Vengeance in Seven Days

By: Crystal Avatar

Disclaimer: I do not own the character names Naruto, Sakura, Sasuke and Hinata. But I bet you can guess who does. The story is entirely fictional and any resemblance to real life people and events are purely co-incidental (not to mention totally cool).

Author's Note: This is the first fan-fiction I've ever decided to write. I've decided to make each chapter about as long as a day in story time, so there should only be seven chapters to this story. Reviews, flames and praise are all welcome and I'll try my best to respond to everything so please share feedback!

C.A

Punctuation Notes

"Talking" 'Thinking' SFX (Author comments)

Day One – 'Discovery'

Naruto awoke in a room of his master's castle. It was a small, simple room- cold, dry and spartan in every sense of the word.

The guards had been knocking at his door for the last ten minutes. Even though the young man had already awoken moments ago, he had decided to continue sleeping; blocking out the solid thumps the guards had been making for him.

It wasn't hard to shut out something so annoying, especially for an imperial assassin.

Especially for a Tokugawa-Clan chu'nin (lit. middle ninja), a ninja.

"Forgive me for committing this rudeness, Naruto-sama! You must awaken! Tokugawa-sama wishes that you report to him at the strategy room at once!"

Naruto gave himself a wry smile and lifted himself off his warm futon. He dressed in his robes and opened the door for the guardsmen.

"Sorry, sorry, Naruto-sama, we did not mean to disturb you, but-", One guard blurted.

Naruto lifted his hand to hush them. "It's okay," he muttered.

He saw their fresh, young faces. New recruits. Since the shogunate at Kyoto had collapsed, the civil wars began with renewed hunger and lust. Many of the residing masters, like Lord Tokugawa, had to really make sure that new recruitment was strong and healthy. The only determent the governments of Middle Ages Japan knew.

He wasn't any different. Naruto knew that although he had been training under his jo'nin (lit. high ninja) for years in the Tokugawa clan, he was still considered a beginner in many of their ways and methods. A young man that still had a way to go before he could afford to carry the full responsibilities of Master Tokugawa's future shogunate.

"Tell them I am coming."

The guards replied with a bow and promptly left the portal to his room.

Naruto washed his face in a small, lacquered basin in an adjoining room and took a silent moment to stretch the muscles of his body.

His fellows knew him to be arrogant and headstrong, a man that acted on his own feelings and senses. Whether the gossip was true or not, Naruto never forgot that his Master and his wishes were to be respected.

He stepped outside of his room and on to a long winding walkway that skirted the base of the tall castle. The wind was fresh with summer this year and the birds were busy chirping some optimistic melody of the seasons.

'Too bad', Naruto thought, 'life as a ninja can feel so cold sometimes.'

Naruto took the natural scenery in himself for a second, then stepped back inside and pressed a hidden pressure plate underneath the tatami (straw mats) in his room.

Navigating his way through a series of hidden passages, traps and concealed doors, it only took him a few moments to reach the strategy room in the hull of the fortress.

Master Tokugawa, his military advisor, Yukimura, a slender and ambitious male youth, and one of his generals, Kamakura, an ageing old man with a deep voice, were already seated at three of the four sides of the large, wooden table that took up the center of the room. Naruto took his seat at the fourth side of the table, completing the square.

"Good morning, Master," Naruto chimed in dryly, "Pardon my late arrival."

His master waved his head slowly. The advisor and the general copied this action.

"Naruto- late again? You'll never become the jo'nin of our clan if you retain your awful habits. Don't you know that the perfect ninja utilizes perfect timing?'

"Yes, perfect timing, perfect timing," the advisor and the general chided together.

"Anyway, Naruto, stay put and listen. We've prepared a simple mission you can perform for us- another step towards your graduation unto a full-fledged ninja. Advisor Yukimura will tell you what you'll be doing exactly and how long we're giving you to do it. General Kamakura will provide logistics and tell you about your equipment."

Naruto choked inside. He was disgusted. He was so sure that the Master would annoyingly give him another mundane job to test him. In the past few weeks he had eavesdropped on the Castle's maids, kept surveillance in the surrounding forests and other tasks with no real aspect to satisfy his desires for action and adventure.

Advisor Yukimura stood up and began.

"We want you to find the leader of a rebellion movement and murder him."

Naruto was astounded by the new mission premise. Tokugawa saw this reaction on his face and smiled. He knew what Naruto wanted and he also knew he was giving it to him.

"We want you to venture into the hills and seek a small village where we suspect treasonous acts are being planned and carried out. We suspect that one of the rival lords, Master Kusunoki, is using the village as a staging ground to train rebels to attack us. You must become one with the traitorous population there and familiarize yourself with them. Once there, you must quickly identify their leader and silence him. Permanently. You must also make sure not to alert any of the rebels to your presence- not only will they not hesitate to kill you if they find out whom you are, but also Kusunoki will be alerted to the idea that we know what he may be planning. That must not occur, Naruto-san."

"The village is called Leaf. It sits in a valley protected from the wind, between two high mountain ranges and a long, winding river. A pleasant place- I was there only a few moons ago. A pity it is now a molding hole of corruption and treachery," Tokugawa cut in.

"They should all die!" The general stood defiantly and bellowed from his position at the table.

"An act not necessary to carry out if our ninja is successful at decapitating the head of their operations. Without morale, their village would surely revert to its senses," the Advisor surely replied back.

"Humph," The general snorted and sat.

