Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto (unfortunately). I do own all of my own characters.
"blah" = speech
'blah' = thoughts
'blah' = Kyuubi's speech
A/N: a lot of ppl are saying that i copied the jutsu that naruto has in "gone" well i REALLY believe that the kyuubi would have an ultimate defense just like shukaku and this is just the best one really... i actually got this (and another) idea from "acknowledgement" so kudos to Xaerox, however i will be modifying the other techinique a little bit.
i do have original jutsus planned, but they are mostly high level... u'll c them A LITTLE later...
haku and ookami-kun - by the end of this chapter your questions should be answered
Zsych - i purposely made this a naruto missing-nin fic
Chapter 7 – Mission
"We have a mission in the Hidden Stone Village" said Kisame.
"We're leaving immediately then" ordered Itachi.
Naruto nodded and instantly adopted a serious attitude. They packed up and left, Kisame estimated the trip to take three days.
The first day was traveled mostly in silence, except Itachi and Kisame who seemed to be discussing something. Even though Naruto burned with curiosity about his first mission, he decided it better not to ask. He knew that Itachi would fill him in eventually.
Patience is something Naruto had to work hard to learn. While he did learn to be reserved, calm, cold and calculating from Itachi and Kisame, patience was different. To sit quietly for hours on end in ambush or espionage was not something Naruto had been very good at.
Itachi and Kisame were the middle of two extremes they wouldn't mind to sit in ambush, but they wouldn't do it for very long. If it wasn't working it, they would rather go find the enemy and openly attack them.
Reiko, was the type of person that didn't like to wait at all, he wouldn't wait to see what his opponent had in store for him. "Better to strike first and kill your opponent before he can do anything to you" he would say. "But never rush in blindly, and never show off anything high level." Limitations and regulations, they seemed to always follow you around; no such thing as freedom. That was one of the reasons Naruto ultimately developed his own fighting style, to not take orders from anyone. Advice is fine, but orders reminded him too much of Konoha.
Miya, she was the exact opposite of Reiko, she could sit in ambush for days; annoyed the hell out of Naruto. But did ultimately teach him to be patient; actually it was either that or she would beat him up. "It's really your choice you know, either you exert self-control or I force you to exert self-control." However the 'force' part was more like punishment and she always seemed to know exactly how and when to exact revenge. Paralysis jutsus at the most uncomfortable moments, like paralyzing his jaw muscles right before dinner. "Sadistic bitch" was a common nickname Naruto used in the beginning. She wouldn't even get the slightest bit angry and would sometimes smile and thank him for the compliment. Naruto later found out that she was kind of like Itachi, in the sense that right before leaving she left the village a little 'present.' She effectively poisoned their water supply, not to kill them no, rather to make sure every single person stayed in bed for at least a two weeks. Of course the ones with the weaker immune system would die, but hey survival of the fittest right? Anyway she justified it saying that she needed a little head start.
Unlike all his other teachers, Miya, didn't start easy on him, she instantly jumped into advanced training. So training sessions such as ambushing ANBU and/or Hunter-nin was a common practice for her, and she would always have Naruto do the fighting alone. She would help him of course if he was going to die, but otherwise it seemed like she could care less. Now-a-days Naruto thanks her for that since missing-nin can't be taught to rely on teammates; she really prepared him for the harsh really of the real world.
It seemed, to Naruto, that most of the members of the Akatsuki were on good terms with each other. The motto seemed to be "considerate with friends, ruthless with enemies." Naruto didn't mind that at all, he considered Itachi, Kisame, Reiko, and Miya to be friends and most everyone else would then be an enemy. He had long ago forgotten about his former comrades and so called friends from the Leaf.
He saw one of them once; Iruka-sensei was what he used to call him. It was in a small town in the Waterfall Country, Naruto was on a one-day vacation and was wandering about the business district aimlessly. He saw him in a bar arguing with the bartender about something, there was a team of genin waiting impatiently outside muttering something about sensei taking too long. Naruto's curiosity peaked, he hadn't seen anyone from his past since he left and wondered if maybe they were gathering info about him. He followed him for a little while, hoping to hear about what's happened since he left. Instinctively he started making mental notes about each person in the group, assessing their strengths and weaknesses. He wanted to stop himself, but realized that if they were searching for him that this would be valuable information. What would he do if that was the case? Well that one's easy… he'd kill them. 'Sorry sensei' Naruto thought in a cold tone 'but I can't have anyone knowing anything about me.'
Other than that he didn't have any run-ins with people from the past. Sure there were the occasional Leaf ANBU and/or Hunter-nin that he would kill as practice, but that was so routine he didn't even flinch. He remembered that after one of their training sessions, Itachi asked him from which village the ninjas were from and after thinking for a little while Naruto found that he couldn't come up with an answer. He had just killed them and disposed of the bodies like routine work. Itachi didn't reply to that in any way, it was his usual open-your-eyes-to-something and then leave you to figure out what it all means by yourself.
