Menma: You are late.
Naruto (United): Sorry about that. I was on vacation.
Naruko: Wow, taking Hellfire-Nii's excuse?
Naruto (United): It's a good excuse and it's true. Me and Edelgard-chan went to visit her country. It was nice.
Naruto (Oath): Edelgard-chan eh? You do seem like the type to love controlling women, Naruto-san.
Uzumaki Trio: Who the hell are you?!
Naruto (Oath): *smiles* Enjoy the show!
Uzumaki Trio: Oi! Don't start the cha-
United I Stand
Chapter Eight: The Three Opponents
"That was easy," Anko complained as she let out a sigh, her foot pressed against the neck of the deceased Murasame. His body was held down by three cobra snakes and there was a single kunai sticking out from his eye.
"It was almost pathetic. Whatever he drank was strong but just overestimated himself," Inoichi said as she knelt at the head of the dead shinobi. He stood up and stretched his limbs and said "However, it was good warm up for us. Now to find our students."
"Judging from the explosions, Naruto is over there," Anko said as she pointed to the east.
"And judging from the cold breeze, Menma is over there. Let's collect them first and then we find Naruko and finish this up," Inoichi said.
Anko nodded and together, the two darted off.
Menma skidded to a stop and swayed to the left then to the right to avoid the water-made blade that Hisame had swung before he leapt up and landed a solid knee to her upper chest, which sent her skidding backwards but she immediately changed the sword to a whip with a shout of "Suiton: Mizu Buki (Water Style: Water Weapons)!"
The whip shot out towards Menma but he rolled to the left to avoid the whip before he muttered "Tōketsu Hāto (Frozen Heart)," which caused the air around him to shimmer with frost, icy blue chakra wisps flowing from his body.
"Oh-ho-ho. An Ice user. This will be more interesting," Hisame stated before the she said "Suiton: Mizu Buki (Water Style: Water Weapons)." The whip changed into a large sword before she dashed forward.
"Tsume no Nigai Shimo (Claws of the Bitter Frost)," Menma muttered as a pair of fox-shaped claw ice gauntlets formed around his hands and forearms before he dashed forward and slashed his right arm down towards Hisame but she blocked it with her water-made sword before she pushed it away and aimed a kick to his chest.
Menma smacked the leg down with his left leg, causing a thin sheet of frost to appear on her leg, and landed swipe of his claw at her chest, causing her blood to flow before it froze against her skin. Hisame hissed and swung her blade at him again but Menma ducked the strike and swiped his arm and clawed her right arm.
The sword went flying into the air as her right arm began to bleed…only to freeze her arm in place. Menma then swiftly delivered three swipes of his gauntlets, one on the right side of her hip, one her left shoulder then finally one on her right elbow.
Hisame gritted her teeth as the blood that fell from her wounds began to freeze over, slowing her movements to a standstill as Menma let a small frown appear on his face. "Unfortunately for you Hisame, you were woefully unprepared to fight me," Menma said.
Menma eyed for a moment before he turned around and said "The minute I activated my Tōketsu Hāto and Tsume no Nigai Shimo, this fight was finished. You have lost."
Hisame fell to one knee and growled "You're right…You've beaten me. I have failed Suien-sama…So do it. Kill me. Let me die as a proper shinobi."
Menma remained silent for a moment before he said "There has been enough death for one day. I will not kill you. However…"
Inoichi suddenly appeared behind Hisame and delivered a chop to her neck, causing her to fall to the ground, unconscious. "You won't be going free for all you've done," Menma finished to the unconscious Hisame before he looked at Inoichi and said "Thank you for arriving Inoichi-sensei."
"You could have killed her like the others we encountered," Inoichi noted.
"I could have. But what would that do in the end?" Menma asked. "People are still dead. The best we can do is keep her alive to atone," Menma replied. "No matter how long it takes…"
"Rightfully said. But tell me Menma…You three have killed before, haven't you?" Inoichi questioned. Menma remained silent before Inoichi let out a soft sigh and replied "Kami…How old you were at the time…"
"Five years old…" Menma replied.
"Oh Kami no…" Inoichi whispered with a choked tone. "What happened?"
