Sakura watched Maemi for a time while they waited for Kakashi, team seven had mostly been doing D ranks lately and the jonin was always late. What had Sakura's attention today though was that Maemi's hair had changed color, "Why did you dye your hair pink?" the kunoichi asked suspiciously, it wasn't the same shade as her hair but it was the same style, the little Daemon had even used a black ribbon the way Sakura used to use a red one and now used her hitai-ate.
"I didn't." Maemi answered bluntly, "I didn't even really change it consciously, Naruto-sama just really likes your hair." she explained and the kunoichi gave the blonde a suspicious look and backed away slowly.
"Why did it only change recently?" Sakura asked, confused by the sudden change.
"The longer I'm around the more in tune I become with Naruto-sama," Maemi answered with a shrug, "your hair is very pretty though, so I'm not complaining." she complimented. Naruto just grinned, playing with the pink hair of his Muse idly without comment and seeming completely unconcerned by the conversation.
"Sorry I'm late!" Kakashi greeted cheerfully with a wave as he arrived, Sakura just glared at him instead of verbally scolding him.
"Kakashi-sensei, can we do another C rank?" Naruto asked with a smile, "D rank missions are so boring." he complained with a laugh.
Kakashi sighed, "D rank missions exist for a reason," he said calmly, "you should enjoy it while you can, they're a way for you genin to have an income while you train up your abilities." he explained, there was a lot more to it than that but he knew by now that Naruto wouldn't pay attention to the full explanation without those drugs that helped him focus, and the jonin still thought those were far too dangerous.
Naruto pouted, "They're so boring though..." he whined, "Please? I'll do anything sensei!" he begged, clinging to the man's leg.
Kakashi's eye twitched, he was certain the blonde did things like this on purpose at this point, "You're really asking for it..." the jonin grumbled under his breath as the purple eyed blonde fluttered his eyelashes at his sensei while pouting. The silver haired man coughed into his fist to clear his throat, "You can ask Hokage-sama." he decided and the blonde stopped clinging to him much to his relief.
Naruto had become far too easily intimate with people around him lately, it was downright disturbing. The jonin couldn't help but wonder if the genin had attempted to sneak into the kunoichi seduction classes, he really hoped that wasn't the case even if it would explain the Oiroke no Jutsu he'd read about.
Kakashi, Sasuke, and Sakura stared at their blonde teammate with blank expressions in the mission office, the pink haired kunoichi wanted to crawl in a hole and pretend she didn't know the boy almost as much as she wanted to punch the pervert until he stopped moving. The Uchiha disassociated from the situation, retreating into his own mind to avoid the current situation.
The jonin of genin cell seven couldn't help but blame himself, "Pretty please, Hokage-sama?" Naruto begged in sultry tones that did not belong to a young boy, although he didn't look like a young boy at the moment thanks to his Oiroke no Jutsu. For something that was just an unorthodox application of the Henge no Jutsu, it was a truly terrifying seduction ninjutsu.
Shamefully, the esteemed and venerable Sandaime Hokage, who had earned titles such as Professor and Kami no Shinobi for his mastery over all kinds of ninjutsu, including many of the hijutsu within Konohagakure no Sato according to rumors, was a flustered mess with blood dripping down his nose.
"Ah, yes, a C rank, of course." Hiruzen agreed hazily, only snapping out of it when Naruto cheered loudly and dropped his jutsu, returning to his natural form as a young boy. Kakashi was glad only the chunin of the mission office and his team were witness to such a shameful display.
"Naruto what have I told you about using that ridiculous jutsu!" Iruka snapped angrily, on mission office duty that day himself.
"It works though!" Naruto argued back, no one could deny that point.
"It's gross!" Sakura snapped, "You gross pervert!" she scolded, slapping the startled blonde.
Unfortunately for Sakura, Naruto was getting even worse, "Harder!" he requested with a grin and stars in his eyes, the kunoichi recoiling in disgust. Kakashi sighed, the blonde genin was swiftly becoming a force to be reckoned with for all the wrong reasons.
Hiruzen cleared his throat, still blushing though more from embarrassment and shame now, "I really need to classify that as a kinjutsu." he muttered to himself, "Now then, a C rank mission was it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow as he attempted to compose himself, "I suppose we have something." he agreed as he parsed the scrolls on his desk.
Kakashi raised an eyebrow that the man was still agreeing with it, but he supposed the man just didn't want the blonde to do that again. Oiroke no Jutsu was a truly terrifying ninjutsu, easily an S rank seduction jutsu as far as Kakashi was concerned after seeing it just once.
"Are you sure, Hokage-sama?" Iruka asked, concerned for the genin, it hadn't been that long since their last mission outside the village.
Hiruzen nodded as everyone tried to pretend what they'd just seen, "Their last C rank became an A rank mission in the end, and this mission could be taken by a squad of genin anyway so having Kakashi-san along is just additional security." he assured as he picked out the correct scroll, "Ah here we go, send in Shibuki-san." he ordered.
Iruka wasn't certain he agreed but didn't argue with the village leader and got up to obey, returning with a man who had black eyes and long dark brown hair with a hitai-ate. The man was dressed in a green shirt, grey pants, shinobi sandals, and a grey shoulder pad on his left shoulder held in place with a brown leather strap.
The man, apparently Shibuki, seemed surprised, "A genin team?" he questioned, looking to the Hokage for confirmation.
Hiruzen nodded, "Do not worry yourself, they're quite capable and recently blooded." he said, causing the young man to look at them in surprise, "They've had their first C rank already, escorting you home to Takigakure no Sato will be their second." the old man added.
Sasuke couldn't hide his frown, technically speaking the only one who had been blooded, a term for a young ninja performing their first kill, had been Naruto on that last mission. He didn't want to say this out loud, just thinking of the fact irritated him.
