Author's note: The chapters of this arc are getting far less reviews than previous chapters. Let's hope that my writing isn't getting worse. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the next chapter:
Chapter 18:
First C-Rank Mission, Part III: The Snake pit
or
Genin and A-Rank Missions don't mix well.
Mizuki stood in front of the three teens –and a toad– with a wide smile on his lips.
"An unsealed Hyuga, an Ice Release user, and the Jinchuriki of the Kyubi." Mizuki smiled evilly as a pattern of crescent-shaped marks started to spread around his skin. "If I manage to bring you to Orochimaru-sama, my reward will be even greater."
Hinata gasped upon seeing such thing happening. "H-His chakra...!"
"What about it?"
"It's like...he has a s-second type of chakra coursing t-through his body..." Hinata mumbled. "An overwhelmingly dark chakra..."
"What you're seeing, little Hyuga, is nothing but a fraction of Orochimaru-sama's power. Power that will wipe you out like leaves in the wind!"
"Shut up! It's us who are going to kick your sorry traitorous ass! And when we do, we will make you return the scroll you stole four years ago!" Naruto shouted, pointing an accusatory finger at the former Konoha teacher.
The silver haired ninja chuckled. "Ah Naruto, loudmouth as ever. Guess that nobody gave you a much needed beating to curb that aggressive personality of yours. Fortunately for you, I'll be more than happy to oblige." Mizuki said as he cracked his fingers.
"I'd like to see you try!" Naruto then jumped at Gamakazu's back again. "Gamakazu, let's go!"
"Alright!" The toad then leapt into mid air once again. Meanwhile, Naruto's hands ran through hand seals. "Water Release: Water Bullets!"
"Wind Release: Cyclone Vortex!"
Mizuki jumped back in time to avoid the cyclone and the water missiles aimed at him, which made a huge splash upon impacting the shallow water. The former Konoha ninja made a hand seal.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Two Mizuki's appeared besides the original. "Now I can give all of you the proper attention you deserve!" The Mizuki clones tossed their Fuma Shuriken while the original made some hand seals. "Shuriken Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
The two Fuma Shuriken turned into two dozen, much to the Konoha ninjas' horror. Haku flew through hand seals as well.
"Ice Release: Ice Barrier!"
A wall of ice rose from the water, protecting the Genin from the giant metallic stars. Even if none of the Fuma Shuriken touched them, the wall was shattered by the giant steel stars. But Mizuki and his clones had no intention of giving them any time to breathe, and were preparing more jutsu.
"Earth Release: Earth Dragon Bullets!"
A dragon head made of dirt, mud and stone rose from the ground, opened its jaws, and fired multiple mud projectiles at the Konoha Genin.
"Fire Release: Fire Dragon Blast!"
The Mizuki clones released a stream of fire from their mouths, igniting the mud projectiles. Haku, was going through hand seals once again.
"Water Release: Water Wall!"
A watery barrier was erected in front of the Konoha Genin and the toad, blocking most of the projectiles but failing to stop some of them. Fortunately, Gamakazu would take care of that.
"Water Release: Water Bullets!" Gamakazu's jowl puffed out, releasing a barrage of water missiles that clashed against Mizuki's fire attack, nullifying it completely.
"Come on, we have to get to him before he pelts us with more jutsu! Come on Hinata!" Naruto rushed forward, with the Hyuga behind.
"Haku-kun, provide us with some cover!" Hinata asked.
Haku nodded, and his hands went through more hand seals. "Ice Release: Thousand Ice Needles of Death!"
Though not as much as one thousand, Haku managed to create quite a few ice senbon, which flew at Mizuki. The Sound ninja and his clones tried to deflect the ice senbon with their kunai, but some of the ice projectiles found their mark. The wounded clones were dispelled, and the real Mizuki was left with a few ice needles piercing multiple parts of his body. Meanwhile, Naruto and Hinata were already at a close combat distance.
"Shadow Clone Jutsu!"
A dozen Naruto's appeared from clouds of smoke, and leapt at the silver haired missing nin. Even wounded, Mizuki was more than able to fend off the clone's onslaught, showing an impressive display of skills and strength. However, he was so focused on fighting the blond army that he completely forgot about the Hyuga Heiress.
"Eight Trigrams: Thirty-Two Palms!" Hinata quickly dashed towards Mizuki, ready to strike. "Two strikes! Four strikes! Eight strikes!"
Unfortunately, before she could deliver sixteen strikes, Mizuki grabbed her by her wrist the moment she was about to strike him, and with an impressive force, he tossed her against a couple of Naruto clones, which were poofed immediately upon being hit.
"Hinata! Are you okay!?" The original Naruto quickly went to check if Hinata wasn't hurt, and to help her on her feet.
