what happened... see the marks? Not big enough for the Behemoth to go to the others... except for that one.
Minato pointed in a direction where the great trail of destruction was clear. What was probably a small cave before was destroyed by the force of that creature.
- It doesn't make sense...why would that thing abandon its other prey and go that way?
Kakashi asked.
-... Because, maybe, it was only one.
Minato answered.
- Several creatures of this forest can use chakra, you saw that when we fought that crocodile... maybe, these creatures could have made clones to distract the Behemoth.
Shisui said.
- Ah, that makes sense... and by destroying the clones, it went after the real one.
Kakashi said.
- You know, those beasts are too smart for my taste.
Obito mentioned, placing a hand on his chin.
- Or, maybe, you're just dumb.
Kakashi teased.
- Yeah, you might be... hey!
- Either way, let's go.
Minato interrupted the little discussion that was sure to take place there by walking deeper into the cave.
They followed all the traces of destruction, walked for a long time, explored the ruins of those caves until they reached a point where the destruction caused by the huge body of the Behemoth was over, leaving only a trail that led to a somewhat... small cave.
- It stopped here... but continued to follow its prey...
- Why only with chaka feet? And there are hardly any tracks here this time, in comparison.
Minato closed his eyes and kept walking, until they all came to a dead end.
- Obvious signs of a fight here... the prey defended itself and tried to fight off the chaka paw.
- There's blood... it was wounded, but it struggled...
- And by the huge hole in the wall, it was thrown hard into it.
They stood next to the older Uchiha, looking at all that destruction. Practically a tunnel of destruction in the wall, that went through several other parts of the different caves there.
- It pitched it far away... I can barely see the end.
They jumped through the tunnel, running quickly until they reached the place where, supposedly, the body had stopped.
- The body stopped here, by size, small body, there is a lot of blood, it was badly injured.
- Blood on the floor, and on the walls, whatever it was, it crept up to that pile of stones.
They were silent for a while, each with their gaze focused on the mark on the wall, just above the blood trails.
- A bloody hand... a child's.
- Take some of this blood and take it to Tsunade for analysis, Shisui, help me get these stones out of here.
Minato said quickly, no longer wanting to look at those bloodstains, much less remember all the destruction he had seen.
A child's hand... his chest tightened and his heart felt like it wanted to burst out of his throat, the anxiety almost making him faint as he removed and/or destroyed all those stones there.
As he finally cleared that space, he sighed, not knowing whether he should feel relieved or even more distressed that he had found nothing.
-... There is a mechanism on the floor.
Shisui said, and Minato turned around, focusing his gaze on a broken sphere on the ground, where a tube ran from the sphere, but it was also broken.
-... Chakra was running through those tubes... and since there's nothing here... a portal.
- Is there any way to activate it again? Or, I don't know, find out where this portal led to?
Obito asked.
- Nah, not anymore, it was completely destroyed. If just the mechanism had been broken, that would be fine, but... there's nothing we can do in the opposite case.
Shisui answered, facing the tunnel.
- But at least we know something good... right? I mean... damn, he managed to escape, didn't he?
Obito asked, and they looked at Minato, who was just staring at all that destruction. His chest was beating fast, and his fists were clenched.
From everything he saw... the chances that Naruto was still dead were great... shit, they were almost certain, but... there was also that small, almost zero, chance that he was still alive and out in the world.
If that was the case, then he would have to trust his son. He knew he was smart. And he couldn't just send groups and more groups of Anbus to look for him without at least having some idea where he was.
-... Come on... we have to go back.
- Sensei-
- We don't even know where he went, or is he really alive! Shit, with all that blood, he's... argh... we've been here long enough... we have to go back.
Sighing, he takes a deep breath, before walking away from there with heavy steps.
Lowering his body, Naruto dodges the scythe of the man chasing him, and deftly leaps to the side, landing on a branch and propelling himself forward with the help of fuuton.
The man, although not very fast, still had great speed, and the boy could not lose him easily.
Especially with all those ninjas throwing jutsus and kunais in his direction.
- Oh, this sucks!
The girl screamed, hugging Naruto's neck as Naruto dodged another attack, where the fire exploded on contact with the ground and the impact threw him forward, but he recovered quickly.
- I always wanted to be carried like a princess by a good man, but to be carried like this by a boy seven years younger is...! Argh!
- I would love it if you would stop complaining!
Making a few hand seals, Tayuya spat a few fireballs at the pursuing ninjas, not hitting any of them, but being enough to make them slow down a bit.
However, that man, Hidan, still attacked with his scythe. Again, Naruto dodges.