Shibuki didn't seem fully convinced, but knew better than to call someone like the Hokage a liar so bluntly, "I see, then, I am Shibuki, head of Takigakure no Sato, please do your best to protect me." he introduced politely.
Naruto looked oddly thoughtful, "...So plain." he muttered the insult bluntly, Shibuki twitched with suppressed anger as the rest of team seven wondered yet again why Naruto was so obsessed with physical appearance.
"What the hell is wrong with you!?" Sakura asked, smacking the back of the head of her blonde teammate before she turned to bow to Shibuki, "I'm so sorry, Shibuki-san! Naruto really has no tact at all, my name is Sakura Haruno." she introduced quickly.
Kakashi chuckled dryly, "Ah, Naruto-kun does tend to speak his mind I suppose, despite how they seem my adorable genin are quite capable, I'm Kakashi Hatake, jonin commander of genin cell seven, the brooding one is Sasuke Uchiha." he introduced, the dark haired genin turning a swift glare on the silver haired man at the insult.
Shibuki frowned with concern, he wondered if these genin were actually capable at all, "What even is that?" he asked, pointing at Maemi.
"I belong to Naruto-sama, you could call me a Kajo no Tenshi, but just Maemi-chan will do!" Maemi introduced herself with a giggle, giving a peace sign. Shibuki couldn't shake the feeling there was something innately wrong with the light grey humanoid, the black leather she wore barely covered what it needed to cover.
"Think of Maemi-tan as Naruto-kun's pet, like a ninken." Kakashi added, earning him a glare from the Muse.
"It's more like an Oni." Sasuke added and the Daemon rounded her glare on him next.
"I think she might be some kind of hengeyokai." Sakura piped up thoughtfully, touching one finger to her chin as she stared off into space.
Naruto picked up his Familiar in a hug, "Why is everyone so mean to Maemi-chan! She's so cute and she helps me be a better shinobi!" he insisted.
Shibuki came to the conclusion that the Daemon was some kind of emotional support thing for the blonde genin, although he still wasn't certain since he'd just received very different answers. He didn't believe the Tenshi bit for a second though, he'd never heard of a kind of Tenshi that was associated with being excessive.
During the journey to Takigakure no Sato the genin of team seven came to a startling conclusion, the leader of the village they were traveling to was a complete coward. The chunin seemed to jump at his own shadow, even wildlife that wasn't a threat to him made the jumpy man panic and take cover.
Maemi found this hilarious and had taken to hiding her presence from him to pop up with sudden movements and loud noises to see if she could get the man to have a heart attack, she wasn't doing it out of any real maliciousness but the idea of the chunin frothing at the mouth as his heart stopped was absolutely hilarious to the Muse.
As they got close to Takigakure no Sato two small children, still slightly taller than Maemi, ran up, "Shibuki-sama!" the two cried out in unified greeting for the chunin.
Shibuki jumped, almost leaping behind Kakashi with how on edge he was from the Daemon that had been tormenting him basically the whole trip, "Oh thank goodness, I mean, uh, sorry Shizuku-chan, Himatsu-kun, I can't play right now." he greeted apologetically.
The two children pouted at that, "Aw, we weren't gonna ask to play, we just wanted to say hello to Shibuki-sama!" the young boy insisted, apparently named Himatsu, a boy with spiky black hair wearing a long-sleeved blue jacket and tan pants.
The little girl, apparently Shizuku, with neck-length brown hair in pigtails, a pink zip-up dress with a yellow hem, and knee-length black tights, pouted, "Yeah, we're supposed to clean the water before we play." she confessed sadly.
Shibuki grinned, "Well, lucky for you I brought these ninja from Konohagakure no Sato, they can help." he informed the children to cheer them up.
"No way!" Naruto refused, "I asked for this C rank to get out of doing chores!" he pointed out, crossing his arms and turning his nose up at the idea of helping clean up.
"This was not part of the mission we accepted." Sasuke agreed with Naruto, he may not like the blonde much but he was just as sick of D rank missions as the other genin.
"On behalf of genin cell seven I accept this D rank assignment from Shibuki of Takigakure no Sato." Kakashi said formally, smiling under his mask as his genin turned on him with looks of annoyance and betrayal.
Kakashi's visible eye widened in surprise at the puff of smoke as Naruto made a ram seal, "Kakashi-sensei!" a sultry voice called out as a familiar buxom blonde burst from the smoke to cling to the silver haired jonin, "You wouldn't make cute little me do chores? Would you?" Naruto asked with a pout, cuddling up to his sensei.
The man looked up, away from his student and to the sky above, mentally asking what he did to deserve his current predicament. Oh right all the murder and death, that would do it.
"What the hell is wrong with you! Naruto! There are children present!" Sakura screeched, picking up a stick and smacking Naruto out of the jutsu, then she kept hitting him for good measure.
"Aw, but I almost had him!" Naruto insisted, upset to have his attempt at weaseling out of chores interrupted.
"Stop using that gross jutsu in front of me!" Sakura snapped angrily, raising the stick to smack the blonde again.
"It works though!" Naruto argued, covering his head with his hands as the kunoichi beat him with the stick.
"Should we stop them?" Shibuki asked, pointing at the display.
"Nah, Naruto-sama is into this." Maemi said from behind the chunin, making the man jump and hide behind Kakashi again and Sakura finally stop and drop the stick with disgust at the words.
After the quick comedy routine the genin finally started helping clean up the water outside of Takigakure, Naruto smiling again as he enjoyed the view as long as he wasn't looking at the rubbish. He did need to be ordered multiple times to help, Kakashi wondered if the blonde would ever just follow orders without complaining.
Shibuki dived behind a rock as a bird flew down from the sky with a screech, delivering a note to the perpetually tardy jonin, "Hm, sorry, Shibuki-san, but could you watch my genin for a bit?" he asked, "Something came up." he explained as he burned the note he received.