"Y-Yes, Naruto-kun. H-He's way stronger than he looks. That second chakra also increases his speed and strength. Fortunately, I closed some of his tenketsu." The Hyuga explained.
Naruto smiled brightly. "Well done, Hinata! Let's see if you can land all thirty-two strikes next time!"
"Like hell I'm going to let a 'next time' happen, you dumb brats!" Mizuki angrily yelled. The black marks on his skin started to glow with a fiery light, almost as if the markings were made of fire, and spread around the rest of his body. When the glow vanished, Mizuki had turned into a completely new being. "I didn't think I'd have to resort to the advanced level of the cursed seal, but if you insist on making me mad..."
In his Advanced Cursed Seal from, Mizuki had grown slightly larger and more muscular, to the point that the sleeves of his shirt were completely torn by his now thicker arms. His skin was now maroon, and his hair was much longer. His eyes were now yellow, with black sclera, giving him a demonic or otherworldly appearance. A pair a natural blades grew from the back of his hands.
But the biggest change by far was an additional pair of arms sprouting from his back, though rather than having hands, these arms ended in huge sickle-like blades, almost like the arms of a praying mantis.
"What the hell!?" Naruto yelled upon seeing Mizuki's new form.
Haku was so stunned he wasn't able to say anything.
And while the transformation left both Naruto and Haku shocked, it left Hinata, who watched it through her Byakugan, completely horrified. The Hyuga had seen how the second type of chakra invaded the body completely, assimilating Mizuki's natural chakra. The transformation also modified Mizuki's chakra pathway system, creating new tenketsu and chakra paths.
"Now brats...get ready to feel Orochimaru's power!"
Mizuki dashed at Hinata, and thrust his hand blade at the Hyuga's gut. Fortunately, Hinata was able to jump backwards while kicking Mizuki's face. Naruto created more clones and send them at the inhuman ninja, but Mizuki's mantis-like additional arms shredded them into pieces.
"Naruto-kun, Hinata-san, get out of there, now!" Haku shouted.
While Naruto was tempted to ask why, his instincts told him to simply do what the Ice Ninja said, and both he and Hinata jumped in opposite directions. The inhuman ninja saw that Gamakazu's jowl was puffed out again.
"Water Release: Water Gun!"
"Ice Release: Breath of Winter!"
Gamakazu released a powerful stream of water from his mouth while Haku released a cone of ice from his mouth that froze Gamakazu's jutsu, creating a barrage of frozen water. Though rather than being surprised, Mizuki merely smirked, and made several hand seals.
"Fire Release: Cursed Flame Destruction!"
Mizuki exhaled a massive stream of blue fire from his mouth, pushing the water/ice combined attack back at Haku and Gamakazu, while evaporating the water of the rice field, and setting the rice plans on fire. Gamakazu disappeared in a poof when the heat was too much to take, while Haku used the Body Replacement Jutsu, leaving a log behind, which was soon burned to ashes.
"What do you think about my power, brats? This isn't something you can achieve by staying in Konoha. That place does nothing but hold back those who are great. That's the reason Orochimaru-sama left in the first place, and more importantly, the reason why you will die here!"
Naruto, Hinata and Haku quickly regrouped, while Mizuki advanced menacingly towards them. Hinata and Haku were visibly exhausted, while Naruto had some minor wounds. Much to their displeasure, Mizuki seemed to be fine and dandy.
"Do you guys have a plan? You guys should know that I only have chakra left for two, maybe three more jutsu." Haku mentioned.
"I believe I can keep the Byakugan active for a few more minutes, but my eyes are starting to sore." the Hyuga replied.
"Man, that cursed seal surely pumps Mizuki up." Naruto narrowed his eyes at the smiling inhuman ninja. "Hinata, do you think you can close all his tenketsu? That should stop that cursed seal as well."
"My mastery of the Eight Trigrams isn't further than thirty-two strikes so far. I don't think that will be enough for what you want. Sorry.." Hinata lowered her head.
"No, but maybe it can weaken Mizuki enough for Naruto and I to finish him off." Haku added.
"Yeah, we need to try that. Come on, Haku and I will keep Mizuki busy, you go and close his tenketsu!" Naruto said while patting Hinata on the back.
"I...I will do m-my best..."
The three Genin facing Mizuki, still advancing towards them with a smug smirk plastered on his face. They slipped into their usual fighting stances.
"Still want to fight? Stubborn until the very end. You guys should know when to give up." Mizuki laughed mockingly.
"No man or woman who can make me give up has been born yet! Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Ten clones appeared around Naruto. "GET HIM!"
Mizuki adopted a fighting stance as the small army of clones charged at him. However, just when he was about to stab the first one with one of his blade arms, the clones jumped aside in opposite directions, leaving a small passageway, which Haku used to pepper the traitorous ex-Konoha ninja with senbon.