However, the scythe hit the ground right behind the boy and the man pulled his body hard, practically hurling himself towards Naruto while catching his scythe back still in the air.
The boy's eyes widened as he felt him approach and prepared to attack him. Quickly, he throws Tayuya aside and grabs his sword from his ring, defending the attack with the scythe.
The force was so great that the ground beneath their feet shattered, and a gust of air emanated from both bodies.
(whistling) - So, you took Hans' sword, huh... hahaha, where is that jerk? Just out of curiosity.
He kicks Naruto hard in the stomach, and despite the powerful blow, the Blondie recovers still in the air and stares at him coldly.
- Dead.
- Aaaaah yes! Music to my ears! Son of a bitch always thought he was better than the others, even though he wasn't Akatsuki. You did something good, brat, I like you. I promise not to hurt you too much.
As soon as he finished saying that, he attacked Naruto again, but at such a great speed that the boy barely managed to defend himself, which resulted in several cuts all over his body, followed by a strong punch to the face, and ending with his head sinking violently to the ground.
But before Hidan could do anything, Naruto expelled his chakra from his body, throwing him backwards, and giving him the opportunity to get up and walk away.
- Oh, yeah, I forgot, demi-human, your injuries regenerate... I'll tell you, it's a lot cooler than what happens to mine.
He said, looking at Naruto's flesh rebuilding, and the blood returning to his body as a not very visible red smoke billowed from his wound.
- Damn... mine only close... I wanted to see how my muscles rebuild... ah, well, whatever.
He spun his scythe at a great speed, and again, attacked Naruto, who dodged to the side in pure reflex.
Tayuya tried to help the boy, but was forced to dodge when that redhead, Karim, attacked her. She had decided to help Hidan chase after them...much to Suigetsu's dismay.
Ducking down, Naruto makes a few hand seals and spits a water projectile towards Hidan, who dodges to the side. However, a clone of Naruto acted quickly and attacked him.
But to no avail, since he protected himself with the handle of his scythe.
Another clone appeared and pulled Hidan's feet out from under the earth, while two others jumped into the air while making some more hand seals.
A projectile of fire and wind hit Hidan at the same time, where an elemental explosion happened and steam spread throughout the area.
Naruto turned to pick Tayuya up again, however, the chains of Hidan's scythe lashed around his leg, and he was knocked to the ground.
A kick hit his face, a blade pierced his leg, and Hidan used the chains of his scythe to hurl him into the air, jumping toward him shortly thereafter.
Hidan moved his scythe, intending to pierce the boy's body, but one of Naruto's clones grabbed him by the waist and pulled him down while another landed a powerful hook to his chin, followed by a vertical kick to his head, throwing him to the ground, and finishing with a rasengan to his stomach.
With the help of another Clone, Naruto propels himself towards Tayuya, delivering a powerful volley to the red-haired woman, who was thrown violently to the side.
- Let's go!
He shouted, making a few clones, and together, spitting out a large amount of gunpowder imbued with chakra, soon, the real one ran away, and a large explosion of fire happened, decimating an entire area and taking some of those ninjas with it.
- What happened to that guy, Hidan?
she shouted as she ran.
- On the ground! Probably injured!
- No, Naruto, Hidan is immortal! His regeneration must be even faster than yours!
- *-* Really?!
And as if to answer her question, Hidan appeared between the two with a small smile, sticking one of the blades of his scythe into Tayuya's back and throwing her aside.
- Tayuya!
The boy shouted, soon being grabbed by the neck by Hidan.
- You really-
He was interrupted by the loud noise of his arm breaking, and a strong infant fist imbued with red chakra hitting his face and throwing him away.
Naruto rushes towards Tayuya, who was trying to get up with difficulty, having a lot of blood dripping down her wound. The blade pierced her back and went through her abdomen.
"Kurama has a way to transfer regeneration?!"
"In your current state, no."
"Shit!"
Creating dozens of clones, Naruto takes off his blouse and ties it around Tayuya's wound as tightly as he could, picking her up on his lap and running again.
- Oh you wretched boy, you broke my arm... man, I hate it when that happens, the bones have spread all over my arm.
Hidan said, picking up his scythe again and imbuing it with chakra.
He began to use it as a kind of hook, approaching Naruto as fast as he could.
The boy's clones attacked him still in the air.
The first tried a punch, but he defended and countered with a piercing blow from his scythe.
The second tried to hit him with a rasengan, but he deflected to the side and split the clone in half.
Soon, a huge fire dragon advanced quickly in his direction. Hidan let himself be hit, despite the excruciating pain he felt from the jutsu, he kept moving, even in flames.
- That fucking hurt! Argh, I'm gonna get laughed at for having my ass on fire!