The chunin frowned but nodded in agreement, and with that Kakashi left his students in the care of the allied ninja village. He was sure they'd be fine anyway, Takigakure no Sato was neutral to most large villages and no one actually knew enough about where it was to attack it.
"Does Takigakure no Sato have any heroes?" Naruto asked some time later, trying to make small talk with the children while they worked, the blonde already bored.
"Shibuki-sama!" Shizuku responded with a happy smile.
Naruto looked over at the chunin again, "Seriously? That flaky guy?" he asked and the man glared as his eye twitched at the blatant disrespect from the genin, "No, I don't mean like a village leader or a big brother figure, I mean like a guy who saves the day, y'know?" he clarified, hoping for a different answer, "Like me!" he added with a cocky grin.
"Don't make fun of Shibuki-sama!" Himatsu snapped at the genin angrily.
"Yeah, he's a real hero! There's no way a perverted weirdo could be a hero!" Shizuku snapped with even more venom, the two children glaring at the purple eyed genin. Somewhere in the world a white haired old man and an author of many beloved books sneezed.
"I am too a hero!" Naruto snapped back, "I am the beloved champion of the Kajo no Kami! Yorokobi-sama! Yokubo-hime!" he insisted, his grin widening, "Slaanesh-kaasama!" he finished with a kabuki pose and a laugh.
Shibuki frowned at the last name, something about it sent chills down his spine for reasons he couldn't put his finger on. He was also pretty sure he couldn't pronounce it, and he remembered that Maemi had referred to herself as a Kajo no Tenshi.
"There's no way." Shizuku said bluntly.
"What kind of twisted god would make someone like you a champion?" Himatsu agreed, the two children staring at the purple eyed blonde with disgust.
Naruto's glare turned hard for a moment, "Naruto-sama isn't bluffing." Maemi interrupted, "Yokubo-hime holds domain over excess, pleasure, and joy." she clarified half truthfully, deciding not to mention the darker domains for now, "If any merchants come from Nami no Kuni you can ask them, he bravely rescued the land from a tyrant holding them in the grips of despair." she revealed with a pleasant smile.
"No way!" Shizuku still wasn't buying it.
"Why should we believe a shrimp of an Oni about gods and heroes?" Himatsu added petulantly.
Maemi's eye twitched at that, "You kids want to see another extension of Slaanesh-sama?" she asked dangerously, her grin widening maliciously.
Naruto grinned widely, catching the hint immediately he reached for his tanto. Shibuki was startled and moved to interfere when the genin sliced open his own palm, "That's right, because Slaanesh-kaasama loves me I have command over all kinds of extensions of Kajo!" he bragged, weaving hand signs, "Check this out, Kuchiyose no Jutsu!" he finished, focusing on the idea of something that would be good with kids.
Shibuki blinked in surprise, he'd never heard of someone calling Tenshi from the heavens with Kuchiyose no Jutsu before. The smoke cleared and a very full bodied woman stepped to the children with a predatory grin, at least she was dressed far more modestly than Maemi, "Ara ara, what adorable children," she cooed kindly and Shibuki noticed her teeth were far too sharp for a human, her solid black eyes already giving that much away along with her small horns and reptilian clawed feet, "I could just eat you both up!" the creature finished with a wide grin as she reached for the two kids.
Shibuki was there quickly, pulling the two shivering children away from whatever Naruto had called out, the creature starting to laugh, "I didn't mean literally!" she assured but Shibuki wasn't so sure about that, "You should calm down young man, you'll give yourself wrinkles." she warned.
The head of Takigakure glanced at the grinning genin who apparently had power of the creature, "That's enough." he insisted dangerously, the sun was setting, "You guys should head home soon anyway." he added as the oddly motherly Daemon disappeared with a pout and a puff of smoke.
Naruto frowned, "Eh? Kakashi-sensei isn't back yet." he pointed out.
Sakura didn't want to agree with Naruto, but he was right, "Can we at least stick around until he gets back?" she asked, trying to seem nice and polite to contrast with the disrespectful blonde on her team.
"No." Shibuki said bluntly, "You're mission is over, so just go home already!" he insisted.
"I'm fine with that." Sasuke said, he didn't want to stick around much longer anyway.
"Huh? Sasuke-kun, why?" Sakura asked, confused at how easily he'd agreed. The kunoichi was pretty sure they should wait for their jonin commander.
"Kakashi is usually late anyway." Sasuke said bluntly, "Besides, I'm guessing the entrance to their village is around here. I guess they don't want allies to know where it is either." he guessed with a sharp look at the chunin.
"Just because we're allies now doesn't mean we always will be," Shibuki pointed out coldly, "besides what if one of you gives the information away by accident?" he pointed out.
Sasuke didn't want to praise his male team member but, "Naruto is surprisingly good at deception." he said with a gesture to the surprised blonde, "Besides I don't want to stick around anyway." he added with a shrug, turning to leave.
"If this is how you treat allies I'd hate to see how you treat enemies." Naruto spat with surprising venom, turning to leave as well.
"Shibuki-sama!" The strained voice caught the attention of everyone present, seeing an old woman hobbling towards them looking distressed, "They attacked out of nowhere!" she cried out as she started to collapse forward.
Shibuki's eyes widened as he rushed to catch the falling woman, Sakura who was still close by rushed to help as well as the others approached with curiosity. There was a kunai in the back of the woman, confirming some kind of shinobi attack.
"It's not too deep," Sakura noted with a sigh of relief, reaching into her tool pouch for first aid supplies, "but what could have happened?" she wondered.
"Obviously she was attacked by enemy ninja." Maemi piped up, having jumped up on Naruto's shoulders to get a better look.