"You'll need more than those toothpicks to actually harm me, brat." Mizuki didn't even bother to remove the senbon from his body.
"How about this then?" All the clones pulled out a curved Fuma Shuriken and tossed them at Mizuki at the same time.
Mizuki however, used his increased agility to dodge most of them, and used his additional bladed arms to parry those he couldn't dodge. Unfortunately for him, this had the effect of being left completely wide open.
"Hinata, now!"
The Hyuga Heiress quickly dashed towards the maroon-skinned ninja, ready to strike.
"Eight Trigrams: Thirty-Two Palms!"
"That again? Like hell I'm going to let you do it again!" Mizuki turned to grab Hinata's arm before she could deliver the first blow.
"Like hell we're going to let you stop her!" Haku flew through hand seals. "Ice Release: Thousand Ice Needles of Death!"
Mizuki had to use all his four arms to protect himself from the rain of ice spikes, leaving him vulnerable to Hinata's attacks.
"Two strikes! Four strikes! Eight strikes! Sixteen strikes! Thirty-Two strikes!" the last strike was so potent that she pushed Mizuki a few meters backwards.
Naruto then used two clones to push him and gain enough momentum, and delivered a devastating flying kick to Mizuki's face, which hurled him backwards even further, making him fall on his back with a loud thud.
After a moment of silence, Hinata's Byakugan deactivated automatically and fell on her knees. Naruto immediately rushed to her.
"Hinata! Are you okay?" The blond asked, concerned.
"Y-Yes...I'm just a bit tired...I never had to fight and use the Byakugan for so long..." Hinata replied, panting a bit.
"You were amazing, Hinata! I knew you could do it!" Naruto congratulated as he patted her on the back.
Hinata blushed a little. "Y-You think so...?"
"Of course," Haku interceded. "If it wasn't for you-"
Haku was unable to finish his sentence as Mizuki's hand blade stabbed in his gut. Mizuki then pulled his natural spike from Haku's body, and hatefully kicked the Ice Ninja backwards. Naruto and Hinata couldn't help but stare at the scene, speechless. Mizuki looked at them and laughed.
"What? Did you thought that such a pathetic attack was enough to finish me off?" The former Academy instructor teased cruelly before moving to hit Naruto.
Acting on reflexes, Hinata moved to intercept the attack, but she was unable to block it in time and Mizuki's punch hurled her backwards, while her body spun violently. Naruto didn't had time to react before Mizuki sunk his knee into his stomach, before delivering a painful kick to the face, knocking Naruto on his back.
"Then again, the combo from that Hyuga bitch would have left me completely wrecked and with hardly any chakra. Thanks goodness I'm more than human now, hehe. Well...time to finish the job..." Mizuki cracked his fingers before moving towards Hinata.
Naruto struggled to get up, but between the emotional shock of his friends being beaten to death, and the physical strain of the prolonged battle, he was unable to move.
"So, this is how it ends...? Both my and I friends, killed on our very first mission outside the village, at the hands of a traitor...?"
The jinchuriki never felt so angry before. Not only angry for being beaten by such despicable man, but the fact that he was unable to protect his friends. How was he supposed to become Hokage, the man who has to protect the whole village, when he couldn't even protect his teammates? His parents always warned him against the harsh realities of the ninja world, but he never truly understood them until now.
As he heard the soft splashes of water made by Mizuki's steps, he knew that their death was closer by the second. If he only was stronger...if he only had the means to save his friends like a future Hokage should...
'Naruto...' The blond heard guttural voice inside his head.
'Huh?'
'I can sense your anger... Your hatred...that man… Mizuki… You want to make him pay for what he did, right?'
'What...who are you?'
'That matters little now. What matters now is Mizuki. You want to kill him, right? For all what he did. Not just you and your friends, but your village as a whole.'
'Yes! Yes of course I want to!'
'In that case...' Naruto started to feel a heat building up from inside his body. 'Take my power, and kill him! Kill him, and everybody who dares to stand in your way! Give into your anger! Let the world know the power of your hatred! Let's dye the waters of these lands red!'
A red aura surrounded Naruto, and started to glow brighter each second. The water around the blond started to boil. The jinchuriki felt the pain of his wounds and the ache of his muscles slowly receding, as it was being replaced by pure energy. His body got on its feet on its own, as if he was being pulled up by invisible hands.
"The only thing that's going to end today...IS YOUR LIFE!" The feral ninja snarled at Mizuki.
Naruto's eyes were now blood red, with slitted, vertical pupils. His facial whisker marks were now bolder, and his teeth appeared to be bigger and sharper. The fiery red aura increased with each second.
