Sneaking through the forest, Naruto positions himself between two trees ahead and observes the situation. An enemy convoy was advancing towards the town a few kilometers away. On the other side of the main road, Sasuke and the rest of his band were silently assassinating the soldiers that would serve for the enemy's surprise attack, just as the strategist Shikamaru had predicted.
A little further behind, Choji was also moving quietly, trying to make as little noise as his huge body could. They both looked at each other for a few moments and nodded in silent agreement, walking ahead of the convoy.
They got into position, and waited. Choji was preparing to take down the huge tree on the road, and Naruto was checking the special arrow that Konohamaru had handed him. It turned out that the boy, although not very good in battle, was extremely resourceful, and with the thought of a cannon in his mind, he created an arrow that exploded on contact and an equally explosive dagger. They were only prototypes, but what better time to test them if not now?
Naruto stood kneeling on one leg and aimed his bow at the convoy, and with a nod, Choji brought down the huge tree with his axe.
The horses and men at the front of the convoy were hit, the animals being crushed, though the men managed to escape in time. Naruto shot one of the explosive arrows at one of the wagons just behind the first group, and put it in his mind to thank Konohamaru later as he saw the wagon destroyed in an explosion of flames. They weren't very powerful, but they were great.
When the initial scare passed, the convoy got into an attack position, barely able to fight back when the rearguard was attacked by kingdom soldiers.
Choji grabbed his axe and advanced towards the convoy, while Naruto stood up and ran further into the forest, getting into a more favorable position and shot another explosive arrow and another of the enemy wagons, this time one carrying the cannons. The gunpowder present in the wagon caused the blast damage to increase, hitting and killing nearby horses and enemies.
Naruto lowered his bow and placed it on the ground, along with the rest of his normal arrows. Picking up his sword, he turned and faced the approaching enemies.
" Holy crap, that fellow Shikamaru, he sees the future? Unbelievable."
He snapped the bones of his neck and advanced against his enemies. Using a tree as a shield, Naruto slides his body across the damp ground and slashes at the side of the first soldier's body, thrusting his sword into the back of his head soon after.
Turning his body, he fends off another soldier's attack and pushes him over another one that was approaching from behind, thrusting his sword into his neck. The huge blade penetrated the necks of both men, who fell dead soon after.
Naruto dropped his sword still stuck in both bodies and dodged a slashing attack from one enemy, countering with a punch to his unprotected face and using it as a shield from a sword attack from another soldier. Picking up his sword again, Naruto firms his feet on the ground and just spins his torso rapidly like a golden tornado, slitting throats and blocking attacks all around him.
Letting out his breath, Naruto tightens the grip of his sword and moves even faster towards his enemies, piercing the chest of the first soldier with his huge blade, and viciously attacking all those who approached him.
A golden flash was all that his opponents could see.
Advancing on a huge row of enemies, Naruto attacks them with a horizontal attack, but with his blade facing up, hitting the men with the non-lethal part of his sword. Their armor was too thick for him to pierce them all at once, but the impact of his powerful blow would certainly cause enormous damage.
The blow was so strong that the soldiers practically flew to the side, falling on top of each other with broken bones, although they were still alive.
Naruto dodged another attack by lowering his body and countered with a piercing blow to his attacker's leg, decapitating him with one swift movement soon after.
An arrow hit the side of his unprotected arm, causing Naruto to turn to the side. His blue eyes widened slightly as he saw more enemies approaching, and he clicked his tongue.
Shikamaru might be a great strategist, but he certainly didn't predict the future. He didn't know that one more group of enemies would be coming through the forest.
Not that it would make much difference. A shower of arrows streaks toward him, and using the trees as shields, Naruto looks down at his forearm hit by one of the arrows. His eyes followed the crimson red of his blood with some wonder, and the numbing pain in his arm only served to make adrenaline run stronger through his veins.