"No doubt," Sasuke agreed, "but Takigakure no Sato is more hidden than most shinobi villages." he pointed out with a frown as he scanned the surrounding, "So did someone attack her while she was out of the village?" he wondered.
"No," Shibuki revealed with a frown, "this woman isn't a ninja, so she shouldn't have been out of the village unless something happened." he explained with worry obvious in his voice.
"Alright!" Naruto exclaimed, "Now we definitely can't leave!" he declared.
"What?" Shibuki asked, rounding on the blonde with a glare.
"You hired us to escort you to your village, furthermore we were hired to help clean up." Naruto explained with a smirk, "What kind of shinobi would we be if we just turned around and left now? Our villages are allies y'know!" he pointed out with a carefree laugh.
"Naruto this is serious!" Sakura snapped, not turning away from the first aid she was performing but still annoyed by the attitude her teammate displayed.
"The idiot is right though," Sasuke said, earning a quick glare from the blonde, "it'd look bad on our village if we turned tail and ran now." he pointed out calmly.
Suddenly Naruto's heart sped up to a familiar rhythm and he turned to look at one of the waterfalls as Sasuke lowered his stance, both of them reaching for their shuriken holsters with opposite expressions.
Shibuki turned in concern, wondering what the two had noticed that he hadn't. It became clear as a group of shinobi burst out from behind a nearby waterfall, Sasuke pulling out a fuma shuriken as he jumped forward to flip through the air and toss it at the group. The Uchiha used the flip to strap a length of ninja wire to the weapon and was glad he did, tugging it to alter the trajectory of his thrown weapon to knock a hail of smaller shuriken from the enemies out of the air.
Naruto charged with a wide grin as Maemi slid down lower on his back to avoid getting in the way, clumsily unsheathing his katana from his back as he went. Sasuke's fuma shuriken tore through one of the shinobi and lodged into a second, another shinobi out of the remaining three weaving hand seals as they landed.
Sasuke was pretty sure the enemy shinobi were from Amegakure no Sato, judging from the symbols on their hitai-ate, "Suiton: Suiben!" one of the shinobi called out, touching fingers to the surface of the water and attacking the charging blonde with a liquid whip.
Naruto didn't halt his charge as his feet splashed through the water, but he did twist and twirl, almost slipping on the wet rocks beneath him as he swung his blade out to cut the attack away. He almost lost his balance and recovered by leaping high, letting go of the katana with his right hand after adjusting his grip with his left hand.
The remaining shinobi moved to retreat as Naruto's odd purple chakra flared around him, the blonde bringing back his right hand in a seal of confrontation before snapping it towards the retreating ninja, "Shifuku no Kurushimi!" Naruto declared and the whip of purple chakra snaked out and cut down of them, earning a scream of pain as it cut into his ankle tendons, the tendons in his knees, and deep into his femoral artery.
The remaining shinobi left their ally to his fate as the disappeared behind the waterfall, the one Naruto struck falling into the water, his blood staining the water around him red as he struggled to crawl away. The blonde took away some of the horror of this attack by slipping as he landed, falling on his ass in the water with a cry of surprise followed by a grunt of pain and a splash.
"Ouch, damn cowards, I wanted to hear more of the song." Naruto grumbled as he stood up and pulled his scabbard from his back to sheath his sword, still lacking the flexibility to do so otherwise.
"At least you caught one." Sasuke pointed out, hiding his concern regarding the strange jutsu Naruto used, "Sakura, take the kids and woman somewhere safe." he ordered, the pink haired girl nodding and quickly moving to obey.
"W-wait a minute!" The shinobi tried to bargain, "Please, spare me, mercy?" he begged desperately.
"Why?" Naruto asked coldly, "You don't seem beautiful at all." he pointed out. The shinobi slumped dejectedly, it was bad enough they were killing him but insulting him too just made him feel bad.
"Oh for fuck-" Sasuke grumbled as he approached, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance for Naruto's strange obsession with beauty, "Look, tell us what you know and we'll show you mercy." the Uchiha bargained, glaring down at the man, "Start talking, how many of you are there and what's your goal?" he asked, straight to business with maximum professionalism.
Shibuki approached as well as the defeated man gulped, "A-alright I'll talk, there are three teams of us from Amegakure no Sato, this guy called Suien said he could get us into the village." the man explained quickly, running his mouth to try and save his own skin.
"Suien!" Shibuki exclaimed in surprise, "That explains how they got in..." he said with obvious anger.
The bleeding out shinobi gulped and nodded, "Yeah, he's a jonin level nukenin from Takigakure, so he knew the way in." the man confirmed, "He promised us the Eiyu no Mizu," he continued and Shibuki startled and rushed off, "uh, so, I told you guys everything I think." he said nervously.
Maemi dropped down from Naruto's back, sliding his tanto out of its sheath as she did. Suddenly she leaped forward and plunged the blade into his throat, startling both the man she killed and Sasuke.
"What the-? What are you doing!?" Sasuke snapped at the Daemon.
"You promised him mercy, I delivered." Maemi answered bluntly as she pulled out the blade and wiped it on the clothes of the now dead man, "His wounds were fatal, he was going to bleed out, a quick death is a mercy at that point." she explained calmly.
"So, first aid wouldn't have done anything?" Naruto asked, crouching down to accept his tanto back from his Muse.
"Nope, even if you stopped the bleeding externally he would had just bled out internally." Maemi confirmed with a nod.
Naruto laughed as he stood and sheathed his tanto, "Silly Maemi-chan, internal is where the blood is supposed to be." he said with a grin, disturbing his dark haired teammate with his attitude towards the situation.
Maemi just stared at her master, "You- what- no. Naruto-sama the blood needs to stay in certain pathways within the body, if it leaves those pathways because they're damaged you can die." she explained, trying not to be annoyed with how little the boy knew.