Despite the display of power, Mizuki wasn't intimidated. "So, you finally show your true face, demon. But don't think this changes anything. I'm well aware of the limits of your power. You're only delaying the inevitable."
Naruto didn't reply, he merely shot forwards, ready to punch Mizuki's ugly grin. The Oto ninja was fast enough to catch Natuo's fist, but he wasn't fast enough to block Naruto's kick to his gut, which forced him to bend forward, something that the blond ninja capitalized by punching Mizuki in the jaw, hurling him backwards a few meters.
"You're dead! You hear me!? DEAD!" Naruto bellowed as he dashed forwards once more.
Mizuki quickly got up, at the same moment, Naruto was once again at hand-to-hand range, ready to deliver another punch. This time, Mizuki tried to impale the Konoha Genin with his mantis-like arms, but Naruto caught both sickle-shaped blades with his bare hands. His hands started to bleed, but Naruto didn't seem to be bothered in the slightest. Then, with an impressive show of strength, he tore the sickle-shaped blades off.
"RAAAAAARGH! YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Mizuki yelled in pain.
Naruto lunged once again, ready to impale Mizuki with his own blades. But in his state of unbridled anger, he was left wide open, vulnerable to Mizuki's hate-filled kick, which stopped Naruto's momentum and sent him hurling backwards. Naruto tried to get up once again, but Mizuki wasn't going to leave him any room to breathe, and kicked him once again. He then started to relentlessly kick Naruto until the red aura vanished.
"I have to admit...I underestimated the power of the Nine Tails...but that demon will soon be history once I kill you..." Mizuki raised his hand blade, ready to impale Naruto.
However, before he had the chance to claim the blonds' life, Mizuki saw a white and red blur flying at him, kicking him in the face and tossing him backwards.
"Don't you dare to touch my student, you monster!"
Mizuki got up, and after cleaning the blood from his broken mouth, he saw his attacker, an attractive raven-haired kunoichi in her late twenties. He took a few seconds to realize who this woman was.
"Kurenai? Oh, of course. Naturally, Konoha wouldn't let children run away unsupervised. I presume you're their Jonin-sensei, right?"
Kurenai frowned. "That's correct, creature! And you're not going to lay another finger on them as long as I'm here! And how do you know who I am?"
"Oh come now, you hurt me Kurenai. I knew that we weren't exactly close, but you should at least remember me given that we used to be classmates."
"Classmates? What are you tal-...wait a minute...Mizuki?" Kurenai narrowed his eyes at him, a bit puzzled.
"Bingo! I knew you were among the smart ones. As a reward, I will spare you from seeing your precious students die by killing you first." Mizuki chuckled.
"I'd like to see you try, you traitor!"
"Oh, I will do more than just try!" Mizuki's hands flew through hand seals. "Fire Release: Cursed Flame Jutsu!"
Once more, Mizuki exhaled a massive stream of blue fire. Kurenai didn't waste time and made several hand seals as well.
"Water Release: Wild Water Wave!"
Kurenai gushed an equally large stream of water from her mouth. Both elemental attacks collided, resulting in a cloud of steam. However, Mizuki's fire jutsu was starting to lose power, and thus losing ground to Kurenai's water jutsu. In the end, Mizuki was overwhelmed by the water attack.
The traitorous ninja tried to get up, but a wave of pain surged through his body when he tried to move.
'My body! What's going on? Where did all my power go?' Mizuki desperately thought, until he found the answer. 'The cursed seal. Kabuto told me not to overdo it. I have been using it for too long.'
As he deactivated the cursed seal, his body started to regress to his original human appearance, the pain started to recede as well. However, he was starting to feel incredibly exhausted. He had no chance to defeat a well-rested Jonin in such circumstances.
"You left poor Tsubaki heartbroken, you know that, scum?" Kurenai angrily asked as he walked towards him, holding a kunai. "But it's okay. Once I take you back to Konoha, she will be able to break up with you properly. Right before you're executed for treason."
Despite his poor odds, Mizuki allowed himself to smirk, as his hand reached his tool pouch.
"While I might die one day, it won't be today. Nor will it will be by your hands, Kurenai. This land belongs to Orochimaru-sama, and those who dare to step foot on it will die, one way or another. Farewell." Mizuki them threw a smoke ball, and took advantage of the resulting cloud to escape.
Kurenai entertained the thought of chasing him, since he couldn't be too far, but in the end decided that helping her students was more important.
Two hours later
Naruto opened his eyes. He blinked several times before his eyes could adapt to the light. Before briefly and hazily inspecting his surroundings, his mind drifted towards his last memory, the fight against Mizuki, and how the former Konoha ninja was about to kill both him and his teammates.
"Hinata! Haku!" He instinctively yelled.
Naruto felt somebody grabbing his hand.
