Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately)
"blah" speech
'blah' thoughts
'blah' Kyuubi's speech
'blah' Kyuubi's thoughts
(Note to reviewers): no pairings for now, maybe later on… NON-YAOI
Note: revised chapter.
Chapter 3 – A Turn in the Road
"Unbelievable! The kid's body is still in one piece," exclaimed the ferret masked ANBU.
"Let's just bring his body back to the village. I'm tired," said the ape masked ANBU lazily.
))))) Inside Naruto's head (((((
"Kid. Wake up kid. What was that, huh? They beat you so easily," teased Kyuubi.
"Shut up! I am trying, you know. There are four of them," growled Naruto.
"You will never cut it. Now let me take over already," Kyuubi urged impatiently.
"Fine," Naruto says hoarsely, "But when you are done give me my body back."
))))) Back to Reality (((((
"What is going on here?" asked the bird masked ANBU. They all stared at Naruto's body with awe as the seal on the blonde's stomach started to glow, then spin and fade until it was barely visible.
"This kid is freaking me out," said the cat masked ANBU, "Is he dead or not?"
"Want to take a guess?" Kyuubi's voice asked through Naruto's mouth. Naruto stood, but kept his head down. Suddenly a huge amount of chakra surrounded his body. As his body seemed to burn in the middle of the chakra, all of his wounds started to heal. The cuts and burns closed up and leaving no scars. Bones were put into place with several cracks and pops.
When Naruto went through the next change, the four ANBU started to tremble in fear.
"I don't think this is the same person anymore," says the ape masked ANBU, "LOOK!"
Naruto's fingers tensed and slowly his nails grow longer. His whisker marks widened, and fangs lengthened.
"You're right monkey. I am not Naruto, sort of," Kyuubi said while grinning. The Kyuubi-possessed Naruto slowly tilted his head up so that the ANBU could see his eyes, which were not blue and innocent anymore, but orange-red and feline-like.
"Lets get out of here, now!" suggested the ape masked ANBU. "This is beyond us now. This is the demon!"
"What's the sudden rush? Don't you want to stay and play?" says the Kyuubi with an evil sadistic smile and licks his lips. "I thought you wanted to get revenge?" The ANBU seemed to be even more shaken by this and started to run away. The Kyuubi only chuckles as he watched the four, supposedly elite shinobi, scramble through the tree branches.
"I think that is a fair head start," mumbled the demon as he smirked. With extreme speed Kyuubi jumped through the trees and landed in front of the ANBU. "You've got to be kidding me. Is that your best?" asked the Kyuubi.
"ARHG! I'll take you on myself, demon," screamed the ferret masked ANBU as he concentrated his chakra on his palm and slammed his hand on the ground. A rocky handle shot out of the ground. The said ANBU member grabbed the handle and pulled out a katana from the ground. Jumping from the ground, the ferret masked ANBU tried to strike Kyuubi mid-air.
The fox expertly dodged the attack without any difficulty. The ferret masked ANBU uses his free hand to throw shuriken toward Kyuubi, who simply caught all the shuriken in one swift move and chucked them back at his opponent.
The ferret masked ANBU deflected the shuriken with his sword and lunged toward Kyuubi. The demon raised his left palm against the sword. With a loud crack, the sword shatters as soon as it touched Naruto's palm. Instantly Kyuubi snuck in and grabbed the ANBU by the neck.
"Isn't it sweet to have your own body? Too bad I am going to take yours away," Kyuubi says with a snarl. The fox tightened his grip around the neck and it started to crack under the pressure. The ferret masked ANBU squirmed, trying to escape the grip, but it was futile as his neck snapped only a moment later and the ferret masked ANBU suddenly stopped moving. Just to make sure he was dead, the Kyuubi uses his claws to rip the right side of neck completely open. He savored the taste of blood as it poured out of the wound and helped feed his bloodlust.
"Let's see if you can beat both of us?" asked the cat masked ANBU and the bird masked ANBU together. They jumped toward Kyuubi with kunai ready.
The Kyuubi deflected the first strike by the bird masked ANBU with his claws. All three keep on jumping on and off branches around them, while sparks shot off from colliding attacks.
The bird masked ANBU reached into his vest and pulled out a windmill shuriken. He opened it and threw it toward the Kyuubi's back. Kyuubi quickly turned around and caught the large shuriken before disappearing.
"Where did it go?" asked the cat masked ANBU, "This thing is too fast."
"Kage Shuriken No Jutsu," a voice yelled out above them.
The two ANBU looked up in horror as hundreds of windmill shuriken flew right at them from every side.
Both ANBU let out a scream that echoed through the forest. "What just happen here?" asks the ape masked ANBU in a trembling voice, "My whole squad has been eliminated."
"Well. There is still you," Kyuubi says from behind him. The ape masked ANBU froze in from the killer intent. His body tensed and he couldn't move. "Pathetic humans," Kyuubi scoffed. "Thanks for the windmill shuriken, it was very useful."
The ape masked ANBU slowly turned his head only to see claws lunging toward his neck. "NOO!" screamed the human right before he died.
"ANBU this, ANBU that… they are nothing but a bunch of sissies," scoffed the Kyuubi as he took a look around. "Ah, the free world… but it seems it's time to go now." Kyuubi said sadly as he felt Naruto trying to regain control.
The orange-red swirling chakra disappeared and Naruto fell to one knee breathing heavily back in control of his body. He slowly stood up and looked over the disaster area of where the ANBU were killed. He stares in disgust, fear and, surprisingly, awe at what had just happened.
'The Kyuubi sure has a shit load of power,' was the only coherent sentence that Naruto was able to construct from all his random thoughts.