Sasuke sighed, "We better hurry up before we lose Shibuki." he decided, rushing off to catch up with the chunin. Naruto shrugged and followed the Uchiha without another word.
The genin lost sight of Shibuki, but by following what they could of his trail they found the secret waterways leading into Takigakure no Sato. Maemi continued to cling to Naruto's back, and soon the three of them found the village proper.
No one was around, something Sasuke found suspicious. Naruto didn't seem concerned and hopped up onto land with a carefree grin, the Uchiha supposed the blonde having a precognitive song in his head to warn him of danger had its uses.
Then they were surrounded by bunshin that melted out of the ground with Naruto looking confused and Sasuke's eye twitched, he mentally retracted everything nice he'd thought about the abilities of his teammate. Each bunshin was a shadowy figure, almost translucent and similar to ghosts in appearance.
"A couple of genin?" One of the bunshin spoke up, "This shouldn't be hard then." another said as the two Konoha ninja took their respective defensive stances.
"Hm, these aren't regular bunshin." Sasuke ascertained quickly, "It must be some kind of genjutsu." he pointed out, "Naruto, get out of here and find Shibuki." he ordered.
Naruto frowned, "Eh? But I wanna fight!" the blonde argued, right hand already on the hilt of his katana.
Maemi smirked, "Shouldn't you go get Shibuki, Sasuke?" she asked, shooting the boy a smug look, "After all, mental attacks are useless against Naruto-sama." she pointed out proudly.
"Naruto is an idiot," Sasuke shot back bluntly and the blonde glared at him, "genjutsu was his worst subject. I'll handle this." he decided confidently, palming a kunai.
"Do you brats actually think you'd stand a chance without working together?" A bunshin questioned, "How arrogant." another piped up, "Annoying." another spat, "Conceited."
"If you need tricks like this that just tells me you're a weakling, and as soon as I beat you're genjutsu victory will be mine." Sasuke shot back, his eyes darting around to try figuring out which one was real.
Naruto wanted to fight this guy himself, and he really didn't want to obey Sasuke. However they were supposed to protect Shibuki, "Alright," the blonde decided, letting go of the handle of his weapon with his right hand, "have fun Sasuke, I'll come save you later." he said with a grin, turning to leave. Naruto thought Sasuke was being very unattractive by being mean to him, so decided to leave him to fight alone.
"Is that a toddler on his back?" One of the bunshin said, the sight of Maemi on Naruto's back giving the enemy enough of a pause for the purple eyed genin to escape into the water.
Kunai came from a few directions at Sasuke suddenly, the Uchiha avoiding all of them just to be safe as he retaliated with shuriken of his own. The dark haired genin noticed with some trepidation that the weapons he threw simply went through the bunshin, indicating they were not physical but that didn't tell him how to beat them.
"Open combat isn't how shinobi do things," One bunshin spoke up, "you conceited brat." another finished as more shuriken and kunai were thrown at the boy. Sasuke retaliated with more shuriken, noticing that while some of the bunshin weapons were illusory others were alarmingly physical.
The Uchiha frowned as he tried to figure this out, but he was fighting on the defensive against an opponent he didn't know the true location of. Suddenly a Suiben wrapped him up from behind, "Shouldn't you have gone after the blonde brat?" a man said as the bunshin melted away and he revealed himself, a muscular man with chin length grey hair that was spiked at the top, a teal line across his nose, dressed in grey pants, ninja sandals, a black sleeveless shirt, and brown arm warmers.
Sasuke turned to see the woman holding the Suiton no Jutsu that had caught him, a slim woman with unkempt brown hair kept out of her eyes by a white headband, with azure earrings, pink lipstick, dressed in a pink tube top under an open blue shirt, navy blue pants, and ninja sandals, "The more hostages the better I say, Kirisame-san already got their pink haired teammate outside." the woman said as she stepped out of the water with a smirk.
The man shrugged, "Ah well, it doesn't matter. Good job either way, Hisame." he praised with a smirk of his own, "Let's get this guy to Suien-san." he added and Sasuke scowled.
"As you wish, Murasame-kun." Hisame said with a giggle before electricity flowed down the Suiben connecting her to Sasuke and the young Uchiha saw white before he saw darkness.
"Shibuki!" Naruto called out cheerfully, startling the chunin who clutched his chest and turned to see the blonde approaching him within the hidden tunnels of his home village.
"How did you even find me?" Shibuki asked, raising an eyebrow at the blonde.
"Maemi-chan told me to keep a wall to my left, and I eventually found you!" Naruto revealed with a grin, "What's that?" he asked, pointing to the bottle of water in the hands of the head of Takigakure.
Shibuki frowned as he looked down at it, "This..." he hesitated, "This is the Eiyu no Mizu." he began, "This water is tapped from a sacred tree once every hundred years." he explained, "It's said to increase the power of those who drink it tenfold or more, at a terrible price."
Maemi looked at it curiously, "What's the price?" she prompted, curious if it was worth trying to take for her blonde master.
Shibuki was unaware of the thoughts of the Daemon, "The lifespan of whoever drinks it is decreased by as much as their power is increased." he said sadly and Maemi eyed it greedily, "Many died from drinking it, including my own father." he explained, "It is the duty of the leader of Takigakure no Sato to protect this water, I can't let Suien get it."
Maemi wondered how to convince the man to let Naruto drink the water, if everything went to her own plans then something as paltry as a reduced lifespan would be meaningless to the blonde.
Suddenly a voice interrupted the scheming Muse, "Shibuki!" the voice echoed from far away, startling the chunin, "Bring the Eiyu no Mizu, or I will start killing hostages, I have already captured half of the Konohagakure shinobi present." the voice demanded.
"Suien!" Shibuki spat, "He must be using Kodama no Jutsu to make his voice carry all this way, he must not know for certain where I am." he pondered, "I have to keep this water safe."