"Calm down, Naruto. They're okay, as so are you." Kurenai softly reassured.
Naruto realized that he was on a bed, in the same room he had been spending the last couple nights. In the other bed was Haku, who apparently was asleep. Kurenai and Hinata were at both sides of Naruto's bed. The latter looked relieved to see Naruto awake.
"Wha...What happened?" Naruto managed to ask.
"Kurenai-sensei appeared and defeated Mizuki for us. Then she brought us back here." Hinata hurried to explain.
"Then Hinata treated both Haku and you. Haku had some serious wounds, but fortunately he's out of danger now." Kurenai continued. "It's a good thing that Hinata is a medic-nin in training. Guess that Tsunade-sama knew what she was talking about when suggested that all squads should have a medic-nin."
"Yeah, mom's awesome, isn't she?" A foxy grin plastered on Naruto's face. Said smile, however, was short lived, as his mood surely grew somber. "Kurenai-sensei, what about your trip to the capital? Is the Rice Fields Lord going to help us?"
Naruto and Hinata noticed that Kurenai's mood darkened as well when asked such question. She let out a heavy sigh. "I'm afraid that there won't be any help. This new village, Otogakure, has conquered the country. The capital is in ruins, completely deserted save for a few scavengers. Other towns have been ravaged as well. Hell, Sawa may be the only town left, and when word of our presence here gets out, it will suffer the same fate."
Hinata looked distraught. "Then...what are we going to do? We can't protect this town if more ninjas like Mizuki come again."
"There's no other option...the only viable course of action will be to escort the townspeople left here to the Land of Fire," Kurenai answered. "We will have to protect them from any attacks while they cross the border."
Naruto looked unsure, his resolve wavering for once. "Mizuki did quite a number on us, and he was just one. What if they send more ninja with those freaky mutant powers?"
"I wish we could ask for help, but I'm afraid that we don't have any means to contact Konoha other than sending a messenger bird, and that would take too long."
"Actually… there's a way to instantly send a message to Konoha." Naruto stated.
Kurenai's eyes shot open. "Come again?"
"Write the message first, I'll go get the messenger." Naruto said as he started to get up from the bed, only for a concerned Hinata to try and stop him.
"Naruto-kun, no! Mizuki gave you quite the beating, you need to rest first!" The Hyuga protested.
Naruto merely grinned at her. "Hey, it's okay! I recover from my injuries pretty quickly. Dad says it's because of the Nine Tails. Guess that something good should come out from having the fox thrust into my stomach, hehe."
"O-Okay then...but try not to exert yourself." Hinata warned him.
A few minutes later, Kurenai finished writing a scroll detailing their situation and requesting reinforcements. Naruto then bit his thumb and made five hand seals before slamming his hand on the floor.
"Summoning Jutsu!"
From a cloud of smoke a small toad appeared. It was mostly red, with blue markings around his eyes and his head. A pair of goggles were hanging from his neck.
"Hey, Naruto!" The toad cheerfully greeted. "What can I do for ya?"
"Kosuke, I need you to deliver a message to dad. It's super important. As in, a matter of life and death important." Naruto remarked. He then turned to his sensei. "Kurenai-sensei, give him the message."
After staring for a couple seconds, Kurenai dumbly nodded and handed the furled scroll to the small red toad.
"Consider it done, Naruto!" Kosuke said before vanishing in a cloud of smoke.
After a couple minutes, Kurenai spoke. "Naruto, I don't want to badmouth your or Hokage-sama's summons, but...do you trust that that toad will deliver the message in time?"
"Actually, I'm pretty sure that dad is already reading that scroll as we speak." Naruto confidently replied.
Kurenai raised an eyebrow. "That fast? Do the toads have a way to teleport to Konoha?"
"As a matter of fact, they do." Naruto's statement took Kurenai aback. "You see, there's this weird pool thing in Mount Myoboku that connects with Konoha, which the toads can use to travel to the village when they need to. After Kosuke canceled the summon and returned to Myoboku, he uses the pool to travel to Konoha. Said pool can be used to appear at the side of a toad summoner that happens to be on Konoha, or to appear inside the Hokage's office if there isn't any."
"That's...something really useful." Hinata commented. "It's a good thing that Hokage-sama allowed you to sign that summoning contract before graduating."
"Dad said he wanted to have a way to keep contact with me when I was outside. I thought that he and mom were being overprotective...but now I have to admit that it came rather handy." Of course, Naruto would never admit that in front of Jiraiya and Tsunade.
…
Konoha, Mission Assignment Desk
Jiraiya was handing the last missions of the day to the Genin teams. In an hour, he'll return to the tower to continue his daily doses of pain and misery, most commonly known as paperwork.
