Uh…sorry? (Nervous laugh.)
Disclaimer: I don't own them, ok?
(Chapter Begin)
Naruto walked on a street, going to the hospital to visit Sasuke. After all, teammates are supposed to visit injured teammates, right? The blonde walked in the hospital and walked up the stairs. When he finally got to the other boy's room, he opened the door. A glare stopped him mid step.
"What's up with the glare?" the blonde shinobi asked.
Sasuke said, "Naruto…fight me…now."
"…Huh?"
"Fight me!" Sharingan eyes glared at cerulean blue. In a much softer voice, he said, "You thought you helped me? That foolish Fifth Hokage or whatever…butting into other people's business…"
"You ok? You sound kind of cranky." Naruto looked at the boy as the dark haired shinobi stood up from his bed. 'This is bad…judging from his eyes and aura, he's feeling insecure about something…'
If you do fight, at least that curse seal is gone.
'Yeah.'
(Flashback)
Naruto slumped on his bed until he felt weight fall hard on his chest. "Oof!"
"You're not as alert as you were before. Ningens probably made you weak," a demon said as he stepped out of the shadows of the room.
"Inu-Yasha! I thought you went back?" Naruto asked as he pulled the new weights off his chest and wrapped them around his limbs.
"Came back after I found something out. Did you learn anything new from Naraku?"
Naruto raised an eyebrow and asked, "Why would I? -How- could I? What happened? Did something new come up?"
"Kouga was attacked. Naraku did it, for sure. Something has made him pretty confident that he'll do something so straight forward without much caution. Kouga's alive, the attack was only a warning," Inu-Yasha explained.
"Well…when I was on my road trip…I found out Naraku allied himself with Mistress Serpent and gave her as a gift to Orochimaru," Naruto said. He made smoke come out of his hands and Kyubi appeared. Kyubi nodded in agreement.
"I fought her, she's dead. -I- was almost killed by that bitch. But anyway, this is bad for Konoha. If a demon is helping their enemy, there isn't much chance of them living unless another demon helps them…" Kyubi trailed off, leaving the other demon to come to his own conclusions.
Inu-Yasha narrowed his eyes but sat on the bed, next to the two boys. He said, "If we do that, we'll have to explain some things…that would just be better off left alone." He sighed. "But did Naraku actually join them or just gave them something?"
"Gave them something. I'm thinking he's using them for something," Naruto said.
"I agree with kit, Naraku may be clever but he has too much pride to actually join up with humans like Orochimaru for too long. He might join up with them for personal advantage but once he has no more use of them, he will either leave them to die or kill them himself. The Hidden Sound won't give him much use besides to get to Kit," the kitsune said.
Naruto added, "These shinobi aren't very strong against demons. They're smarter than normal people, but they haven't gone from clinging-to-life desperate too many times, if at all, so they won't know how demons think, making them unreliable by themselves."
"So he's just using them to get to you," Inu-Yasha concluded. "Did he go as far as to make them go at war?"
"No. Orochimaru already had a grudge against Leaf," Naruto said, thinking back.
"'Tou-san, can you help kit with that curse seal?" Kyubi suddenly asked.
"When you first showed me, I couldn't remove it since my study on seals isn't very strong but I asked Myouga. He told me how to get it off…it'll just be very painful."
Naruto asked, "How painful?"
"Passing out from pain, painful."
The blonde winced but nodded. He asked, "When can you do it?"
"Now, but I don't think your neighbors would appreciate screams coming from this apartment," the dog demon said with a smirk.
"Who cares, not like they'll really care," the genin said bitterly. He took off his shirt and opened his mouth to say something else but the hilt of a kunai was shoved there.
"To keep you from screaming too much or from biting your tongue off," Kyubi explained. "Besides, your neighbors might not care but it won't be easy on our ears." He flicked his own furry ear for emphasis.
The other demon rolled up his sleeves and flexed his claws. He grinned. "Try not to scream too much. It'll be distracting." He slashed twice at the shoulder, right across the curse seal to make an X. He used the blood the make some odd designs around the seal.