Naruto turned on the chunin with sudden fire in his eyes, "You're just going to sit here like a coward? You'll let your people die!?" he snapped, his shock giving way to anger he struggled to control.
"I can't let them have the Eiyu no Mizu!" Shibuki defended himself frantically, clearly terrified and not denying the accusations of being a coward.
Naruto glared down at Shibuki with fury in his eyes before he took a deep breath, "Despair..." he muttered, "You're disgusting." he spat, turning to follow where the voice had echoed from. Maemi pouted, she'd wanted to try getting Naruto to drink it but that looked like it definitely wasn't happening. That was a shame.
Shibuki stared after the blonde with a stunned expression, "You're going to fight them?" he questioned, "Alone?" he clarified.
Naruto didn't turn back, "I have Slaanesh-kaasama, I'm never alone." he answered, reminding the chunin of his Kuchiyose no Jutsu. Shibuki frowned, looking back down at the glass gourd.
Naruto found his way to the source of Suien's voice, the man was surrounded by Amegakure nukenin. Some of them were actually pretty good looking, the blonde frowned as he considered how best to go about this. Sasuke was tied to a torii of some kind with what appeared to be razor wire while Sakura was simply tied up, Maemi really did wonder about that girl.
"Naruto-sama, here you go." Maemi spoke up, handing him an airtight plastic container, "Only take them as needed, don't take more than one at a time." she warned and he realized it must be her supply of the combat drug she'd made him.
Naruto really did wonder where Maemi kept the things she carried, she didn't seem to carry much though. He pulled out one of the small white pills and placed it on his tongue, ready to use the drug enhanced focus to come up with a plan.
"Shibuki I am losing patience!" Suien called out, his voice echoing. Naruto focused and zeroed in on the man, long spiky hair, small dark eyes, and a goatee. He wore a dark blue jacket, grey pants, sandals, and a bandanna that held his hair out of his face.
Naruto was still holding the scabbard of his katana in his left hand and crouched as he focused, slipping the drugs he'd been given into his tool pouch. He wondered the best way to go about this and remembered what Maemi said about challenges, but he had no way to guarantee they wouldn't all just jump him at once.
Naruto couldn't help the eager grin creeping onto his face, he really did want to fight Suien though. A jonin level opponent would be the most thrilling, a real test of his abilities. Making a decision, Naruto leaped from his hiding place to land on a tree branch high above the crowd.
The blonde genin pulled out a handful of shuriken and tossed them down at the Ame ninja surrounding Suien, this got their attention and they went on the defensive, using some kind of Suiton no Jutsu to create various weapons to parry his shuriken.
"Suien!" Naruto called out with a grin, "I am Naruto Uzumaki! Chosen champion of Kajo no Kami!" he introduced loudly, "I challenge you to one on one combat! If you're a coward you can have someone braver step up to face me!" he taunted, using his left thumb to partially slide his katana from its scabbard.
Suien stared incredulously, "Are you stupid?" he asked, before he recalled something he heard, "Wait a minute, Kajo no Kami? You're that brat who killed Gato aren't you?" he questioned, narrowing his eyes at the boy.
"Yes!" Naruto declared as he dramatically raised one finger on his right hand, "I!" he continued as he gestured to himself with his right thumb, "Am!" he finished with a downward swip of the same hand. The watching Amekagure shinobi exchanged confused glances, wondering who taught this brat. The fact Naruto had killed Gato did give them some pause.
"You are," Suien began, "by a wide margin, the worst ninja I have ever heard of." he insulted in a flat tone, finding it insulting himself that the highly visible blonde was considered a ninja at all.
Naruto continued grinning, "Ah, so you have heard of me!" he acknowledged with pride, puffing out his chest. Sasuke and Sakura were both embarrassed to have the blonde as a teammate.
"I-" Suien blinked owlishly, "Yes, we just established that." he agreed as his eye twitched, "You killed Gato," he reminded the blonde, "due to your actions in Nami no Kuni you're known as the Kajo no Ninso." he revealed, "Although it seems the rumors are just that, a brat like you may have been able to kill a bunch of weakling thugs and a their boss, but you definitely don't deserve to be called Ninso." he said plainly.
One of the Amegakure shinobi, a man with messy chin length brown hair coming out from under his light grey hat with his hitai-ate on it, in a skin tight black suit that covered his mouth and nose as well, a light grey scarf around his neck, and a light grey shirt underneath a strapped blue suit of overalls, stepped forward, "This brat actually has a price on his head because of that though, can I take it then?" he asked in a sadistic tone, "That empty head of his I mean?" he clarified.
"Go ahead, Kirisame, I'm only interested in the Eiyu no Mizu." Suien agreed, as soon as the the word 'Go' left his lips the masked shinobi was rushing across the surface of the water towards the large tree Naruto was in, weaving hand seals as he went.
Naruto's grin widened, he made the seal of confrontation as he started running down the side of the tree, adhering to it with chakra as he unsheathed his sword and handed the scabbard to Maemi. Kirisame reached into the water, "Suiton: Suiken!" the man exclaimed, leaping towards the tree as his chakra shaped the water into a katana of his own.
Kirisame was the taller, and he had reach, so he swung first. Naruto could hear the song though, the song that used his own erratic heartbeat as the rhythm, he weaved around the watery blade and swung his own katana. The blonde blinked in surprise as the man turned into water as his blade went through, then more mizu bunshin of Kirisame burst from the water to run up the tree at the blonde.
Naruto grinned again, rushing to meet his opponent in melee. The Uzumaki laughed lyrically as he danced around the mizu bunshin, cutting them down with ease that surprised the other shinobi.
Murasame rubbed his chin, "Huh, well he may not be much a ninja, but he can fight." the man acknowledged, "Those mizu bunshin are only a tenth of the real Kirisame though, he should quit wasting chakra and finish it." he added, not too impressed.