Again, a golden flash and that alone was seen by his enemies. Naruto advanced towards them at such a great speed that the archers hardly reacted in time to shoot at him. Naruto, however, only deflected the arrows aimed at his head, and the armor on his chest, as well as on his legs, protected him from the rest.
Piercing into the stomach of the first archer, Naruto holds the hilt of his sword with his right hand and shouts a battle cry while, with an enormous demonstration of strength, he cuts the soldier's body in half and the side of the archer's abdomen to the side shortly after, with only one arm.
The soldiers were startled, but continued advancing toward him. One of the advantages of the trees and the rugged terrain was that it made it difficult for Naruto to be surrounded, which left him free to enjoy every moment of the adrenaline rushing through his body.
Deflecting a few more arrows, he advanced towards the general of that small troop, being the biggest and strongest of the group, as well as the only one with heavier armor.
The general took his huge axe and also advanced towards Naruto, trying to attack him with a horizontal cut from his weapon, but Naruto let his body slide along the ground and cut the man's left leg, which, despite the pain, remained standing.
Naruto stood up and spun his body around, planting his sword between the shoulder and neck of a soldier who had tried to attack him, and defending the general's attack soon after. The force of his attack was so great, that although Naruto still remained standing, his body was dragged to the side.
Piercing the chest of another soldier, he spins his body around and attacks the general diagonally. The general, however, defends his blow, but the force of Naruto's attack was so great that the handle of his axe breaks, and he widens his eyes in surprise.
Turning his body once more and ducking in the process, Naruto feels his muscles burn with such force imposed on his movement and drives his sword into the side of the general's abdomen, who, had he not been wearing heavier armor, would have had his body cut in half.
The general tried to react, however, Naruto pulled his sword back hard, dodging an arrow that hit the protected chest of the soldier in front of him, and drove his sword into the general's thigh, again ignoring the armor, but not piercing him deep enough.
After two soldiers advance towards him, Naruto is forced to drop his sword still stuck in the general's thigh, and crouches down, taking the broken half of the man's axe and spinning his body quickly, hitting the two soldiers consecutively with the axe blade, literally impaling one of them.
The general took the sword stuck in his thigh and stood up, attacking Naruto quickly.
However, the blond dodged with agility, jumped up, and stabbed a knife into the general's unprotected neck, who stared wide-eyed and began to drown in his own blood.
Picking up his sword again, Naruto quickly decapitated the general and drove his sword into his head before it fell to the ground.
The surrounding soldiers were startled by such speed and strength of their opponent, just one man. Their arms trembled as well as their legs, their shaky breaths made their fear even more evident to the predatory blue eyes of the blond who threw the general's head to the side.
Seeing that his enemies were paralyzed but did not drop their swords, Naruto took one of Konohamaru's explosive daggers and threw it towards a group of soldiers. The small explosion was enough to destroy the side of their armor and damage their flesh. An impact strong enough to throw them a few inches into the air and kill them almost immediately. Konohamaru was of great help even if not fighting directly, he had to admit.
Like a snap, the soldiers turned and started running away from Naruto, who just watched them for a while. One soldier who surrendered would drop his sword to the ground and raise both his hands up, occasionally kneeling. A soldier still running away with sword in hand, on the other hand...
Naruto smiled slightly and his eyes seemed to glow in the dimly lit forest, his legs flexed and he advanced towards the fleeing soldiers.
He pierced their necks with exquisite skill, severed their limbs and punched through their armor with extreme force, leaving behind a trail of dead bodies of soldiers who didn't even have time to surrender.
The enemies ran far to the point where they came out of the forest and headed toward the convoy. But as they did, their eyes widened as they saw the convoy destroyed, and soldiers from the land of fire savoring their victory over the army of sound. With no choices, they dropped their swords upon seeing that they were overcome and knelt on the ground.