"I don't want to talk about it…Not now alright?" Menma asked, his voice slightly hitching up but he forced it down to add "We have a mission, remember? We must complete it to the best of our abilities…"
"You are right," Inoichi said. "But once we are done, all of us are going to have a long talk," Inoichi said with a tone that Menma couldn't argue with. "Now, let us depart and search for your siblings, yes?" Inoichi questioned.
Menma nodded and after Inoichi picked up Hisame's unconscious body, the two darted off.
"Man, I knew you were a freak but you really like trying to whip people," Naruto said as he swiftly avoided another strike from Kirisame's water whip.
At first, the shinobi was giving Naruto a run for his money. He was quick with the whip and kept at a distance to keep Naruto from attacking but the moment Naruto insulted him about his eyebrow-less features for the third time, the shinobi lost focus and began sloppy.
Which gave Naruto a new plan.
Enrage him enough to slip up to bum rush him and then capitalize.
"Like do I have a sign on me that says "Whip me harder, Daddy?" because if I do, you certainly don't deserve that role," Naruto taunted, which caused Kirisame to glare hatefully at the Genin.
"Stop moving and start dying!" Kirisame exclaimed as he sent another whip strike towards Naruto, who ducked the strike and stuck his hands into his pockets.
"I'm actually ashamed of myself that I thought you were actually going to be tough," Naruto said as he leapt to the left to avoid another strike of the whip. "Anko-sensei can whip me without trying and yet you're getting mad for missing. I don't know whether to applaud my training under her or be ashamed at your lack of training."
"Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!" Kirisame screamed as he dashed towards Naruto. Naruto, with his hands still in his pockets, leapt up to avoid a shot of the whip and nailed Kirisame in the face with his right foot then kicked himself off of it, sending the shinobi to the ground and Naruto back flipping in the air before he landed on the ground.
"Tell you what, I'll give you a free shot," Naruto said as he slipped his hands from his pockets turned his back to his opponent while performing several seals and then muttering "Hibana no Aoi Honō (Spark of the Blue Flame)…"
A ring of cobalt blue flames exploded to life around Naruto's wrists and feet but Naruto merely slid down his jacket in a suggestive manner and said "Here's my back. Come on and whip me. Maybe if I let you do it, you'll actually manage to land a hit."
Kirisame scowled before a crazed look appeared on his face and with a shout of "Suiton: Mizu Buki (Water Style: Water Weapons)!" He flipped to his feet and with a water katana and ran towards Naruto, who kept his jacket off.
However, Naruto heard the oncoming footsteps and let a smirk appear on his face before he slipped the jacket on and moved to the left to avoid the stab attempt.
The playfulness that showed on Naruto's face soon became a fearsome grin as the blue flames covered Naruto's right fist. Naruto pivoted his body to look at the stunned looking shinobi and shouted "Got you, Bakuhatsu Nakkuru (Eruption Knuckle)!"
And without hesitation, he landed a brutal punch to Kirisame's face, which caused a massive explosion of blue fire to erupt against Kirisame's face, sending the shinobi crashing to the ground hard, his entire head covered in blue flames.
Naruto watched as the man tossed and turned as the flames burned at his face and slowly walked to the man and crouched down. "You know something about the Hibana no Aoi Honō? I should have the ability to control the intensity of the flames. I tried to make it light so I didn't cause you so much pain but you really pissed me off."
Naruto watched as the man slowly began to stop moving and said "Because of how pissed I was at the senseless slaughter, I couldn't control how intense that punch would be. And yet while I feel guilty for your agonizing death…A part of me feels that your death is justified for what you and your friends have done to this place…So I guess this is goodbye. I'm sure I'll see you in Hell…" The man soon stopped moving and when the flame faded away, only his brittle and burnt shrunken skull remained.
'Past me would be ashamed at breaking my promise immediately after breaking it the first time…' Naruto thought as Naruto stood up and spat as the flames extinguished themselves from around his fist and ankles, leaving his right hand slightly charred.
Naruto looked at his messed up hand and thought 'Can these hands only bring death?' Naruto turned around to see the horrified looking Shibuki staring back at him. "Sorry you had to see that but knowing he took the lives of so many here really made my blood boil…"
"I-It's okay…" Shibuki said with a fearful tone.