"Suiton:" Kirisame's voice said from the surface of the water beneath the blonde as the genin took out the last mizu bunshin, "Raibenjin no Jutsu!" he declared, touching two fingers to the water and swinging the resulting whip. Naruto swung his sword to parry but found his weapon wrapped up, then electricity ran down the sword and into the genin.
Maemi winced in pain, pulling back from her master to avoid being dispelled and sticking to the tree slightly above the blonde as Kirisame yanked on the liquid whip. Naruto didn't let go of his weapon, the muscles in his hands contracted around the handle even if he wanted to, and so was tossed towards the bit of land everyone else was watching the battle from.
Naruto skipped across the water once before splashing beneath the surface and coming up gasping, "This brat can't even walk on water!" Kirisame laughed mockingly as he approached, cracking his whip at the blonde again.
"Ahn!" Naruto cried out, the noise alarming his opponent enough to drop the jutsu as the crowd stared at the blonde, disturbed, "Woah, damn," the blonde panted, "I didn't know electricity could feel so good." he finished breathlessly, his words disturbing basically everyone except for Maemi.
Sakura wished she had the range of motion to slam her head into something, "He really is a masochist..." she groused, disgusted with her teammate and embarrassed to be associated with him.
Kirisame's eye twitched, "Damn, this kid really is messed up in the head." he complained, it was no fun tormenting his opponent if they were enjoying it. He made another sword of water as he approached the blonde, done playing with the boy.
Naruto groaned, stretching his sore body as he held his katana in his left hand, "Well, you showed me yours, only fair to show you mine." he decided, raising his right hand up and over his head with a wide grin as his purple chakra flared, "Shifuku no Kurushimi!" he declared as he whipped his right hand forward.
Kirisame screamed in pain as the purple cable of chakra snaked through the air, cutting through his Suiken and carving deep gashes all over his body. The man lost focus over his chakra and fell bleeding into the water, dropping like a puppet with its strings cut from his severed tendons.
Naruto turned on the rest of the Ame ninja with a manic grin as Maemi dived into the water behind him, "That was fun, who next?" he asked, wading onto dry land and leaving his opponent to drown.
The remaining Ame shinobi and Suien exchanged glances, realizing that as foolish as the blonde seemed he was genuinely dangerous. They noticed the genin inspecting himself, looking over his body curiously.
"Aw, was that guy not a worthy offering?" Naruto mumbled with a frown, noticing nothing new about himself after the defeat of his opponent, "Oh well, in the name of Slaanesh-kaasama my challenge towards Suien still stands!" he declared with a grin as he lifted his katana to rest on his left shoulder, unaware that all four of his canines had lengthened, and another two of his teeth next to his top canines had lengthened into canines as well.
Now the shinobi who had invaded Takigakure were nervous, wondering what was going on with the blonde genin. They weren't proud soldiers, they were pragmatic shinobi and so didn't care much for challenges, but still glanced nervously at their leader.
Murasame scowled as he stepped forward, "You may have caught Kirisame off guard, but I'm not so easily dealt with." he declared, suddenly shifting from view and appearing behind the blonde to swing a Suiken at the back of his neck. To his surprise Naruto just shifted his own katana to catch the blade as he gripped the weapon with both hands and twisted to swing at the man who leaned back to avoid having his throat cut open.
"That's great!" Naruto exclaimed happily, "You've got a much nicer body than that other guy, better sense of fashion too." the genin praised, "A shame about your face though." he finished with a frown.
Murasame's eye twitched at the uncalled for insult, he didn't attack recklessly though as he had no idea how his young opponent had seen the attack coming. Hisame quietly stepped behind the blonde and palmed a trio of shuriken, tossing them at the boy.
Naruto surprised his enemies again by dodging the flying blades without looking at them before he turned to Hisame, "Ah, Oneechan please wait your turn, I don't want to cut up your pretty face in the heat of the fighting." he requested, "Actually could you surrender? I don't want to kill someone I think is beautiful." he added, flattering the woman.
Hisame stared at the genin, wondering how he'd predicted two attacks he hadn't seen coming. She tried to school her emotions, but as freaky as the boy was and as young as he was he did call her beautiful, so the woman had a faint blush.
Murasame reshaped his Suiken to resemble a fuma shuriken and threw it, only for Naruto to slice it out of the air as the blonde turned his attention back on the grey haired man. The Amegakure nukenin weaved hand seals and shadowy copies of himself split off to move around the boy, who ignored them and simply sliced at Murasame again as the man tried to attack from behind him.
Hisame frowned, "What is this kid?" she wondered, starting to sweat from nervousness. Murasame kept on the offense, attacking the blonde from multiple angles but the boy was never taken flat footed.
Naruto panted from the effects of the drug in his system, exhilirated and thoroughly enjoying his fight. More importantly he felt like this opponent might actually be worth something, and he wanted to impress Slaanesh now that he knew the god was watching his fights.
Suien had enough however, and moved over towards the hostages, picking up Shizuku, "I've had enough of this nonsense, throw down your sword brat, or I kill the girl!" he warned angrily, "Hear that!? Shibuki!? This little girl will be the first to die if you don't give me what I want!" he added, his voice echoing through the use of Kodama no Jutsu.
Naruto turned his attention on Suien, expression blank, "Hey, I'm supposed to set aside my wrath," he began calmly, "but if you kill any hostages I'll make your death slow." he warned, staring the jonin down with a blank expression.
Suien laughed mockingly, "That's rich! So you're fine with letting this little girl die?" he asked with a smirk, "Her family, and this village, might hate you for that." he pointed out.
"I'm used to being hated for things I can't control." Naruto responded bluntly, "As long as Slaanesh-kaasama loves me I don't mind." he continued, "You though? This used to be your home, I don't get why you became a nukenin, but I can tell you're a real cowardly piece of trash."