Next, he placed his claws over the area, an inch from touching the skin. Then came the screams.
(End Flashback)
Naruto winced just remembering it but turned to the Uchiha. He said, "I'm not fighting a crippled person."
"Naruto's right, Sasuke-kun," Sakura said. She looked worriedly at the dark haired ninja.
"I want to fight, now!" Sasuke glared at the blonde, refusing to drop it.
"Oh well…sure, why not?" Naruto said half heartedly. 'I'll just lose on purpose or something,' Naruto decided.
"Naruto! Are you crazy?" Sakura screeched.
Sasuke jerk his head and said, "Follow me."
They went to the roof top. The blonde said when they got there, "Put on your forehead protector."
"Why? I won't need it. You won't lay a finger on me, let alone my forehead!" Sasuke yelled.
Oh, now it's on! Beat him!
'I hope you're kidding me…'
Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it! Do-
'Fine! Gods, are you always this annoying?'
When I want to be. You could clearly feel the smirk in it.
Naruto sighed. "It's a symbol that we fight as equal Leaf shinobi."
"You're so full of yourself!" Sasuke shouted. "You think you're on par with me?"
Naruto twitched. 'Ok, he's gonna get it…' The blonde yelled out, "I never thought myself as inferior to you!"
"Then you'll learn now."
They ran towards each other, fists held up. "Katon! Goukakyu no Jutsu!" A large mass of fire flew towards the blonde shinobi. Naruto countered with…fire?
"Fox Fire!" The ball of flame only added itself to the kitsune fire, not harming the blonde.
"Grr…Chidori!" Sasuke held out his left hand, chakra glowing around it.
'What? He's going to use that?' Naruto hesitantly formed a Rasengan. 'Only strong enough to counter him, so I'll use chakra.'
Distantly, the vessel of Kyubi heard his other teammate say, "Stop…Stop, you two! Stop!" She ran between them when they where about to collide into each other.
'Shit! We're in the air! How am I supposed to stop?' The blonde thought in a panic, eyes widening.
Sasuke thought, 'Damn it!'
They were both flung into the air by the timely arrival of their jounin instructor, Kakashi. The jounin thought, 'Naruto…just now was…' He said to them, "Hey, you two! What were you doing on the roof of the hospital? If you're fighting, you're getting too heated, both of you."
'Hand…stuck…' Naruto thought as he tried to pull his hand out. He glanced to his left and saw Sasuke was also in the same predicament. 'Oh for the love of- forget this! Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!' Naruto hand was out and he gave a sigh of relief.
'Naruto was using Rasengan,' Kakashi thought. 'No doubt. I wonder how…How can Naruto perform that technique?' He was on the water tank Sasuke destroyed in a flash. "Why are you so obsessed with your superiority complex, Sasuke? That level of Chidori is not appropriate to use here, against your comrade. Were you trying to kill Naruto? Where did such behavior come from?" Kakashi thought with a sigh, 'He must have met Itachi.'
Sasuke glared angrily and left.
Sakura looked shocked and then began to cry. She sobbed out, "Kakashi-sensei…"
Naruto sighed at it all. He ran a hand through his hair, which was now a little pass his shoulders. He shoved his hands into his pockets and sighed again. "This just turned from bad to worse for me…"
Kakashi said, "Were you…the one who taught Naruto that technique? I feel that Naruto is still too young to be able to control that technique. In the worse case scenario, it could have killed Sasuke. Even if it was for his own protection from the Akatsuki, teaching Naruto that technique…"
"Let's be fair," Jiraiya said from his spot behind the destroyed water tank. "That Chidori is too much for Sasuke. Besides…didn't you see the level of Naruto's attack? He could have made it much stronger. He only made it as strong as Sasuke's to counter it. Still, something's going on with those two."
Kakashi looked shocked but then sighed. "The thing is, Sasuke is feeling threatened by Naruto's progress, feeling like he isn't getting strong enough…"
"For revenge? Itachi has caused Sasuke to lead a life of darkness…but for Naruto, he also has this revenge thing going on with him…what is this, a trend?"