He spun the scythe around his own body, destroying all the remaining clones.
- Okay, kid, I took your dear friend's blood... let's see how it feels when I do this.
With his scythe, he began to tear his own flesh from his chest, and soon, Tayuya shouted loudly, placing one hand on the same place Hidan was tearing, and the other clutching Naruto's shoulder tightly.
- Tayuya, what is it?!
He stopped running, since she was struggling badly, and it was only then that he heard Hidan's laughter.
Looking over his shoulder, he sees the man piercing his own body with the spear, and another loud scream from the girl echoed through the scene.
"What a technique... intriguing... he can inflict pain on others by wounding himself... like a voodoo doll..."
The more he hurt himself, the more he laughed, and the louder and more agonizing Tayuya's screams became.
Naruto clenched his fist and gritted his teeth as he saw his friend's condition, becoming more and more irritated by that guy's incessant laughter.
Soon, his red energy glowed with even more intensity, and he made a few hand seals.
Hundreds of clones appeared around Hidan, who tried to fight back, destroying a few dozen, but not all.
They took the scythe from his hands and pierced his body with arms wrapped in blade-shaped chakra.
- Fuck! That fucking hurts, you little shit!
His mouth was soon cut open by several more clones, and while he was blinded by his own blood, Hidan could see the black sphere forming in front of Naruto.
The ground below Naruto was destroyed, the air became extremely heavy, and his energy strongly surrounded him. Strong winds began to blow violently, to the point where small stones began to levitate.
And closing his eye as he used that tremendous amount of chakra, he sighs.
-... Bijuu Dama.
He swallowed the sphere, smoke came out of his mouth, and soon, he spat it towards Hidan.
A small sphere, barely visible, hit that nukenin in the blink of an eye.
A big explosion happened. The sky cleared, the nearby ninja were momentarily blinded, before being swallowed up by the impact of the explosion.
Naruto took Tayuya in his arms and ran as fast as he could, running away from his own jutsu that destroyed that entire area, where only its impact ripped trees out of the ground.
A huge crater formed in that place, decimated everything around, hard to believe that someone survived something like that.
But of course, an immortal being didn't take long to regenerate... although the same couldn't be said for his clothes.
-... Shit... he got away, and those idiots died... at least Suigetsu seems to be alive... argh, that asshole is going to get on my nerves.
He started walking through the crater, until he realized something was missing.
- My scythe...
He ran his eyes down to his waist, and grumbled irritated.
- Fucking hell, the chains are broken! I'll have to dig this whole place up! ARGH, I'm gonna kill that kid!
Looking over his shoulder, Naruto faces the path his clones have taken, using the aid of his clones to make sure that they were alone.
He was tired, had spent a lot of chakra before using that Bijuu Dama, and what was left, the Bijuu Dama used.
It was an extremely powerful attack, his card up his sleeve, but damn, it took some chakra.
Tayuya drank some water in front of her, her abdomen already bandaged, her countenance weak. But at least she would live.
- You need to sleep.
She said in a weak, husky voice, and Naruto sighed.
- It's only been a few hours since we managed to escape... I'll stay awake just to make sure.
- Hm... that red energy...
- Ah, well... it wasn't originally mine, but... now it is.
- You... got a little scary for a moment.
He laughed lightly.
- Yeah, well, that's good...I learned that I have a kind of... delicate face, so it's good that I cause fear.
Tayuya laughed, her laughter mingling with groans of pain.
- Really... you have a somewhat effeminate face... a little make-up, wig... a little less of the few muscles you have and there you go, a beautiful girl.
He frowned.
- Hey, I have muscles! They're just... you know... not developed yet... but in the future, you'll see, daddy here will be huge!
She shook her head slightly as he agreed with himself.
- I don't doubt it... but for now, you look like a doll.
- Argh, enough! I help others and still get humiliated.
They laughed a little, but soon became silent, until this was broken by Tayuya's sigh.
- What do we do now? Hidan is immortal... he knows your appearance... and they will chase you until they succeed... capture you.
The blond lowered his head and propped his elbows on his thighs, sighing heavily.
He was silent for a while, thoughtful.
"What do you think?"
"Akatsuki is not something to be underestimated, they have extremely powerful ninjas and... well... now that they've seen you, hide. Stay in the shadows, hiding while you get stronger. There is still a chance to go back to your parents, but, I wouldn't recommend it."
He clicked his tongue and turned his head away.
- We run... as long as it takes.
Tayuya stared at him for a while, until she looked away.
They would hide, train together, get stronger while watching the movements of their enemies from afar.
And that... they did for the next five years.