Sasuke removed his helmet and approached the newest prisoners of the kingdom with a small satisfied smile. He had nothing against the soldiers themselves, he just liked the feeling of a hard fought victory. His dark eyes counted the number of kneeling soldiers, and he arched an eyebrow as he realized that only eight were there.
From the forest, Naruto walked calmly toward them with his sword resting on his shoulder and his helmet between his arm. Sasuke followed every step he took, his armor soaked with blood, as well as the blade of his sword and parts of his face, arrows stuck in the side of his bicep and forearm as well as in his shoulder, blood dripping from wounds he probably didn't even realize were made in his body, until he stopped a few steps away from him and waved his sword lightly. From the tip of his huge blade, the general's head was thrown to his feet, and Naruto snapped the bones of his neck before putting his sword back into its sheath.
Sasuke continued to stare at him, his eyes widening more and more with each passing instant, each second that no soldier came out of the forest after the blond. For a few moments, despite his mouth ajar, his voice didn't seem to come out of his throat.
-You... the other soldiers...
Naruto stared at him, arching an eyebrow.
- Dead.
Sasuke's eyes widened even more, and he stared at the forest entrance once more.
-... Your job was to hold them off... slow them down long enough for us to be able to handle at least most of the convoy. You killed them all?
Naruto tilted his head slightly to the side, confused as he withdrew the arrow stuck in the side of his bicep. Only now noticing a cut in his muscle.
- Yes. Does that make any difference?
He said in a tone so calm, so casual, that Sasuke could hardly believe it.
As Naruto turned and began to check his body for wounds, Sasuke turned and waved to some of his men, who walked towards him and accompanied him into the forest.
As soon as they arrived, his surprised eyes ran over the scene of death ahead. Bodies and bodies of soldiers lying on the ground, blood staining the green leaves, heads, limbs, bodies broken in half.
The small group of soldiers stared at the scene in silence for a while, some afraid to move a few steps further, and they just seemed to snap out of a trance when Choji picked up the bow and arrows from the ground and placed them on his back.
-... How many men did we face in total?
Sasuke asked, and Sakura, who was beside him, stared at him for a few moments.
-... Counting this convoy, the fire country army has taken out at least a few thousand soldiers in the last week.
- No, no, how many men do we fight here?
- Two hundred and thirty.
The red-haired girl replied, walking among the bodies with a strange look on her face, a mixture of admiration and regret for anyone paying close enough attention.
- Shikamaru said that at least a fourth of that number would be in the forest.
- Almost sixty... holy shit.
The redhead said, almost in a gasp.
Sasuke straightened his posture and turned around, staring at Naruto out of the corner of his eye. A strong ally, no doubt about it. Strong, and dangerous.
After this initial shock, they returned to the city after a few hours to report back to Shikamaru.
According to the spies, the enemy army, instead of sending over thousands of soldiers at once to the front gate of the city, decided to separate the army into convoys and have them attack separately. Apparently, Orochimaru counted on the fire country's army being concentrated only on one side of the city, which would allow them to be taken by surprise and attacked from all sides at once.
According to Shikamaru, it didn't take a genius to be able to overcome this situation, so much so that when he received the battle reports from the royal army, he almost didn't care, more concerned with his nap than actually reading the reports that would be almost identical to the other.
A great victory, and although they had also lost a large amount of soldiers, Shikamaru was in charge of the attack programs for the retaking of the villages and cities taken, while the soldiers were given a few weeks rest.
At the moment, Naruto was walking calmly through the streets of the city as usual, ignoring the stares that were cast in his direction and trying not to run into Sasuke or anyone from his group.
He had just left the blacksmith's, no matter how much he increased the weight of that sword or sharpened its blade, it just didn't give him the same feeling as his father's sword. It wasn't the same, and although he felt powerful, that sword didn't give him the feeling of invincibility.
Maybe that was a good thing, so he would be more careful in his attacks, he would think twice before advancing, he had to find Ryuzetsu, after all.