"He does? What happened?" Kakashi thought, shocked he didn't know about this. 'I hope it's not against Konoha…'
"You don't know? He didn't tell you?" Jiraiya asked, confused.
"You mean…he told you?"
Jiraiya sighed. 'I guess he doesn't know the demon thing…' The Sennin said, "It's better if you just ask him, since I don't know how much you know."
"He told me…that he was dealing with demons…that's all, he wouldn't elaborate." Kakashi thought, 'Have I not been a good enough teacher for him to tell me?'
"Hey, I'm right here if you can't tell," Naruto said, annoyed. He stood right behind Kakashi with his arms crossed.
The jounin nearly fell off his seat as the Sennin slipped a little from his spot leaning on the tank. Naruto got very annoyed at their lack of attention and decided to give them a little "push." Actually, he shoved them both off the roof.
(Scene Change)
Naruto wandered around Konoha. 'What happened to Sasuke? Man, he seems so irritable…'
Maybe it was his brother. He did say he wanted to kill him.
'Yeah…I guess his brother going after me and having no interest in him is a pretty big blow…' Naruto looked at the moon. 'Full moon…'
No wonder I feel so restless.
As Naruto looked around, he spotted someone. He jumped on a roof and ran gracefully to the person. "Hey, Lee-san. What are you doing out here?"
"Huh? Oh, Naruto-kun. How have you been?" the spandex wearing genin asked.
"Hmm…as of recently, not too well. Lot of stress lately, but I think I can handle it. How about you? You look like a lot is on your mind. Is everything ok?"
"My arm is better. My leg is fully healed…they told me you did something to help me out when it was crushed…thanks, Naruto-kun," Lee said with a smile.
"Uh…no problem. You -did- help me out in the Forest of Death," Naruto said sheepishly, scratching the back of his head. "So, what's bothering you?"
"Hokage-sama…said I need an operation." He sighed. "There's a small chance of me dying, but it's only thirty percent…but what if something goes wrong?"
Naruto's eyes widened. "That's…that –is- a little risky…but you're going to tak the operation?"
"Of course! I want to prove that people can still be a great ninja without having skills of ninjutsu or genjutsu, that is everything to me!" Lee said. "I'm willing to give my life for it."
"Then what's the problem?...Oh. If you die, you won't be able to prove it…" Naruto realized. "That is a little snag. But hey, relax! I don't think you'll die! You're one of the strongest people I know, and it's not like the old lady will mess up or anything! She's the best medic nin around!"
"Thank you, Naruto-kun! You've helped me regain my confidence!" Lee flashed a smile. "I'm eternally grateful to you!"
Naruto grinned and walked away, chatting with his demon tenant.
(Scene Change)
Knock! Knock! Knock!
Splash!
"Wah!" Naruto yelled and then gasped at the cold water that was splashed on him.
"Someone's at the door," Inu-Yasha said calmly, holding a bucket.
"Y-you! Bastard!" Naruto tackled the demon, or, at least tried to. The demon had quickly side stepped.
The dog demon smirked and repeated, "Someone's at the door."
Naruto got up and grumbled the whole way (which wasn't very long) to the door. He opened it and glared at the person beyond the door. "What in the seven hells do you want?"
"I didn't know you weren't a morning person…what happened to you?" Shikamaru asked as he eyed the blonde's appearance. One word came to mind, 'Wet.'
"Nothing," Naruto gritted out. He took a deep breath and breathed out. "Ok, what do you want?"
"Sasuke left the village, we have to go after him -now-."
(Scene Change)
"Man, it's way too early for this," Naruto grumbled. He sighed heavily. 'I wonder how Inu-Yasha is doing by himself in my apartment…'
Naruto glanced at the assembled shinobi. Shikamaru, Neji, Chouji, Kiba, and Lee (but he wasn't going, he was just there to see them off).
"Alright," Shikamaru said, catching everyone's attention. "This is our squad formation that's best for us. If anyone moves on their own and ignores my orders, it might end up killing us all! We proceed in the single line formation. First, Kiba, then me, Naruto, Chouji, and then Neji." He proceeded to inform them why they were in their positions, impressing many.