Naruto sighed and said "I know his death won't bring them back and I'm sorry you had to experience all of this…No one should suffer this fate…"
Naruto eyed the deceased girl in the leader's arms and said "Most of all someone so small…" Naruto felt a burst of sadness at the sight of the little girl and felt a tear fall down his face but he took a breath and said "Come on, let's get you to Anko-sensei and Inoichi-sensei so we can figure out our next plan…"
"Relax Gaki, I'm already here," Anko's voice said, which prompted the two to look at the roof of the house to their left. "Sup," Anko said as she leapt down and landed beside Naruto. "Nice job with the battle. A little too playful but obviously you got into what is left of his head."
"Thanks Sensei," Naruto said with a small smile.
"Now come on you two. Let's go find Naruko," Anko said.
Naruko launched herself off the ground and aimed a roundhouse kick at the figure's head but the figure ducked it but when the figure stood up, Naruko turned around and landed the second roundhouse kick, which sent the figure flying through the window of a house.
Naruko held her right wrist as she stuck her right thumb up and pointed her right index finger at the house with her and shouted "Reppū Jūdan: Saisho Dangan (Gust Bullet: First shot)!" a shockwave with faint wisps of sapphire blue colored chakra flew from her finger and slammed into house and through the other side, the figure bounced against the ground before skidding to a stop.
Naruko dashed forward then jumped into the air and spun rapidly, her opened hands placed in front of her in a clawing motion as she shouted "Kuki Doriru (Air Drill)!" Sapphire colored chakra flowed around Naruko's body as she shot towards the figure at the speed of a bullet.
The figure moved their cloak to reveal their slender right arm and twisted their body around, wind swirling around their right fist before they shot forward with a shout of "Takigakure no Senpū (Takigakure Whirlwind)!"
The figure's fist and Naruko's open palms collided, causing a powerful burst of wind that separated the pair, sending Naruko back flipping back into the house while the figure skidded backwards on the heels of their feet.
Naruko ran forward then jumped into the air while she aimed her right index finger at the figure and shouted "Reppū Jūdan: Saisho Dangan!"
The figure rolled to the left to avoid the bullet, which caused a small crater to appear beside the figure before they ran forward and attempted to land a knee strike to Naruko but she blocked the knee and delivered a head-butt to the figure, which caused them to stagger back from the blow.
Naruko ducked the figure's left hook and moved forward and slammed right palm against the left side figure's chest then leaned up and landed a left palm strike to the figure's right shoulder.
The figure stumbled but managed to catch themselves and blocked two more palm strikes from Naruko before ducking and nailing the blonde Uzumaki in the side with a right hook, which made Naruko stagger to the left only to get hit in the face by a left hook.
Naruko stumbled to the right and used her right palm to smack the next punch of her opponent away then twisted her right hand and delivered a hard palm strike to the figure's stomach then took a step forward and delivered a palm strike to the face, which caused the figure to skid backwards against the ground.
Naruko then dashed forward and landed a strike with her right elbow against the figure's upper chest then took another step forward as she turned her body and delivered a second elbow strike to the figure's face before she twisted her body around, a shimmer of sapphire blue chakra flowing from her left palm.
"It's over! Tenohira no Soyokaze (Palm of the Soft Wind)!" Naruko shouted as she slammed her palm against the figure's chest. The moment the palm struck the figure, the figure shot backwards as their cloak was shredded, revealing to Naruko her opponent. 'Our target?!' Naruko thought as Fū slammed against the wall and fell onto the ground.
Fū rose to her knees and coughed out blood, her shirt ripped to reveal several slice marks that were bleeding. "Fuck…That really hurt," the teal haired girl whined as Naruko walked up to her.
"You traitor," Naruko hissed out. "We come here on a mission to find you and you're here killing your own civilians? What kind of shinobi are you?"
"P-Please…" The Taki kunoichi whispered out as she held her chest in pain. "I-I wasn't…"
Naruko stared at the girl long and hard before she held her right hand forward and formed a finger gun, her right index finger bleeding with slice marks in it. Slowly, sapphire blue chakra began to flow from her fingertip as Naruko said "That was a hypothetical question, you lowlife…"
"J-Just stop and listen…I was trying to save them," Fū said.