On one hand it scared Naruto, that he could just kill people so easily. But on the other hand, Naruto figured that as long as they weren't important to him it didn't really matter.
Suddenly Itachi's voice snapped Naruto out of his reminiscing, "we're going to camp here for the night."
'Night already huh?' thought Naruto.
That's just how his mind worked, replacement, if you can't think of one thing then make yourself think of something else. 'A sort of Mind Kawarimi no Jutsu if you will,' Naruto chuckled slightly.
As usual dinner, as any other meal, was eaten in silence. This was a practice they observed because they found that ambushes usually came when you were peacefully eating and seemingly unaware of the surrounding world. After dinner they were finally able to discuss the import business.
Itachi's voice broke the silence, "Naruto, it's time you knew what this mission consists of."
Naruto turned his head and listened intently.
"First of all, we have to sneak into the Hidden Stone, which shouldn't be too difficult."
"Second, we have to locate the Kutouji estate, and get in there without alerting the Stone ANBU."
"Third, the actual orders, we have to kill the Kutouji clan members" said Itachi in a cold tone.
"There's something special about this clan, isn't there?" asked Naruto.
"Yes, they are of an advanced bloodline" replied Itachi.
Naruto's eyebrow lifted slightly, "what kind of advanced bloodline?" asked Naruto cautiously.
"They have the ability to create golems out of stone, dirt, mud, anything that is part of the earth" said Kisame.
"Don't worry, Naruto" said Itachi "all that's left of this clan is just a father and son."
"You will fight with the kid and Kisame and I will fight the head of the clan."
Naruto nodded in agreement; not that he could change their decision even if he had disagreed.
Well this would certainly prove to be an interesting battle and he had 2 days to plan for it. The golems would most likely be like his chakra re-enforced kage bushin, 'I wonder how agile they will be?' Since that would ultimately determine who he goes for first the golems or the real enemy.
A few things are already certain about the golems: lightning is no good, poison is no good, wind is worth a try, water would probably be good, earth fighting earth doesn't seem productive, and fire is also worth a try.
Now for the boy: if he has other things do his biding then he might be weak in taijutsu, ninjutsu we'll just have to see and same for genjutsu. That's the thing about chakra using techniques you can't tell how good a person is with them until you either observe them fighting or fight them yourself. Since the former was definitely out, Naruto would have to find out the hard way. Perhaps take a few hits, make himself look weak, all the while working on a counter-attack.
Two Days Later
They stood in front of large metal gates with the Stone symbol carved into them. This was it, the point of no return, once inside they would have to complete the mission. However the trio was unfazed, they simply kept walking forward with absolute confidence.
Itachi activated his Mangekyou Sharingan and the guard didn't even question them.
'Part one: complete' thought Naruto, even though he knew that he didn't do anything.
Finding the Kutouji clan residence was no problem, they seemed to be well known in the Stone. Getting in was done in much the same way, just a lot more cautiously and also Itachi made sure to disable the guards; the bodies of which were quickly hidden.
'Part two: complete' thought Naruto 'now comes the hard part… part three…'
"They are on the far side of the compound," whispered Naruto "training most likely."
Heightened senses made search-and-destroy missions, or training sessions as it was for Naruto, so easy.
His senses confirmed the information, there were only two people training and the guards didn't seem to be numerous or paying too much attention.
"We best attack while they are training," said Itachi in a low voice "we can't take chances on other ninjas showing up."
Kisame and Naruto nodded in agreement and moved toward their enemies.
They soon saw two figures, one was resting against a tree and the other was doing some sort of earth jutsu.
'Based on chakra levels the latter is the kid' thought Naruto.
The boy suddenly stopped his jutsu halfway through to look at the intruders, diverting his father's attention to the approaching trio.
The man got up and yelled out, "Who are you and what are you doing here!?"
"Our identities do not concern you," calmly replied Itachi "and we are here for your heads."
The boy visibly stiffened for a second, then became relaxed once again, however this small change did not go unnoticed by Naruto. 'So a little scared of death now aren't we?'
"You are not our enemies," replied the man once again "leave now or we will be forced to fight you!"
"Then you shall have to fight us" said Itachi coldly.
As Itachi and Kisame prepared to battle, Naruto beckoned to the boy that he was going to fight him one-on-one. The boy proudly accepted Naruto's challenge and they both jumped a ways to the side to have more room to battle.
'Lets start off simple,' thought Naruto.
He then gathered the required chakra and made two Kage Bushin appear on either side of the Stone-nin. Not normal Kage Bushin, but chakra re-enforced Kage Bushin. Naruto always makes this special kind now-a-days since the normal kind are just worthless in a real battle. The boy was shocked that Naruto was able to perform ninjutsu without the use of seals.