'He came up with a perfect formation from such a random mix of people…incredible,' Lee thought.
Shikamaru said, "Well, if you guys got nothing else to say, I guess I'll say the most important thing. Sasuke isn't a close friend of mine, nor is he someone important. However, he is a fellow Leaf shinobi, he is our comrade! This is why we're risking our lives for him. This is the way of the Leaf. Even someone like me can't goof off on this. I'm responsible for all your lives."
After checking over the equipment, Shikamaru declared it was time to leave. That was when someone yelled out, "Wait!"
"Sakura-san?" Naruto asked.
"I heard the story from Hokage-sama. Sorry, but I'm not taking you along," Shikamaru said. "Even you couldn't convince Sasuke, right? Seems like we'll have to force him to come. Sakura, your job is done."
Sakura looked at the ground and burst into tears. She sobbed out, "Naruto, I beg you! Please…please bring Sasuke-kun back. I couldn't do it, I couldn't stop him. The only person…the only person who can do it now is you, Naruto…only you…"
"You really like him, huh?" Naruto asked with a sad look in his eyes. "I understand…"
Sakura thought of a moment that happened long ago.
(Flashback)
"Sasuke" asked, "Sakura…I gotta know, what do you think of Naruto?"
"…He's so annoying and always interferes between you and me. He likes seeing me troubled and doesn't want me to be happy! He doesn't understand anything about me. He's just annoying," Sakura said coldly.
(End Flashback)
She felt immense guilt after thinking back and fresh tears started. "Naruto…Thank you…"
Naruto blinked. He didn't even promise yet. He grinned, "Don't worry, Sakura-san. I'll bring him back! Promise of a lifetime!" He gave her a thumbs up.
'He always knew…' Sakura thought. 'He was always helping me…' She said, "Naruto…call me Sakura-chan."
Blink. "Okay…sure, Sakura-chan."
Shikamaru rolled his eyes and said, "Well, we wasted a lot of time. We have to get going."
(Scene Change)
"Everyone, stop!" Shikamaru yelled out. "Look closer over there!"
Everyone did as told. There was an explosive seal on the tree bark.
"Explosive seal," Neji said. "I see five more, this formation is a barrier seal."
"Barrier seal?" Chouji asked.
"It's a form of ninjutsu trap," Shikamaru explained. "The seal-type traps are triggered when the enemy enters an area encircled by the trap seals. I read in my dad's book that it's a high class ninjutsu."
"Damn," Kiba said. "So we have no way but to flank it?"
"I can remove it," Naruto suddenly said, surprising everyone. He stepped closer to it.
"Are you crazy?" Shikamaru asked. "No, I order you not to take a step closer."
Naruto turned around and stared at him. He repeated, "I can remove it."
"I don't know if you can and I don't want you risking it," Shikamaru said sternly.
Naruto sighed but he couldn't do anything, the other boy was superior in rank and was squad leader. Neji spoke up, "If he can, he should."
Shikamaru thought about it for a second before asking, "Naruto, how do you know how to remove it?"
"When I was traveling…there was something like this," Naruto said. "They had me trapped, if I didn't find a way to remove them without getting killed, I would get killed by something else. Either way, I would have died if I didn't try, so I took a chance. I got lucky. Once I was out, I ran. Later on, I studied them to make sure that didn't happen again."
"Alright, then do it."
Naruto grinned and went up to the seal. He inserted some youki into it, disabling it and then burning it. "Without this one, the others won't work. It needs all the seals to work."
They went forward. Kiba asked, "Naruto, where did you go in your three months?"
"Someplace not many people go to," Naruto answered.
"That traitor Kabuto said you were in 'those' forests," Shikamaru said as he ran. "What did he mean?" The shadow user had a calculating look on his face, suspicion creeping upon his eyes.
"Does it matter?" Naruto suddenly snapped. He covered his mouth at the shocked looks on the others faces. "Sorry."
"Touchy subject, huh?" Shikamaru concluded, but he didn't press, so none of the others did either.