A sigh escaped his lips. The Taka band of mercenaries, before he found them, already had a certain fame around the country, known for frustrating a large part of Orochimaru's plans, especially because of Shikamaru, their strategist, who despite being under direct orders from the Hokage, was still part of Sasuke's band. However, their fame increased even more after news of his deeds spread.
The golden warrior who emerged from the mud and blood of a ditch of bodies and killed over fifty soldiers. A servant of death with the sole purpose of killing. An incomparable beauty on the battlefield who symbolized the beautiful and frightening spirit of death... or some bullshit like that.
As Sasuke had said, it was as if he was a living legend, something he never really planned to be, and frankly, just proved to be a pain in the ass. He had no idea how these rumors had even spread so fast.
Shaking his head, Naruto's mind wandered to the battle again. Ever since he had that strange dream, something in his body had changed and he realized it. Not just his temper. Before, it was hard to make him really angry because there were few things he really cared about, he often had a neutral and/or disinterested expression on his face. But now, it was very easy to make him angry, his eyes always seemed to be on fire and his body rarely came out of battle mode. In fights he would get more and more carried away and he felt that he was gradually losing control of his own body.
He didn't know what it was, and honestly, he didn't even want to know, he just wanted whatever it was to pass soon.
His hand ran through his hair, and his mind wandered further into the past. He clicked his tongue at the sight of Temari's image in his mind, and the feeling of grief was replaced by anger. Sadness was replaced by frustration.
Questions like "Why did she have to die?", "Why is this stupid war happening?", "Why does the enemy army exist?" surrounded his mind, excuses to simply fuel his anger. And often, they were things he didn't really want to think about, questions he didn't want circling his mind.
Clenching the hilt of his sword, Naruto hurried out of the city and into a more secluded, empty place where he could finally relieve his stress.
The moonlight made the plain around the city look peaceful, and a great mood to help him relax, something he had done only a few times in the past few weeks.
After walking a little farther away, he picked up his sword and began to swing it, strong and fast movements as if he were in a mortal struggle against the wind. He didn't understand what all the anger or frustration was about. He had also been that way when his father died, but those were feelings that diminished with time. Now, on the contrary, it seemed that they only increased, became more intense.
It is at such times that he wondered what his father would say... or what Mifune would say, since the mercenary always seemed to have a wise answer for everything.
At the thought of the two men, his movements became even faster and stronger, strong gusts of air emanating with each sharp movement. The grass stirred violently and the noise of the air being cut became louder and louder, raising a small cloud of dust with each movement.
His muscles contracted as they always did in a fight, showing every fiber of his body beneath his skin, his eyes were wide open, and he moved as if he were dealing with several opponents at the same time, always in quick, strong, precise movements.
Sometimes, very occasionally, he could hear a voice in the back of his head as he fought, a muffled, distant voice, a voice he had never heard before but which seemed to be extremely similar to his own. Almost as if it was happy that he was fighting.
He had never been one to believe in things like "my other self", it seemed stupid to believe that inside every person there was a person just like them, but who reflected their opposite feelings. Usually bad, evil feelings. That wasn't how it worked, it just seemed to be something nonsensical.
But to be honest, he was beginning to consider this possibility, even if he didn't like it one bit.
- Whoa, I think you got that ghost, pal.
A female voice made itself present a little way off to his side, and Naruto cancelled his movement, surprised that he didn't notice someone approaching, he was so immersed in his own thoughts that he left his body acting on its own.
He takes a few deep breaths until he calms down, and looks at the redheaded woman who was calmly approaching in his direction.
- What are you doing here?
His voice was huskier than expected, and only now did he notice his throat was dry. Seriously, his body was acting very strangely, as if his senses were inhibited whenever he fought, whether against enemies or against the air.
- Walking. It's not forbidden, you know.
He rolled his eyes, leaning on his sword.
- I'm still not used to seeing someone wielding a sword that size without any effort. Hah, I swear, you look like you're out of a book or something.