"Anyway, there is a time limit for this mission, young ninja. You have seven days to assassinate the leader. We will send Lieutenant Hinata on the fifth day to make sure you've completed your mission, otherwise, she will assist you."

"Hinata? I think that would be unwise, Master?" Naruto turned expectantly to Tokugawa.

"Why not? She is my daughter and I know that while she is not the strongest warrior, her will is as stone once she has made her decision. Needless to say, young chu'nin, I will hold you responsible if any harm should come to her. She insisted incessantly that she come to assist you on a mission such as this," Master Tokugawa sighed.

"Very well," Naruto replied sharply.

'By hold me responsible, you mean you'd expect me to to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) if she is harmed.'

"That's all I have to say," The advisor motioned towards the general on the opposite side of the table and resumed his seat.

"Naruto-san, we thought we'd disguise you as a traveling poet. You've sought the village of Leaf because you are seeking inspiration from the natural surroundings there. Many poets remark of the beauty of Tokugawa's domain, so shall you be safe with this cover. To that effect, you will only be wearing simple robes- not much different from what you are wearing now, I'd imagine. Your cover cannot legally hold any real weaponry, but we can give you three vials- two will contain standard black ink. The other will be poison."

The young ninja paused for a second.

"Oh yeah? What's the brush? Does it conceal a small dagger?"

"No."

"Is the paper fixed so that I can strangle him with it?"

"No, ninja."

"No other weapons?"

"None."

"Just the poison?"

"Just the poison."

"Hmm."

"Naruto-san, you will be given a strong horse, fit to take you there and return back. Keep it fit and ready for your escape. Here's some money," The general reached into his pocket and slid a small purse of coins across the strategy table.

"There is more than enough in there to cover your living costs and lodging fees," Tokugawa assured the ninja, "Good luck."

In less than day, Naruto finally galloped to the village of Leaf in a valley skirted by mountains and rivers…

The first thing he noticed was that the village was larger than average. Apparently, there were two distinct sides to the community. A more base-looking collection of flats and houses at the bottom of a large hill, and the richer, more sturdier and elaborate buildings of the northern section of the town, strategically built higher up the foothills. It was made as if the richer would be able to look down on to the poorer from their large windows and hardwood balconies. The essentials of any village were still there however: a blacksmith, the mayor's manor (I don't know much about feudal Japan, sorry), a teahouse inn, a mill and so forth. It'd still be easy for a ninja to learn the layout with such landmarks.

The first building Naruto headed for was the inn, situated somewhere near the center of the southern, poorer part of the village. Before he did that though, he reined his horse to a small post on the outskirts of the village at an area rich with green pastures.

"I'll be back. You just stay here and eat," he patted his horse and entered Leaf.

The streets here were dirty and impoverished, the peasants washing themselves and toiling by their homes didn't look like an evil, organized rebel army at all- rather pitiful, disillusioned beggars with no hope for escape from this lifestyle. The peasants weren't just men either- ragged mothers and innocent-looking children could be seen making the most of their meager existence. The southern quarter was a poor and indignant sight.

Naruto creaked his way through the old doorway of the inn. The inside of the building actually looked quite hospitable to Naruto's surprise and relief- maybe the inside of the houses looked better than the outsides around here, he thought to himself.

He looked at the innkeeper behind the bar, a young lady in her early teens.

"Where's your mom, kid?"

"She's out back," the child pointed to a door behind her with the word 'kitchen' roughly scrawled onto it.

"Can I get a room? Or do I have to wait for your Mom?"

"Sure, mister…"

At that moment an older lady walked through the door and up to the counter. She was beautiful and had retained a very youthful appearance. She gave Naruto a quick, but polite, inspection as she dried her hands on a small cloth.

"Hello, I'd like to book one of your rooms," Naruto repeated.

"Okay, sir, for how long?" The lady replied. Her voice was smooth and pretty.

"Seven days," and Naruto threw a handful of coins onto the counter.

"At once, sir!" The lady gasped in surprise. The young daughter's eyebrows rose at the shine of coin gleaming on the wooden counter.

"Our finest room is at the tallest height of this building, the stairs are just there, sir," the beautiful mother pointed to a small stairway to her right side. "Please enjoy your stay with us." And the woman promptly bowed very deeply at Naruto.

"What is it you do, Mister?" The young daughter asked innocently.

"Well, little girl, my name is Shinta and I'm a traveling poet."

"Really?" The mother asked sounding genuinely interested.

"Yes," Naruto replied as he made a dramatic, sweeping gesture around himself,

"Restless and unsure/ Mysterious and waiting/ Fury of the storm."

"A beautiful poem, Shinta-san, you are quite creative," The mother praised.

"Not at all, madam."

The young teenage girl noticed the small, dark bag hoisted over Naruto's shoulder.

"What's that?" She pointed at the bag.

"Misa-chan, don't be so rude to our guest!" The mother scolded.

"Oh- they're just paints and brushes for my work, see?"

Naruto opened his bag to the two innkeepers.

"I will try to be as quiet as possible, whilst I do my work, madam."

"Not at all, Shinta-san, please make something very beautiful!"

"I am humbled by your encouragement, madam," Naruto smiled.

With that, Naruto tightened his bag and walked up the stairs to his room.

Now the planning and the search for the target can begin.

NEXT CHAPTER! "Day Two- Flirtation!"

Thanks for reading chapter one, everyone!

In the next episode...

Naruto meets a certain pink haired femme-fatale!
Will Naruto focus on his mission?
Or will he bend to her beauty?

Every desire has consequences...

Stay tuned for some lethal romance in the next chapter!