Naruto said after a moment, "I didn't tell my teammates or the Third when they asked me. I didn't tell anyone. At least not in detail. The Third didn't press because he knew better. It's not something people should get into unless they want to die."
"Then why are you?" Chouji asked after a silence.
Naruto didn't answer right away. He finally said, "Because I'm ready to forfeit my life."
An awkward silence came afterwards. "I didn't think you were one of those people who didn't care if they died," Neji said when no one else said anything.
"I'm not. If I die, I know I couldn't have helped it," Naruto answered simply, as if it was the easiest thing to understand. "Kiba, are we near?" he asked to change the subject.
"Wait! They're close!" Kiba realized after sniffing the air.
Shikamaru said, "Alright, no one does anything until I say the plan."
"And the plan is…?" Kiba asked.
"Alright, listen…"
(Scene Change)
Naraku stood before the human. He growled out in an annoyed tone, "Mistress Serpent was killed?"
"Yes. It was that Kyubi brat," Orochimaru said.
They stood in a large room. In the sidelines stood five shinobi. Kagura eyed them menacingly, daring them to try something. All quelled under her gaze. She opened her fan and covered the bottom half of her face with it, looking away and turning her attention to her master and the snake shinobi. Kabuto stood by his master's side and kept a close eye to her. She stared back, eyes slightly narrowed in superiority and distaste. Kabuto instantly hated her.
Naraku's expression was serious at first, or, at least it looked like it. They could only see his lips, his baboon mask covering the rest of his face. They had yet to see his face. The demon gave a small smirk, which turned into a full blown grin. Then he began to laugh, confusing many but Kagura. She had been with him long enough to know how his mind worked. Most of the time.
After the laughter was abruptly cut off, the demon said, "Splendid. So they have found a way to do that. This Naruto is much more than I had first thought." He smirked, showing his sharp fangs. "I want this boy dead. Complete this task and I will give you something." He held out his hand and a small box was on it.
"What is it?" Orochimaru asked cautiously. He knew he wanted it. Whatever it was called out to him. What he didn't know was that he was being deceptively played.
The demon handed it to the wind user. She lifted the lid and showed its contents to them. Kabuto's eyes widened. He asked, "W-what is that?" It's dark powers called for someone to claim it now that the lid was gone.
Naraku asked, "Do we have an agreement, Orochimaru?"
Orochimaru paused. He finally said, "Of course, Naraku-sama. Why wouldn't I?"
"Be careful with this one. This gift should not be so carelessly used as the last one. If you are not careful…you may not find yourself in your right -mind-." The demon turned his back. "Give me the boy's body by three days. Try not to damage it too much, I'll need it." He walked off.
Kagura handed the box to Kabuto, purposefully cutting his palm lightly with her nails and licked the blood off her fingers. She snapped her fan shut and trailed behind the other demon, ignoring the look Kabuto shot her. She had a haughty smirk upon her lips.
"I do not trust them," Kabuto stated after they left by merging into the shadows.
"What is there to trust?" the Sennin asked. He held the box and peered inside greedily. "There is nothing to trust in demons, but they are of great value with their gifts."
"I don't like the female."
The snake like man chuckled. "She is a pretty one, but the look in her eyes is…frightening."
"I think that is not a strong enough word for her. It's a very mild word to describe the Master. The air around him…it feels like everything evil is made of."
Orochimaru grew silent and closed to box. He pocketed it. He turned to Kabuto once more and asked, "When is Sasuke-kun coming?"
"He is one his way. Some Leaf genin have gone after him. Naruto is one of them. Would you like some of our Anbu to go after him and kill him?" Kabuto suggested. He fingered a kunai as he said it.
"Not yet. If our Sound Four cannot defeat him then we will send our 'fifth' one."
"I understand."
(Scene Change)
"Tsuuga!" Kiba yelled as he performed his technique. It ht but the craters would just regenerate.
"Damn," Naruto muttered. "What are we suppose to do?"
"This isn't ordinary clay wall," Neji said as he activated his blood line limit. He inspected the wall, then his hands. "Th…this is…"
Naruto twitched.