Naruto smirked at the Stone-nin's reaction, 'training pays off… even if I can only do this with simple jutsus.'
The clones attacked the Stone-nin using only taijutsu, one going for the legs the other for the torso and head. The Stone-nin was able to dodge the clones' attacks and after gaining some distance did several hand seals and slammed his palms into the ground "Secret Jutsu: Clay Golem."
Naruto then saw three mounds of earth rise up and form themselves into the shape of a person.
'So this is what they look like,' mused Naruto 'now to test them.'
He instantly had his Kage Bushins attack the golems. While the golems certainly lacked in speed and couldn't always block or dodge his clones' attacks, they sure packed a punch. Both of his special Kage Bushins were destroyed in just three or four hits.
Without a moment of hesitation the Stone-nin had his golems attacking the real Naruto. Naruto parried and dodged the attacks easily and noted that the golems were fighting on a chuunin level.
Just when he was about to counter-attack, Naruto felt some chakra below him 'shit, he's going to attack me with ninjutsu while I'm distracted fighting his golems with taijutsu… then I have to get serious.'
Naruto jumped up right before the ground under him exploded. He pushed himself off the heads of one of the golems, sending it into the others slowing them down a little bit. While in mid-air, Naruto already started doing the necessary hand seals for his jutsu. He completed the hand seals several seconds after landing, "Suiton: Water Explosion no Jutsu" said Naruto in a faint voice. Before the golems could react they were swallowed up by the water and carried away about 50 feet before being slammed into a wall.
The water had torn apart the clay and hence rendered the golems useless. Naruto attention was now switched to the Stone-nin and Naruto smirked at the frown on his face.
The Stone-nin then started doing the same hand seals as he had done a little while ago. Naruto knew better than to let him finish and instantly charged at him whispering, "Split." From the Stone-nin's perspective there was only one Naruto charging at him, but in reality the Stone-nin was just seeing the clone and the real Naruto was stealthily making his way behind his opponent.
(A/N: Split Copy Kage Bushin (Split): The clone comes out of the user's body. Basically imagine a soul leaving a body; same type of image except it's not the soul but a clone. If the clone charges forward it looks like the real person is charging forward; if any other direction most people would write it off as genjutsu. Both being terrible mistakes in battle.)
Naruto's clone charged forward, but right in front of the Stone-nin he suddenly disappeared and reappear behind him and made to punch him in the back of the head. The Stone-nin countered via Kawarimi replacing himself with a rock.
The Stone-nin smirked, "Doton: Spike" suddenly the ground under the clone spiked up into a spear and sliced the clone's left leg. "Doton: Land Bind" the earth crawled up the clone's legs up to about his knees and solidified. Thinking that victory was his the Stone-nin relaxed and calmly walked over to the clone.
Just as the Stone-nin raised his kunai to slit the clone's throat, he felt a presence behind him and cold metal against his own throat.
"You underestimated me," said Naruto in a cold tone "and you assumed too much."
The Stone-nin shifted uncomfortably and tried to break from Naruto's hold, but was unsuccessful.
"Now I can assume a fact…" Naruto pulled his katana away slightly, but then returned it with full force and chopped out the Stone-nin's head. As the body fell to the ground lifeless he added, "that you're dead."
Naruto wiped his bloody katana and put in back in its sheath that hung behind his head. Then looked over and saw that Itachi and Kisame seemed to be winning and sighed contently.
'Hey kid, take that scroll your enemy has' suddenly said the Kyuubi making Naruto flinch in surprise.
Naruto took the scroll and looked at it, "Doton Jutsu Mastery" was written on the cover.
'It's probably something to do with their blood limit' thought Naruto.
'Maybe or maybe not,' calmly replied the Kyuubi, then noticing the hesitation in Naruto's mind added 'just take it! If it is worthless you can practice one of your fire jutsus on it.'
'The fire jutsus I need practice with are all a bit too big for a scroll.'
'Get off your high chair! You don't know EVERYTHING there is in the world!' growled the Kyuubi.
'Fine, fine…' grumbled Naruto.
Although it was true that Naruto wasn't that good with earth jutsus. He knew some, but he didn't use them very often mostly because he said that by the time you put your palm(s) on the ground your enemy could have already gained a better position. Even though Itachi didn't share his point of view, he didn't bother pursuing him with further training for two reasons:
1) Naruto, being as stubborn as he is, wouldn't back off his point.
2) Naruto was already proficient in Raiton, Suiton and Katon.
So Doton wasn't really necessary.
Naruto pocketed the scroll, grabbed his enemy's head and went to meet up with Itachi and Kisame, who he saw had now completed their battle.