The door opened, and Jiraiya saw Asuma's team walking inside the room. Asuma looked rather content. Shikamaru was wearing his usual apathetic demeanor. Choji was busy devouring a bag of chips, and Ino looked a bit irritated.
"Well, well, Asuma's Tactical Squad! I'm so glad to see you here. Coming for a mission, I guess?" Jiraiya asked, already knowing the answer.
"You guess right, Hokage-sama," Asuma replied.
"Your Genin don't look too eager, though." Jiraiya pointed out.
"I know. But they just need to know that being a ninja sometimes means getting your hands dirty and do stuff you don't want to. Sooner or later, they'll understand that." Asuma said, taking a look at the trio of kids. "Now, what do you have for us?"
"Let me see..." Jiraiya started to look through the scrolls on the desk. "There's a house that requires a paint job… some medicine that need to be delivered to a town near Konoha, and a couple that wants somebody to pull the weeds from their garden."
Ino frowned. "Come on, those missions suck! Don't you have something better, like taking care of your kids? I promised Kaida-chan that I would try some new hairstyles on her."
"Yeah, and Hagane is a pretty good Shogi player, for being so young." Shikamaru noted. "Granted, he has never defeated me yet, but each game is becoming a bit harder to win."
"Sorry, but Hagane and Kaida already have another team babysitting them." Jiraiya informed.
Ino cursed something under her breath. She was about to ask which team it was when suddenly Kosuke, the messenger toad, appeared in front of Jiraiya with a scroll between his arms.
"Jiraiya, urgent message from Naruto!" The toad shouted, while pretty much thrusting the scroll into Jiraiya's chest. "He says it's a matter of life and death!"
Asuma noticeably tensed upon hearing the small toad's words. Ino remembered that Kurenai was Naruto's sensei, who was more than just friends with Asuma, regardless of how much Asuma tried to deny it.
Jiraiya unfurled the scroll, and started to read. His expression grew darker, which wasn't that surprising, considering the way the toad announced his entrance.
"Hokage-sama, what does the message say? Are Kurenai and her team okay?" Asuma asked, flinching a little.
"Bad news. Remember Otogakure, Orochimaru's hidden village we've been trying to find during the past years? Well… let's say that Kurenai found it."
"WHAT?" Asuma's shouted, startling his Genin.
"They're going to evacuate the town before they're attacked by rogue ninja working for Orochimaru, but they can't do it alone, and are requesting reinforcements."
"Then you have those reinforcements right here!" Asuma declared. His three Genin looked at him incredulously.
Jiraiya sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Asuma, I know that you and Kurenai are...close, but as you can understand, I can't send a team of Genin fresh from the Academy to a potential A-Rank mission."
"Why not? I admit that these three are still a bit green, but they have potential. Plus I will be with them all the time. Besides, didn't you raise the Academy standards so our Genin would be better prepared for these kinds of situations? And if you think we're not enough, you can always send more people with us. "
Jiraiya spent a few minutes pondering what to do. After the whole Uchiha debacle, their numbers have been reduced, most chunin and jonin were constantly on missions, and there were very few high ranked ninja in reserve. Before he could gather a better force, Asuma's team would have to do.
"Alright, you can go, but you won't go alone. Go to the north gate, you will meet your escort there in an hour."
"Thank you, Hokage-sama," Asuma said, bowing before the Hokage. "You three, go to your houses and pack what you will need for a week-long trip."
As they exited the building, Choji, who just finished his bag of chips, spoke up. "An A-Rank mission...isn't that a bit too much for us?" Choji asked.
"Given that it involves fighting against ninja of Asuma-sensei's caliber...yeah, pretty much." Shikamaru replied. "Troublesome."
"'Insane' is the word I'd actually use." Ino added.
"Come on, don't be so glum. Yeah, it's going to be a little dangerous, but everything will be fine as long as you stay close to me and do exactly as I say." Asuma said in a reassuring tone.
Meanwhile at the Mission Assignment Desk, Jiraiya had summoned a couple ANBU.
"What are your orders, Hokage-sama?" A bird-masked ANBU asked.
"Go to Torture & Interrogation and fetch our resident Orochimaru expert. Tell her I have a mission for her. Oh, and whenever Itachi Uchiha returns from his current mission, tell him that I need to talk to him about something of utmost importance."
…
The next day, Kurenai and the town mayor, Ryo Yuhara, were overseeing the evacuation of the villagers. The mood was somber and glum. As expected, many people opposed to leave the town in which their families lived for generations, but in the end they eventually saw reason. That didn't mean that they had to like it though.
"Well, this is going better than I expected." Kurenai commented, as she saw people getting all what they could from their soon to be former houses. "If they keep this pace, we will be able to leave by tomorrow morning."
