Blue

Chapter IX

He felt a sense of freedom whenever he was in the middle of a battle. Like butterflies fluttering lightly, effortlessly gliding with the wind, his attacks were swift; hardly felt until the very last second that an enemy realizes he should've dodged. He was wind, as well as fire. He was the center of a whirling flame and he had never felt so warm and protected. They could not stop him, could not even touch him. He was not breaking any rule and as a matter of fact, he was doing everyone a favor.

"Tsunade-sama."

She smiled at the young man before him. At this point, she looked like no older than a year or two from him but they both knew she was a few decades his senior. She was the matriarch of Konoha and thus far, the village had been developing at a steady pace. "How have you been?"

"Good, as always."

"Ah, that's good to hear, Naruto." Her tone was formal, almost as if she was reading from a script instead of talking with an old friend.

"Is there a particular reason why I am here, Tsunade-sama?"

"It's quite unfortunate that it seems I call on you only when something's amiss."

"Is there?"

"Not really but I've had some concerned parties approach me with regards of how you handle your missions."

"By the book, Tsunade-sama." Naruto grinned as he was wont to do.

This made Tsunade smile despite the loaded topic of their discussion. It was hard not to see the boy as anything else when he grinned like there was nothing wrong with the world at large. "By the book," She repeated softly, keeping the smile on her face. "I would congratulate you on that. Apparently, you've decided to follow something, for once."

"Don't I get a reward?"

She laughed. And though she kept the light mood, her eyes said otherwise. "Of course, you get a vacation."

The smile on Naruto's face was strained, "Ah yes, a vacation's always good. But I'm not going to take it."

"Naruto."

"Hey, I can't slack off, right? Besides, business is good, isn't it?"

Sighing, she stood up from behind her desk and walked across the room to where Naruto sat. "I'm afraid you've been working too hard already. A break should be good."

"I don't think so, Tsunade-sama."

"And why is that?"

"Idle hands."

There was no threat from his tone, not even his eyes betrayed anything else but a good-natured sparkle but this did not comfort the Hokage's emotions. She had already talked with Jiraiya but as it had been before, when Naruto didn't want to be found, he would not be found. The only reason he showed up in her office was because she was authority and at least, Naruto still respected the ranks. She watched him carefully and he sat there, waiting, watching, and looking harmless. She did not want to yield but she could not stop him either. He broke no rule to be suspended and he was among the best the village had ever had to be part of the anbu. And the more she gave thought about it, the more she believed that out there was where he was safer --- and the village would also be safer, from him. This was a choice between the very people she would protect with her life or those her village would consider as competition.

Sasuke saw Naruto walk out of the Hokage's office, looking carefree and pleased with the world. And at this sight, he felt his stomach tighten into an impossible knot. They exchanged a brief glance whereas the blond only flashed him with a grin and moved on.

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Naruto hissed in fury as a Leaf anbu took a blow that was meant for him. The idiot managed to destroy his momentum for a counter attack. He was going to take the blow and kill the enemy with one quick shove of a blade straight through the enemy's throat.

"Idiot! Move away!"

But the anbu didn't and took the next blow meant for Naruto once again. The human barrier between Naruto and the enemy did not allow any attacks to reach Naruto and vice versa. Naruto could not make a counter attack from behind a taller person. He could try another kage bunshin but the mercenary they're up against were a band of advanced blood nins. They had managed to use his chakra to work against him. It was almost like the shadow bind but it bound the chakra instead of the shadow. Naruto could only use brute and physical force right now.

Naruto had his one hand bound by a strong genjutsu and he wasn't familiar with it. Now, he wasn't surprised why Tsunade had assigned six anbu teams and none of the six were to serve as back up. Releasing more anbu would be too much for one mission even if it was a rescue and an assassin assignment.

"Damnit! Move away, you stupid moron!"

He calculated all possible moves while the enemy was locked with the grip of his teammate. From this angle, the enemy could not move much because one sword was tightly gripped by his stubborn teammate. If he moved to the side, the enemy would cut through from either side with another sword. If he jumped up, the guy could easily use the sword as leverage and cut him from the head. He was too close to make a quick getaway and attack at the same time. He was sourly tempted to push his wakazashi through the human block and get it over with. Besides, everyone knew they could die anytime anyway. It was an honor to die in battle.

"You'll die because of your own stupidity." Naruto breathed harshly. He sliced through his teammate's body, aiming to rip the enemy's liver. He twisted the wakazashi, imagining the internal organs that it should've grazed and pulled it out.

The nin staggered from the blow, caught surprised that a Hidden Leaf shinobi would do that.

Naruto took the advantage of surprise and jumped over his staggering teammate. Flipping in the air, he made a clean slash to cut off the nin's head before landing gracefully on the ground.

Apparently, the one that Naruto had killed was the real person behind the trice doubled kage bunshin. Thousands of black shinobi disappeared in smokes. His teammate, on the hand, fell on the ground and bleeding badly. Two medics ran to Naruto's direction, hurriedly trying to stop the bleeding while the rest of the anbu went on ahead with cleaning up the dead bodies.

So much blood dripped from Naruto's blade. He flicked his wrist in leisurely ease and the blood slid off the metal. He took a piece of cloth from his pocket and continued to wipe the remaining tints of blood while watching the medics try and save their comrade. One of them removed the mask to help the person breathe. Personally, he thought it was hopeless. Perhaps, Tsunade could take care of it but not the rest of them put together. He made sure to cut through a vital organ to have the same damage with the black shinobi.

His thoughts were cut short. His heart just made a sudden halt upon seeing who he just tried to kill.

Sasuke.

"Hurry up and do something!" Naruto snapped at the medics all of a sudden, which earned him a collective gasp. Not minding that short interruption, they continued with their work. The gash on the liver was too big and Sasuke had lost too much blood. All the medic could do was patch up the liver temporarily and tie Sasuke to bamboo poles and any steady wood for steady transport. It'd take days to get back to Konoha if they were to transport Sasuke as carefully as possible.

And this made Naruto more furious.

With quick movements, he made the seals and summoned Gamabunta. And all of a sudden, everyone near Naruto was on Gamabunta's head.

Being awoken after the long hiatus, Gamabunta snapped at Naruto. And Naruto snarled right back. He barked at the medics that were on Gamabunta's head. "Help me place Sasuke in a steady position! DO IT!"


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