He arched an eyebrow, and she just smiled as she crossed her arms, stopping a few steps away from him.
-... Anyone can do that.
- Yes, anyone can wield a sword bigger than himself. Especially with that speed, of course.
An obvious tone of irony in her voice, making Naruto just roll his eyes again.
- We have not been properly introduced, I am Tayuya.
She raised her hand toward him, and after some time of staring, Naruto shook it.
- Naruto.
- So, Naruto, why have you been avoiding us?
He blinked.
- What?
She smiled.
- Don't play dumb, you've been avoiding us. Which is a shame, because everyone wants to talk to you more. We were already curious before we met you, you know, with the Konohamaru story and all.
-... I prefer to be alone. I'm not good at being in groups.
He put his sword in its sheath and stared at the moon, ignoring the woman staring at him from beside him.
- Isn't it kind of lonely?
- No.
- Really?
- Yes.
- *...*
- Not to mention that we will see each other again, anyway. Next week we go on a mission.
He said after a while when he realized that she was staring at him as intently as before, waiting for something more for him to say.
-... So, who is the person you are looking for?
He widened his eyes slightly, and then closed them, clenching his own arms without even realizing it. Ryuzetsu... Temari... anger rising again in his chest.
- Okay, you don't have to say it... I can tell it's someone important. I understand.
He stared at her, the question present in his eyes, but with no desire to really ask, although Tayuya understood.
- I too have had someone important to me, first my father, killed by bandits who sold me into slavery. - He arched an eyebrow, but remained quiet. - After I ran away, I met a man, it didn't take long before we fell in love... then he was captured and killed by soldiers, and I was again arrested for trying to free him.
He stared at her for a while, noticing those feelings present in the woman's brown eyes. A part of him sympathized with her.
-... Well, that sucks.
That was all he said, and she stared at him, before laughing slightly.
- And here I thought you'd be the kind of guy who'd say "...I'm sorry."
- That shit doesn't change anything. Pity won't change the past.
-... Exactly...
She was silent after that, imitating him and staring at the moon.
- A woman. - He said suddenly, and she looked at him again with a doubtful expression. - I'm looking for a woman.
- Oh... your lover?
- No, I... not my lover, she is not... someone else.
Her eyes sparkled, and she bit her lower lip, stopping herself from asking anything else.
- You don't look very old.
He arched an eyebrow, scratching the back of his neck.
- I'm seventeen.
She gasped in surprise.
- Gee, you don't look too old, but you don't look too young either. I'm twenty-five.
She laughed lightly.
- Well, I'll leave you alone. It would be nice if you would try to get along with the others, they are a little strange but nice.
She said, smiling briefly in his direction, before she started walking towards the city.
Naruto stared at her for a while; she was a strange woman, to say the least. At the same time that she gave off an even comfortable feeling, his instincts screamed whenever she approached... as if he were close to an enemy.
But nothing, not even her gaze, gave evidence that she had bad intentions or the intention to attack him.
He sighed again, maybe, he was the stranger one.
The week passed quickly, and soon, the soldiers were already on their way to their mission. The retaking of the villages would open important doors for the kingdom, which would stop defending itself, and they began to attack.
The first target would be a village relatively far from there, before they could go to the Kisaragi village.
However, of course things would not be that simple. They never were.
Despite Shikamaru's strategies, the group of soldiers commanded by Sasuke were caught by an ambush. The enemies did something completely different from what Shikamaru had anticipated, almost as if the enemy knew what strategy they would use.
Chaos quickly ensued, the Taka gang found themselves separated.
Naruto was rising from the ground after an explosion happened right next to him. In reflex, he dodged an attack from an enemy soldier and quickly counterattacked, piercing his stomach with his sword.
Naruto gritted his teeth as he threw the soldier's body aside. The explosion had not happened close enough to do much damage, but close enough to do some damage.
Lowering his eyes, Naruto looked at the side of his abdomen, fixing his gaze on a piece of metal stuck into his body.