'That was fun! Kid, you really should let me out more often,' said a satisfied Kyuubi.
'Can't you do any CLEAN kills? God… this is sickening…' thought Naruto with a frown on his face.
'I'll remember that next time you ask me for help.'
"Damn fox…" mumbled Naruto.
Little did either of them know, but two figures had watched the entire battle from a safe distance and had now decided to make their appearance. Even with his increased hearing, Naruto barely heard the two land on the ground behind him. 'Who the hell is it now?' thought Naruto in annoyance.
"What the hell do yo…." said Naruto as he was turning around, but shock rippled through his body and the words froze in his throat.
In front of him stood two tall figures in black cloaks with red clouds painted on them and high collars that covered the bottom of their faces up to the nose. They both wore straw hats that had cloth hanging down all around the edge completely covering their heads only thinning out a little in the front, so that they could actually see. Since they both had their heads raised, Naruto could plainly see each person's forehead protector.
The tall one, who looked to be about six-foot eight had a wrapped up katana on his back the tip of which almost touched the ground and the handle ended about a foot over his head. His forehead protector was that of the Hidden Mist and had a line cut across the surface from one end to the other; the calling card of a missing-nin. He had small white eyes and had markings on both cheeks that looked like gills.
The other one, who was about five-foot six had a Hidden Leaf forehead protector that also had a line cut across the surface from one end to the other. His most distinct feature was the fully developed Sharingan in both eyes.
"Hello, Naruto," greeted the shorted of the two.
))))) Meanwhile in the Hokage Office ((((("The ANBU have been dispatched over 20 minutes ago, but still no sign of Kakashi or Jiraiya, where the hell are they?" asked an angry Tsunade. Just then the door opened to reveal two white haired people. "DAMN IT KAKASHI! Why are you always late?" yelled Tsunade.
"Is something the matter?" asked Kakashi in a completely calm tone.
"Yes 'something IS the matter', a certain student of yours," Tsunade pointed at both Kakashi and Jiraiya, "has beaten up a guard and fled from the village."
"WHAT!" yelled the jounin and sennin at the same time.
"That impossible, why would Naruto leave?" asked Jiraiya.
"That doesn't matter right now, we have to go after him," said Kakashi.
"I've already sent a team of ANBU after him. Under strict orders to bring him back alive, but since he's your student, and your responsibility, I want you to go and make sure that he is brought back safely!" ordered Tsunade.
"Hai, Hokage-sama," they said before disappearing in a poof of smoke.
'Please be all right Naruto,' thought Tsunade. 'Though something tells me that, unlike with Sasuke, we won't be able to get you back.'
))))) Back in the Forest (((((
Naruto was way too shocked to even respond to the greeting. 'Oh shit, oh shit, oh shit! What am I gonna do now?' panicked a terrified Naruto.
'These guys are strong. If I remember correctly they want my power. This could be a fortunate meeting,' thought the Kyuubi. 'Hey kid, see if you can join up with them.'
'What are you crazy? They'll kill me!'
'No, they want my power and if you can use my power then you will be a very valuable asset for them. And they will probably train you too,' reasoned the fox. 'That'll be a load off of my shoulders,'thought the Kyuubi.
Kyuubi didn't mind making his vessel stronger, but Naruto was so stubborn and annoying that it would just be easier and less nerve racking if someone else did it. He couldn't, however, entrust this to anyone in that godforsaken village, oh no, they would only keep him weak.
'You sure about this?' asked a now less scared and more skeptic Naruto.
'YES! Trust me damn it!' growled the Kyuubi.
'Hmm, if the Kyuubi is right then this wouldn't be such a bad deal. No, not a bad deal at all,' mused Naruto. The blonde's shock had already worn off and he was now standing proud and tall, beaming with confidence.
"It seems we were never properly introduced, my name is Uzumaki Naruto" said the boy proudly. "However, I am no longer part of the Hidden Leaf."
This reversal in attitude confused both Akatsuki members, but they didn't let it show.
"I am Uchiha Itachi," said the shorter of the two "Hidden Leaf's missing-nin."
"And I am Hoshigaki Kisame, Hidden Mist missing-nin," said the one with the katana. "You should consider yourself a missing-nin too. Especially after what you just did."
"Whatever I don't care, Itachi-san… Kisame-san…"
Itachi's head jerked suddenly 'Itachi-SAN? What the hell does he mean by calling me that?' Kisame was a little surprised that the kid would instantly respect him, especially after the circumstances surrounding their last meeting.
"What does the Akatsuki want me for?" asked Naruto.
"I don't know, our orders are just to capture you," answered Itachi in a cold tone.
'Cold eyes, cold tone, cold everything… now I see where Sasuke gets his attitude from,' commented Naruto in his head. Remembering his old teammate made Naruto frown, 'That bastard, son of a bit… NO, no use in remembering him and worrying about him. I have a new life ahead of me now.'
"Well… umm… do you think it would be possible for me… to… join the Akatsuki?" asked Naruto hesitantly.
Itachi and Kisame exchanged glances. "He wants to join? By his own free will?" whispered Kisame.
"Well from what we just saw the kid does have potential. I don't think our higher echelons would refuse." whispered Itachi. "Not that it really matters, as long as we bring him back with us we're fine."
Then turning back to Naruto, Itachi said, "I don't think that would be a problem, however the decision isn't for us to make since we do not run this organization."
"Then can you take me to the ones that do make the decisions?" asked a hopeful Naruto.
"Yes, we have orders to bring you back anyway," said a satisfied Kisame. 'Oh good, no more chasing after this kid.'
"Then lets go, this scene is bound to attract attention," said Itachi while looking cautiously in the direction of Konoha. With that the company of three leapt up into the trees and was gone.