"What?" Shikamaru asked.
"Our chakras are being sucked dry," Neji said grimly.
"Before we lose our chakra, we should bust a hole to get out of here!" Kiba yelled out. He threw a soldier pill to Akamaru. They looked identical and attacked the walls. Soon enough, they lost too much energy to keep it up. "Ugh…Damn…it repairs itself as soon as damage is inflicted on it. Even the ground!"
Shikamaru suddenly yelled out, "Hey! Listen! I want to talk to your leader! We won't follow Sasuke anymore! Please let us go!"
This shocked everyone, before they left, he had talked about getting the Uchiha back since he was their comrade. Chouji soon regained his calm.
Smells like he has an idea.
'I'll trust you in that. I won't panic, then.'
Did you honestly thought he'd betray you?
'He's not the type. But I gotta admit, I was worried for a second.'
"All of you are my meal. I won't let you go," the enemy said.
Shikamaru said, "Then only one is fine. Just let me out…I'm tired of conflicts like this."
"Hey! Do you understand what you just said?" Kiba yelled out.
Naruto winced at the volume. The sound shinobi said, "Seems like you're the leader…yet you are asking me for mercy? When humans are placed in a situation where their lives are on the line, their true natures appear. A fool like you doesn't deserve the promotion of leader…what a loser. You giving up on Sasuke and selling out your comrades…and you call yourself a shinobi of the leaf. You should die here, I won't let you out."
"I can't believe you!" Kiba yelled.
"Not so loud!" Naruto hissed as he placed his hands over his ears. He turned to the area where he heard the enemy's voice. "Who do you think you are, anyway? Making dramatic pronouncements about humans! What do you know? You're such a drama queen, you little-"
"That's the least of our problems!" Kiba yelled out.
"Shut up!" Chouji yelled over the noise.
That was when the rest saw the chuunin in his "thinking pose." He was snapped out of it with an idea. He spoke out softly, "Neji, I'm sorry for the trouble, but please examine the wall behind you and Chouji with your remaining chakra. Everyone, please speak softly from now on."
Neji did as he was told. "Hmph…I see. Over there."
"Neji, aim your dagger at that place," Shikamaru instructed. "Chouji, are you ready?"
"Any time!" Chouji declared, tensing up. He enlarged himself and plowed through the wall, creating a hole.
"Cool," Naruto said, grinning.
They all quickly got out. The sound-nin said, "So…you got out. Not bad." The male lifted a piece of the earth above his shoulder. Everyone stared in amazement. Naruto whistled. He threw the piece of land.
Bam!
"We'll have to split up," Shikamaru said. "At this rate, we'll never catch up to Sasuke. Neji, you'll act as co-leader. Take Kiba and Chouji to go after Sasuke. I'll take care of this guy with Naruto!"
"Most suck working under such a foolish leader," the sound shinobi mocked. "I'll kill anyone who works under such a shadow loving sucker. Even before they felt bored."
"He's mine!" Chouji suddenly declared, making everyone look at him. "I'll take care of him!" He offered a small bag to Shikamaru. "Shikamaru, take these soldier pills and give them to everyone."
"Chouji!" the leader said in shock. "You've got to be kidding me!"
"Think so? I still got the secret weapon for myself. Go!"
Shikamaru gave him a look, but understood. He reluctantly said, "You better catch up with us later, Chouji."
"Alright."
"Move out!" the chuunin ordered. They ran from the scene, leaving a genin and the enemy.
(Scene Change)
"I thought so," Shikamaru said after a while of running and talking. "Everyone thinks so…Me and Neji both know…more than everyone else, that Chouji is strong. He made a promise with us. He will defeat the enemy and catch up with us." He made an arrow on a tree.
Naruto grinned, "For a ningen…he is strong."
"That word…you called me that too…" Kiba said. He yelled out, "What the hell does it mean?"
"It means human," Naruto said, shrugging. "But for the language it belongs to, it's a type of insult."
"Insult? Why would the word human be an insult?" Neji asked.