"Argh, great."
Spinning his body, he fends off the attack of two soldiers at once, and with two extremely quick movements, he severed the arms of both men, killing them soon after by thrusting his sword into their necks.
"At least it doesn't limit my movements."
He shouted as he brandished his sword again, decapitating one of the enemy soldiers.
He had a high tolerance for pain, so it wasn't too hard to ignore the metal stabbed into his body as he ran across the battlefield.
The Taka soldiers were skilled. In the distance, he could see Choji kill three soldiers at once with his axe and Konohamaru blast a small group of men with his explosive arrows. It was obvious that they knew how to take care of themselves.
However, the number of men was too large for them. Not something that was of total concern, not least because Naruto was used to fighting more than one opponent.
The problem really was that the number of enemies was more than double the number of allies.
Naruto grumbled loudly as he saw Konohamaru being surrounded by soldiers, and ran towards the boy. With one swift and powerful move, he hits one soldier with the non sharp part of his sword and hurls him towards another soldier next to him, throwing them both to the ground.
Turning his body and raising his sword upward, Naruto splits the next soldier's head in half.
Dropping his blade, he leaps to the side and dodges a piercing attack from one of the soldiers, while simultaneously punching another enemy in the unprotected face.
Before Naruto could grab his sword, Konohamaru shot an arrow at the soldier who had attacked him, and in a matter of moments, the man was engulfed in flames.
Hiding his surprise, Naruto picks up his sword again, defends an enemy attack, and then counterattacks, piercing his chest.
- Get out of here!
Naruto shouted, throwing an explosive dagger at a group of soldiers ahead and clearing the way, Konohamaru waved and ran towards one of the horses that were loose in the confusion.
Some men tried to chase the boy, but Naruto acted quickly and killed each of them, bathing in blood and not even feeling it when an arrow hit his arm.
Naruto dodged two attacks in a row and acted quickly, leaping to the side and spinning his body still in the air like a rolling tornado, slicing through the chest and abdomen of both soldiers.
As he landed, his eyes soon fell on Sasuke, only now realizing that the soldiers were after their "leader" in specific, as he was surrounded by dozens of soldiers.
Sasuke had his back to Sakura and Tayuya, all three of them deftly fighting off the large numbers of soldier.
Tayuya dodged a piercing attack from an enemy and countered with a slashing attack, hitting the soldier's throat. Taking a step to the side, she dodged another attack coming from her left and pierced the throat of a soldier to her right, quick enough to return to her original position and dodge two more attacks aimed at her chest and neck consecutively. With her sword, she deflects the other two soldiers, kicks one in the side of the leg and attacks the other.
Sakura attacks with more ferocity, wielding two swords at the same time. With her right hand she defends of a vertical attack of one of the soldiers, and with her left arm, she kills him, piercing his chest. Still impaling the man's body, she forces him to the side and uses him as a shield from the following attacks. Kicking his body forward, she ducks, dodging a hammer blow from a tall man in front of her. The man tried to attack her again, the woman's green eyes watched wide open the movement he made with the hammer, and taking two steps to the side as a dance movement, she cut his arms with her swords at great speed, piercing her blade through his biceps. Soon, putting her two swords temporarily in their sheath, Sakura, grabbing the hammer of the man, and using a great amount of force, moves the weapon vertically upwards and hits the chin of the man, who is thrown a few inches upwards. Taking advantage of the moment, Sakura jumps while grabbing her two swords again, and pierces the man's abdomen still in the air, scaring the surrounding soldiers.
Sasuke dodges a spear attack from one of the soldiers further away, piercing the neck of a closer man and defending with his sword the attack of another soldier. Slashing at his enemy, Sasuke again dodges a spear attack and throws his sword forward, hitting the soldier holding the spear. Running, he picks up his sword again, spins his body around and deflects the attacks of the soldiers around him.