Itachi took a look at Naruto, saw the head he was carrying and nodded in approval. Kisame threw Naruto a bag to put the head in.
"Lets get out of here," said Kisame "we are unwelcome."
With that the three vanished running towards the nearest exit.
Naruto noticed that getting out always seemed to be more bothersome than getting in. 'They always fight to hold you in, but are much more mellow when it comes to holding you out' Naruto pondered this while slitting a guards throat and jumping over the wall to disappear into the surrounding forest. (A/N: Kisame taught Naruto how to use a katana)
Several Days Later
They appeared before the Akatsuki council and reported their mission complete. The three leaders acknowledged this and for the first time in three and a half years actually introduced themselves to Naruto.
Roeto was the leader of the Akatsuki, it seemed that he started it with the help of Kane who was second in command. Hajeko was the first member and resided on the council because he didn't have any missions.
Roeto also informed them of the death of one of the teams of the Akatsuki, Roeto did mention the names but since they didn't mean anything to Naruto he simply forgot them.
This combined with the fact that Naruto was now ready, is why they decided to split up the trio. Itachi and Kisame would go back to being a two-man team and Naruto would join up with Raiko.
Roeto then dismissed Naruto and bade him to make himself comfortable here until Raiko arrived from him mission. Itachi and Kisame were no doubt given another mission since Naruto didn't see them later that night. Raiko arrived in a few days and they were given another mission for which they set out immediately.
Year and a Half Later
Naruto was relaxing on the couch of his room at the Akatsuki headquarters after getting back from a mission.
A lot has happened during the last year and a half. He did several missions with Raiko for the next six months. Some were assassination missions, others were to steal something or other usually scrolls. It was after returning from one of these missions, he learned that Kisame was killed during his previous mission.
The teams were rearranged once again and Naruto was back with Itachi as a teammate. Naruto mourned the loss of one of his dear friends, but did not let it get in the way of his job. He asked Itachi for the details many times, but Itachi either turned him down or managed to change the subject. Naruto finally gave up, hoping that one day Itachi would tell him, but until Naruto would give him his space.
More missions followed, although the missions didn't seem to have any sort of logic to them. It looked as if the Akatsuki was using random hit-and-run tactics. This of course did not sit well with the members at all. Considering all of the Akatsuki members were Class S Missing-nin who could just as easily be doing random hit-and-runs on their own and get a lot more out of it. Sure they were paid, but it seemed that it wasn't nearly enough. Half of the stuff they were stealing was easily worth three times as much on the black market. Tensions were high, yet the organization seemed to hold together.
Naruto didn't care about this much, knowing that if there was a split he would follow Itachi. What was the Akatsuki for Naruto? Well what began as a way to rebel against Konoha was now nothing more than a shell that told him who to kill or what to steal.
He had to admit he didn't like being ordered about by a bunch of strangers. Why did he stay there? The only reason he could find was his 'big brother.' Naruto respected, trusted and looked up to Itachi. Itachi knew all this of course, but he wasn't a person to openly show affection. Itachi also sometimes wondered whether Naruto could beat him or not. Neither would challenge each other to a real fight though, sparring was fine, but neither wanted to fight to the death. For Naruto because Itachi-onii-chan was like the family he never had and for Itachi because Naruto was also like family, but in a different way. Naruto understood him… Naruto understood why he did what he did, Naruto understood his relationship with Sasuke a lot better than Sasuke did himself.
'Sasuke-no-baka…' chuckled Naruto. Someday maybe Naruto would beat it into Sasuke, but for now he was content with the knowledge that the so-called genius couldn't even figure out his own family relations.
Just then Itachi walked in with a scroll in his hand and slammed the door to bring Naruto back to the real world.
Naruto glanced at Itachi, "so… new mission?"
"Yeah, this one's interesting" said Itachi in an amused voice.
"Hmm really, so what are we doing?" asked Naruto in a passive tone.
"It's more like what YOU are doing?" Itachi continued in the same voice.
'Great guessing games again… Itachi just loves this stuff, he has information which I have no way of knowing and then teases me with it…'
"What do you mean?" asked Naruto in a half bored tone.
"It's a solo mission for you," replied Itachi with a slight smile.
Naruto raised his eyebrows slightly, 'Since when does the Akatsuki send ME on solo missions? Hell since when does it send ANYONE on solo missions?'
"Where?" asked Naruto.
"A very interesting place" replied Itachi.
"Amuse me," said Naruto in a very bored, but slightly frustrated tone.
Itachi smiled and said the one word that almost made Naruto fall off the couch, "Konoha."
A/N: if u feel that im rushing it then sorry, but i really wanna get to the "reunioun" chapters.
before anyone asks, naruto is not evil, he's just cold hearted towards anyone he doesnt consider a friend. (although this is more for chapter 8...)
another thing this is fiction, so plz dont say its unrealistic