"Because the ones who speak it are not human," Naruto said with a twinkle in his demon like eyes. For some reason, the turned a lighter shade of blue, as if in amusement. "I'd explain…if I felt like it…but I'm scared to. Besides, it'd take too long. Let's go get Sasuke."
They ran off, each with more than a little curiosity about the growing mystery that is known as Uzumaki Naruto. They wanted to ask more, but Naruto's attitude towards it was…odd. They couldn't quiet place it, but it was just peculiar.
Why are you giving out so much information? That's not like you.
'…'
Kyubi suddenly twitched in annoyance. He accused, You -want- them to know!
No answer.
-Why-?
'I don't know,' Naruto finally answered. 'They're…my friends. I guess I can use that word. Besides, if Naraku has truly allied himself with Orochimaru, I'd rather they know from me than that twisted bastard.'
Guess you're right. When?
'After the mission.'
"They're near," Kiba suddenly said.
"Alright. I'll go in as their teammate, the rest of you back me up," the chuunin ordered. The rest nodded.
Shikamaru performed henge and went ahead.
"What took you so long?" the woman looking man asked.
"Sorry, it took some time to get those bastards' chakra away," the disguised Shikamaru said as convincingly as he could.
"You fatty! Don't be so slow!" the only girl in the team insulted. "Hurry up and carry that coffin, that's your job you inferior dickhead!"
"Yeah…"
This confused the whole sound shinobi. The spider like boy said, "Hey…you're so obedient today…"
"…What?"
"I'm saying I can't let you carry that…since you're not Jiroubou!" He released the coffin on his back and threw it back to the girl. He spat a web at the imposter. That was when the hidden leaf shinobi came out and attacked. The spider boy took some of that web like substance in his hands and created a large web that hit Naruto and held it in place.
'Damn! Just like a spider head!' Naruto thought. 'At least there's no poison.'
Kiba and Akamaru attacked the spider like boy from behind but he twisted in midair and dodged. The Leaf-nin and dog-nin landed on the ground but they couldn't move their feet from there. It had a sticky substance on it.
Neji also tried an attack from behind but, like Kiba, was soon trapped in web.
Naruto tried to use his claw like hands to cut the web but heard the enemy laughing.
"You can't cut it, my web is unbreakable. It can even support two elephants," he boasted. Naruto made Kage Bunshin with the hand seals and chakra. The enemy took more of the sticky substance out of his mouth and it hardened to make daggers. "Let's play, 'Where's the real body?' We'll see how it'll turn out." He threw daggers until only one was left. "What a lucky guy. Oh well, you'll die here." He threw the last dagger. It hit but it was also a Kage Bunshin.
"You lose," said a voice behind him. He managed to block the attack the blonde sent him and jumped back to another tree branch. "Not too fast, are you?"
"Who are you to talk, you bastard?" the Sound shinobi sneered. He smirked when he tugged on a web. Naruto was jerked forward.
'Something was on my hand?' Naruto wondered. He was violently pushed the other direction when Neji slammed into him. 'Go one direction and then another…ow…'
"Thank for buying me time, Naruto," Neji said as he let go of the blonde. "Something made of chakra can be destroyed by chakra. You guys go ahead, I'll deal with him."
Naruto looked around and sniffed the air. 'They've been gone for a while now…'
"If you stop here…you won't be able to catch up to Sasuke," the Hyuga said. "Naruto…you have better eyes than me." Naruto sent him a confused look. "Sasuke…is currently within the darkness…Hurry. Go!"
(Scene Change)
Inu-Yasha, sitting on a couch, stared out the window, completely bored. His half lidded eyes half heartedly watched the birds fly by. He tapped his finger tips on the arm rest and accidentally punctured the soft material. He ended up staring at it.
The demon turned his stare to his hand and then lazily drew it back to the opening. He turned his head when he heard the apartment door open. He wasn't alarmed. He was about to actually meet the person to cause some excitement but then decided it was too much trouble.