Ahead of him, one runs toward him, leaping and spinning his body in the air. Sasuke defends his attacks while taking a few steps back, and the man continued to attack him viciously. He used a short sword and made quick, precise movements, occasionally dropping his dagger while still in the air and catching it with his other hand already in motion.
Sasuke's eyes flashed, and at one point, he planted his sword in the ground and raised it with all his might, throwing a small amount of dirt into his enemy's eyes. Raising his blade, Sasuke makes a diagonal movement and hits his opponent's shoulder. Forcing his body forward, Sasuke rotates his sword above his head along with his body, powering his blow and cutting the man's upper body, a deep cut stained by the red of his blood.
Squeezing the hilt of his sword, chains fall from his arms, and spinning his body, Sasuke makes a spinning attack, driving away and hitting all the soldiers around him.
Blood is spurted in his face, and as he turns around, he slightly widens his eyes as he sees a huge sword piercing the body of the soldier beside him.
Naruto pushes the soldier's body aside and firms his feet on the ground, moving only his torso and making a spinning attack that separated the head, along with a portion of the soldier's chest and arm from the rest of his body.
By this point, Sasuke shouldn't even be surprised by his colleague's show of strength.
- What's the plan?
Sakura shouted, getting into attack position while leaning her back against Sasuke and Tayuya's.
Sasuke ran his eyes around, gritting his teeth slightly as he saw that practically all of the remaining enemy soldiers were walking towards them.
- As much as I would like to say otherwise, I don't see an option here.
Sasuke said, watching as Naruto decapitated one man with one swift movement, striking another in the abdomen soon after, and fending off the attack of two men with spears.
- Sasuke, we are surrounded.
Tayuya said, watching the soldiers just walking around them, dozens, hundreds staring at the group.
- We can make it.
Naruto shouted, fending off another attack from a man with a spear, and feeling an arrow hit his abdomen protected by his now battered armor and several kneecaps across its length.
- Are you crazy!?
Sakura shouted.
- Look, if you don't stay on my way and follow me, we-
Naruto was interrupted by the sound of a cannon shot, and an explosion that happened dangerously close by. The three behind him went off balance and Naruto fell to the ground from the force of the impact.
Spinning his body on the ground and kicking a soldier in the stomach, Naruto gets up quickly. But before he could reach for his sword, his eyes widened as he saw, from the forest, several cannons pointed in their direction, as well as archers with arrows already ready to fire.
- Oh, shit.
He grumbled, hearing Sasuke do the same before dropping his sword and raising his arms in surrender.
Further ahead, a man was walking towards them. He had different armor than the others, the color of the metal was darker, more robust, and there was a red cloud painted on his chest. A crest of a purple serpent.
What most attracted attention was his hair, apparently reddish, but with a more orange tint.
The soldiers gave him room to pass, and he looked Naruto up and down.
-... Your reputation suits you. You killed several of my men today, impressive.
The man said, walking a few short steps toward Naruto and picking up the metal stuck in the side of his abdomen. The pain was immediate, but Naruto didn't react, he just stood there staring at him as if he felt nothing.
The man's light brown eyes opened slightly, a little puzzled that Naruto showed no pain even as he pulled the piece of metal from his body.
- I would have killed you at this point, but Orochimaru seems to have other plans.
He said, tossing the piece of metal aside and walking over to Sasuke.
-... How are you, Sasuke? Still playing at being a soldier, I see.
Naruto alternated his gaze between the two, clearly intrigued to learn that they knew each other.
- I see that you are still his toy, Yahiko. How's Konan?
The man responded with a punch to his face, causing Sasuke to stagger slightly to the side, but recover quickly. A sneering smile played on his face.
- Why so serious? I thought we were enjoying the reunion of old friends.
The man again didn't answer, just shifted his gaze to Tayuya, before turning and walking away from there.
- Take them away. The women in a different wagon than the men.
He ordered, just before he climbed onto a horse and rode away.