"I've heard enough of your lies!" Naruko shouted. "I'm not a fool to believe you when I saw the destruction of this village. Reppū Jūdan: Saisho Dangan!" The shockwave flew from Naruko's fingertip and towards the kneeling Fū but the teal haired girl barely managed to switch herself with a fruit cart, which was destroyed immediately by the shockwave.
Fū suddenly appeared in the air beside Naruko and landed a roundhouse kick to Naruko's face, which sent her sailing backwards and colliding with a wall.
Naruko stumbled onto her feet as Fū shouted "Mōjōrō (Net-Shaped Prison) and with her mouth wide open, she shot out webbing towards Naruko.
"Kaze Suteppu (Breeze step)!" Naruko shouted before sapphire chakra began to flow from her feet. Naruko flew into the air to avoid the webbing before it could hit her and then flew down towards Fū as shouted "Kūki Doriru (Air drill)!"
Naruko twisted her body so her feet were pointed at Fu and began to spin rapidly with sapphire chakra flowing around her.
Fu quickly formed several seals and then shouted "Hiden: Rinpungakure no Jutsu (Hiden: Hiding in Scale Powder technique)!" Bright, shimmering white mist flew from her mouth and surrounded the immediate area just as Naruko slammed into the ground on her feet, causing a gust of wind to cause the mist to expand away from her, slice marks on the ground around her.
The mist quickly surrounded Naruko again, causing the blonde kunoichi to close her eyes due to the brightness around her but kept her guard up. "You don't understand anything. I wasn't trying to kill them. I was trying to save them!" Fū's voice said through the bright mist.
"Save them?" Naruko asked with an astounded tone before her eyebrows furrowed in fury. "Looks like you did a lot of saving then."
"I had to go along with their plan or else they would have killed not only everyone here but me as well," the voice said.
Naruko gritted her teeth and began to focus. The first thing that Anko-sensei had the trio was when one sense was lost, the others would heighten.
She just needed to focus and keep her opponent talking.
"The minute I came back, I warned as many people as I could but they wouldn't listen to me!" Fu argued.
"Of course they wouldn't! You're were working with evil people!" Naruko shouted.
"No! Because I'm a Jinchūriki!" Fu wailed through the mist.
Naruko paused.
"What?" Naruko asked softly.
"I hold a demon inside of me…The Nanabi…" Fu's voice replied. "No one would listen to me because of it…"
Naruko was shocked.
There were others like her?
"I tried so hard to warn everyone but no one listened and I failed…" Fu's voice said with a tearful tone. "All they could see was what I held and not my intention to save everyone…Those two kids were the only ones I could save…"
Naruko slowly felt the fight leave her veins as she sat down on the ground and asked "So tell me then…What happened?"
"Suien-sama asked me if I wanted to train to learn more Suiton jutsus. I jumped at the chance. Next to Shibuki-sama, he was always nice to me so I had every reason to believe in him…" Fu explained.
Despite the shimmering mist still surrounding her, Naruko knew that Fu was sitting right behind her due to how close the orange eyed kunoichi sounded.
"Next thing you know, I was attacked by three shinobi and they kidnapped me. They told me their plans and said if I didn't go along with it, they knew of someone who would love to know about me holding the Nanabi…So I did…" Fu finished sadly.
Naruko stayed silent. Now that her anger had worked itself from her system, she could hear the heartbreaking truth in Fu's voice and it made Naruko sad for her. Slowly, Naruko turned around and gingerly took the kunoichi's wrist and pulled her into a hug.
She felt the girl stiffen from the touch before Naruko felt hands at her back and Fu's face pressed against her chest. "I-I looked up to him and trusted him…And he betrayed me and despite this village, I still cared, you know?" Fu whimpered against Naruko's chest as she began to sob.
"I know how you feel…All too well," Naruko replied softly as she shut her eyes. "Our fight is done… Just let it out."
Naruto (Oath): And that is the end of this chapter.
Naruko: That's great and all but who are you? I mean, I know you're a Naruto but we don't recognize you.
Tenten (Oath): Of course you wouldn't. We are not yet here.
Menma: Another one?
Naruto (Oath): You all will see soon enough. The next chapter will be the final chapter of this mission. I hope you guys are prepared for it. Until that time…
Tenten (Oath): Uzumaki and I will see you all soon.
Naruto (United): I'm so confused by this…