Ryo sighed heavily. "To think that when I hired you, I thought that this was merely a bunch of bandit gangs roaming out of control...I can't believe that we're forced to leave our beloved home like this..."
"Your people is what matters, Ryo-san. But if it makes you feel better, think of this as a temporary solution. Once we deal with Orochimaru, you will be able to return to your previous lives," Kurenai tried to reassure.
That didn't help with Ryo's depressed mood, but he made an effort to smile. "I...well, I hope you're right...to think that my son won't be born here..."
"You can let this get you. Your people need you more than ever."
Ryo sighed once again. "I...I guess you're right. I need to be strong, for both my family and the people of this town."
"Good. We will make sure that all of you cross the border safe and sound." Kurenai then spotted a bunch of Naruto clones helping some villagers load some of their belongings on cart wagons. She then walked towards one of them. "I guess you're a clone, right?"
"Yeah." the clone replied.
"Do you know where the original is?" Kurenai asked. The clone merely shook his head. "In that case. Naruto, when you hear this, I want you to meet me on the rice field you battled Mizuki. There's something important I need to talk with you about." And with that, she delivered a quick hand chop to the clone's neck, dispelling it.
…
Five minutes later, Naruto and Kurenai were standing in what remained of the rice field that served as battlefield of the very first fight between Konoha and Oto.
"What did you want to talk about, Kurenai-sensei?" Naruto asked, a bit nervous, as he rubbed his right arm.
Sensing her student's distress, Kurenai smiled. "You can relax, it's nothing bad." Her smile then disappeared. "Though it's an important issue, and if we don't discuss it now, it can snowball into a bigger problem."
Naruto swallowed. "And that would be...?"
"Shortly before I arrived, you were fighting against Mizuki. I couldn't see it properly since I was still too far away, but there was an...aura. A fiery red-orange glow surrounded your body. It disappeared when Mizuki got the upper hand of the fight, but even being so far away, I could sense an incredibly powerful and evil chakra coming from you. I think I don't need to elaborate any further to know what I'm talking about, right?"
Naruto averted his gaze. "…The Nine Tails."
Kurenai nodded. "Now Naruto, I want to make it clear that I'm not mad at you or anything, but this is something that needs to be addressed. First, answer me this: before this mission, was there any other time in which you tapped into the Kyubi's chakra?"
The blond shook his head. "No, never. My dad wanted to teach me how to use it, but then the whole Uchiha insurrection happened, he became Hokage, and didn't have as much time to train me as before, so we kinda skimmed that part."
"I see. Now I want you to remember what happened, and how you felt when you were fighting Mizuki and manifested the Kyubi's chakra."
"Eh...it's kind of blurry...I was rather boggled at the time..." Naruto replied, rubbing the back of his head.
Still, Kurenai wasn't planning on letting him go so easily. "Please make an effort."
"Okay...let me see...I was...rather angry. Angry at Mizuki because he was about to kill us, and angry at myself because I wasn't able to save my friends..." Naruto began. Kurenai listened intently.
"And what happened then?"
"I think I heard a voice..."
"What did the voice say?"
"I don't remember..." Kurenai frowned at Naruto, which made the blond raise his hands defensively. "It's true, I swear! If I remember I'll tell you!"
"We can go back to that later. What happened next?" Kurenai pressed.
"I...all I remember is that I wanted Mizuki dead. I already told you it's kind of blurry, but that's all what I remember. I wanted Mizuki dead. I felt like my body was moving on its own but...it didn't bother me. I wasn't in control of my body, but my body was doing what I wanted...this must sound super weird, right?"
"Absolutely not." Kurenai sharply replied. "For the time being, I heard enough. If you ever feel like that again, even if it's just for a fraction of a second, tell me, okay?" Naruto obediently nodded. "Once all this madness is over, we'll talk about this with Jiraiya-sama."
"I see..." Naruto looked at his feet. Then he lifted his head again, meeting Kurenai's crimson gaze. "What do you want me to do now?"
"For the time being, continue what you were doing. Help the villagers pack up their stuff, and stay alert if an enemy appears. Hopefully, we will be gone by the time they attack, and the reinforcements we asked for will be here to support us."
"Right!"
…
When they returned to the town, there was a surprise waiting for them, but mostly for Kurenai. Turns out that five ninja had arrived, two of which she knew very well. The apparent leader of the group was having a talk with the mayor.
"Asuma? Anko?" Kurenai asked out loud.
"Heeeeeeeey! Look who finally decided to show up!" Anko cheerfully shouted as she walked towards the Genjutsu Mistress. "First mission out of town, and you need to ask for reinforcements. You have some rotten luck, girl."
Kurenai frowned a bit. "This isn't my first mission out of Konoha, Anko."