Suien grit his teeth, the blonde genin had been staring him down, practically daring him to kill the little girl, "Time is up! Shibuki!" the former Taki ninja shouted angrily, taking out a kunai and raising it high.
"That's enough, Suien!" Shibuki shouted, landing on the surface of the water with chakra flaring around him and an angry expression on his face, "Let the villagers go, it's me you wanted." he snarled.
Suien scoffed, "Well, here you are. About damn time. Hand over the Eiyu no Mizu." he demanded, poising his kunai threateningly over Shizuku.
"I already drank it." Shibuki responded coldly, "Now I have the power to stop you." he added, palming his own kunai as a blade of rushing water flowed over it, "Takigakure-ryu: Mizukiri no Yaiba!" he announced the name of the jutsu as he charged.
Suien tossed his hostage at the man, "You can't have drank all of it," he pointed out at the chunin in charge of the village caught Shizuku, "and it won't make a difference!" he added as he used his own Mizukiri no Yaiba, "Ten times nothing is still nothing, you weakling!" he finished as he charged.
Naruto leaped at Suien but was intercepted by Murasame, the two clashing blades in mid air before the blonde twisted to try avoiding more shuriken but the landed cuts despite this. Hisame and Murasame having finally realized that if the blonde could react to attacks he couldn't see anyway they'd just overwhelm him.
Shibuki cradled Shizuku in his left arm as he struggled to defend himself, but with the added weight and no chance to put her down his abilities were hampered. Suien smirked cruelly as he drove his weapon home into Shibuki's gut, twisting the blade as he sweeped the legs of the chunin and shoved him to the ground.
"Shibuki-sama!" Shizuku cried out in alarm, reaching for the man only to scramble back as Suien swung his watery blade threateningly. Naruto bunted a right knee from Murasame with his own left knee as the two clashed blades but could only brace himself as Hisame sweeped his other leg and followed up with a kick to the solar plexus as he fell, sending the breathless blonde genin rolling across the ground.
Suien rummaged through Shibuki's clothes, "Hah! Damn fool brought it with him!" he declared, attracting the attention of his underlings and the villagers as he brandished the bottle of water, "Wait a- this isn't-?" he halted, frowning in confusion when the bottle turned into an empty scabbard, "Shibuki! What did you do with the Eiyu no Mizu?" he asked.
Shibuki winced, but was clearly confused, "What?" he asked, clutching his wound. Suien apparently did not like this answer as he delivered a swift kick to the hand clutching the wound, causing the chunin to gasp in pain and cough.
"Shibuki-sama!" Shizuku called out again, but the direction of the voice caught the attention of Suien and the remaining Ame shinobi, who turned to see the little girl was in the water. Suien's eyes widened and he turned to where the little girl had been to see something he hadn't been expecting.
Maemi had the Eiyu no Mizu, she was tipping some of it into Naruto's mouth with a cheeky grin at the ninja who had invaded Takigakure. The Muse had used Kawarimi no Jutsu on Shizuku, but not to save the girl, she'd done it when Shibuki caught her, then she'd switched out the Eiyu no Mizu for a scabbard made to look like the miraculous water with a Henge no Jutsu.
The villagers of Takigakure no Sato were shocked and concerned, seeing their sacred relic in the hands of some strange outside and being poured down the throat of the blonde genin who had been about to let Shizuku die. Suien trembled with rage as he realized he'd been played, before the man could do anything bright purple chakra burst from the champion of Slaanesh.
Naruto slowly got up, managing to get to his knees before Suien charged to try taking him out. The nukenin swung his Mizukiri no Yaiba, only to find it blocked by Naruto's left forearm guard.
"Wow!" Naruto exclaimed with a wide grin, "No wonder you wanted this, this is amazing!" he acknowledged with a cheerful laugh, swinging his left arm and sending Suien stumbling back, "Damn, this is a better high than my combat drugs!" the blonde added with another laugh, purple chakra flaring wildly around him.
"What has that Oni done...?" Shibuki wondered, his face scrunched up in pain and his right eye only barely open as a result.
"Ten times nothing-" Suien tried to say but Naruto stepped forward and swung his right arm, the nukenin narrowly dodging the swing and still getting a cut on his cheek.
"I heard you the first time." Naruto retorted before slamming a left front kick into the stomach of the former jonin of Taki, launching the man into the torii Sasuke was still tied to, "So I'm not sure why you wanted this water, it wouldn't have done you any good." he finished with a cocky smirk.
Murasame and Hisame exchanged a glance, slowly backing away from the blonde with the visible aura of glowing purple chakra.
Naruto shifted his sword to his left hand before flicking his right wrist towards Murasame, his Shifuku no Kurushimi tearing the man to shreds, "Aw, I didn't mean to rip his body up so bad, it was the only redeeming feature he had." the blonde complained with a pout as bloody chunks of what used to be Murasame fell to the ground, "You can run away if you want," he added to Hisame, "just don't ever attack Konohagakure y'know." he finished with a wide grin and the shivering kunoichi disappeared with shunshin, she didn't need to be told twice.
Suien struggled to his feet, "Curse you!" he growled, enraged by having his goal usurped and snatched out from under him. His complaining was cut short by Naruto's katana slamming into his heart and pinning him to the torii, the blonde having thrown it like an improvised spear.
Maemi grinned maliciously, but frowned when she noticed Naruto's power slowly returning to normal, "Oh, this stuff is temporary?" she asked, looking down at the water, "Damn, oh well." she lamented with a shrug, returning the bottle to the wounded Shibuki, surprising the chunin.
Sasuke would wonder why the Daemon hadn't just cut him down, but he could see well enough why, "Told you I'd save you, Sasuke-chan." Naruto said in a sing song tone and the Uchiha's eyes twitched angrily.