Inu-Yasha silently stood up and walked to the wall. He wall jumped and dug his claws on the ceiling, feet firmly pressed against part of the wall. His back was to the ceiling and his front facing the ground. Someone walked under him, not noticing him at all. The demon quirked an eyebrow when he realized he didn't know who he was. He attacked when he found out it wasn't human.
The shriek was cut short with a knock out. The dog demon had expertly hit the back of the thing's neck and let it fall to the ground. That didn't even last a minute. Inu-Yasha was bored again. He hoped this would prove interesting. The only reason he didn't kill the creature was because it could have been from his elder brother…or Kouga, but that was unlikely since he was probably still recovering somewhere.
The demon half carried, half dragged the non-human thing and flopped him in the corner, hands and feet now tied, mouth gagged, and his eyes covered. Inu-Yasha sat five feet away from him and sat cross legged, waiting for the now identified half ogre, half demon to wake up. He ran his hand across the sheath and made sure the blade was loose inside. Just incase.
'I wonder what he is doing here? Smells like he came straight from the demon forest. He isn't dressed like a human. What did he do, just marched right up here and walked right in? Those shinobi must have thought it was at least somewhat suspicious…' Inu-Yasha thought. His musings were interrupted by a sound of someone breathing. Someone breathing behind his back, to be exact.
"Who are you? What are you doing in Naruto's apartment?" a green clad ninja asked in an overly exaggerated fashion. The demon looked upwards to make sure his hood was in place to cover his face. He looked the shinobi up and down. It was a man who wore one of those jounin vests.
The demon said simply, "I'm his friend."
"What are you doing here without him?"
"He's out on a mission and I'm waiting here for him."
The jounin relaxed, convinced. The demon thought he was an idiot. The man grinned, showing off shining teeth. Inu-Yasha inwardly winced. "Forgive me, I did not know. My name is Gai. So, where are you from, I don't believe you're from Konoha."
"Everywhere and nowhere," the dog demon said simply. He turned back to staring at the other mixed breed.
"That is the person I saw entering!" Gai suddenly exclaimed in a booming voice. The demon resisted the urge to cover his ears. "How did you take him out?"
"I knocked him out from behind."
"Ah-ha! A great tac tic! Another one is to…"
Inu-Yasha decided it was a good time to ignore the human as he went on and on about something or another. 'Where does Naruto meet these freaks?' the dog demon pondered. He mentally sighed and went back to what he was thinking about earlier. 'Well, at least these guys aren't so stupid as to let this creature do whatever. But…since this guy isn't disguised as a human…I'd say it's pretty safe to assume he's one of Naraku's…or some random idiot.'
Unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you looked at it, it was the first. Inu-Yasha didn't notice the scroll hidden in the ogre/demon's pocket trousers.
(Scene Change)
"Kimihiro, you should not exert yourself," Kabuto said as he watched over the boy.
The Sound-nin gasped and struggled for air for a while before sighing and asking, "How long do I have?"
"You shouldn't talk anymore."
"…I realized everyone was given life for a reason. Everyone has something important to accomplish," Kimihiro said. "The quest to discover that is the only freedom God has given us humans…"
"I understand what you are trying to say. Orochimaru-sama is certainly in great pain and this is a critical situation like never before. However," Kabuto said. "I must say this firmly, what can you do as of now? You've lost you purpose as a 'container'. Right, now, we have a new one coming. But that in itself is late."
"I must agree…I no longer have the capability for the metampyschosis. In fact, it's quite difficult to discover my purpose now that I've lost everything. However…I finally understand. Although he is not me, I will bring the new 'container' here. Even if it costs me my very life. This is how I show I show my thanks to Orochimaru-sama, and to repay my uselessness." The boy sat up.
Kabuto hesitated before saying, "One thing before you leave. If you see a boy with blond hair and demon-like eyes, kill him. He is too much of a threat to leave alive. Be forewarned, he is strong." Kabuto handed him a small box. It was the exact same one Naraku gave the Sound.
(End Chapter)
I don't think this fic will last much longer, a few more chapters…
I'm sorry, I'm been gone a long time. I'm really busy.
I…hate…school…
Well, there it was, after seven months of waiting. Sorry it couldn't be more.