"Well, it is as a Jonin-sensei. But I wasn't blaming you, you know."
Asuma finished his talk with the mayor, and went to greet Kurenai as well.
"Hey. Good to see that we arrived just in time, Kurenai." Asuma said, smiling at her.
Kurenai smiled back and wiped a strand of her hair from her face. "Indeed. I wasn't expecting you to show up." The red-eyed Jonin noticed Asuma's Genin team behind him and Anko. "Did you bring your students?"
Asuma simply shrugged. "The more the merrier, right?"
"This is a potential A-Rank mission. I'm surprised Hokage-sama allowed you to bring them here, given the risks."
"Hey, relax. They came here to help with the evacuation. If a fight breaks out, they won't take part on it. We will do all the heavy lifting," Asuma explained, hoping to reassure Kurenai.
Anko decided to intercede. "So, you finally found out this Otogakure we've been looking for years." It was less a question and more a statement. "We never thought looking in this country, since we didn't think there would be anything that would catch Orochimaru's interest. Guess we were wrong."
"We know it's somewhere on these lands, but I don't know its exact location. We'll need to send a team of spies to check it out once this is over." Kurenai replied.
While the adults talked, Ino decided to start up a conversation with her two teammates.
"Have you seen the way Asuma-sensei and Kurenai-sensei looked at each other? They're SO going out, but for some reason they don't want to admit it." Ino said while glancing at the two Jonin, who were still talking.
Shikamaru raised an eyebrow. "Do you think it's appropriate to talk about that in a situation like this? According to what Hokage-sama said, we could pretty much end up fighting a Jonin."
Ino frowned at her Nara teammate. "You're such a killjoy, you know that?"
"I agree with Shikamaru. I heard that Naruto, Hinata and Haku nearly died fighting Oto ninja." Choji commented. "Thank goodness they're okay."
"Ugh, you guys are no fun." Ino scoffed, as she turned her head away. "Speaking of which… where are Naruto, Hinata and Haku?"
"Haku is still resting at the Inn, while Naruto and Hinata are helping the townspeople to pack their stuff." Kurenai told her. "Why don't you go and help them? I'm sure that they will appreciate a few extra hands."
Shikamaru groaned. "Boy, no matter where we go, we never get rid of D-Rank missions. This is all kinds of troublesome."
"Shut up and get moving, you lazy ass!" Ino chided, while she went to find her former Academy classmates, with Shikamaru and Choji following behind.
…
Undisclosed Location, Land of the Rice Fields
After being granted permission by its only occupant, Kabuto entered Orochimaru's private study. As the medic-nin expected, the Sannin was studying the Scroll of Seals. During those times, he warned all his minions to not disturb him unless it was important. The silver haired ninja hoped that his report was important enough.
"What news do you bring me, Kabuto?" The Snake Sannin asked in an oddly neutral tone, one that couldn't mask his irritation completely.
"Orochimaru-sama, the spies have returned." Kabuto announced.
"And...?"
Kabuto cleared his throat and adjusted his glasses. "According to their report, people of Sawa Town are preparing an evacuation. They plan to cross the border and settle in the Land of Fire. Konoha had sent another squad of ninja to help with their exodus."
"What kind of reinforcements did Konoha send?" Orochimaru asked.
"A team of five people, two Jonin and three Genin. According to their description, the Jonin matches the description of the Konoha ninjas known as Asuma Sarutobi and Anko Mitarashi."
Orochimaru perked up upon hearing that last name. He turned at Kabuto and smiled wickedly. "So Anko-chan is here? That makes things even better..."
"Do you still plan to engage them yourself?"
"Indeed. It will be a great chance to put these new eyes to the test" Orochimaru replied.
In his unabashed anticipation, Orochimaru's eyes flared with a red glow, revealing a pair of fully developed Sharingan.
Author's Note: And the snake comes out of his lair! Will our heroes survive an encounter against him?
In before people points out the idiocy of sending out Genin to such a dangerous mission: like I stated in the chapter, Shikamaru, Ino and Choji are there to help with the evacuation, and are not supposed to fight. If a fight breaks out, it's the Jonins who will fight, while the Genin will escort the refugees. Plus remember that Konoha hasn't recovered quite yet from the losses of the Coup D'etat. But this is Naruto, and we know how things will turn out...
As for Mizuki's blue fire, I remember that, the first Sasuke activated the advanced cursed seal, his chidori turned black, as opposed to the usual blue. The black chidori disappeared after that, which was a pity since I thought it looked pretty cool. So I decided to do something similar with Mizuki as well.
And yes, I know Anko is just a Special Jonin. Kabuto referred to her as a Jonin for the sake of simplicity.
Anyway, while you wait for the confrontation with Orochimaru, leave a review! Reviews make me really, really, really happy!