HIDDEN RAIN DISPUTE I

The Hidden Rain Village definitely lives up to its name. It's a land that somehow finds itself drenched about 90% of the year and no one is really able to tell how that's possible.

The group had to get some really good insulating cloaks to enter the foreign village, although there was still the question of how that would even happen.

"So, what, do we just walk in?" Naruto looks on to the village, not entirely able to understand how he's completely dry and yet 5 cm in front of him is a heavy downpour.

Kotori and Yokumaru stick their fingers inside the rain and pull back.

"I'm not entirely certain, myself. I know the Hidden Rain has always been secretive and visitors, but if that Konan person really is an ally…"

"She totally is! I know she did some bad stuff, but she did change, we can trust her! Look, how about I find her and we can directly go to her and see what happened." He sits down on the ground cross legged and brings his hands together in a meditative pose.

Hinata makes sure to keep an eye on the kids, so they don't run into the rain and so they don't get ambushed by anyone.

After a few seconds, Naruto gains orange markings around his eyes and his blue eyes are replaced by yellow. Yokumaru stares in awe, being his first time seeing Sage Mode.

Naruto looks around confused. "This isn't right. I'm sensing fighting all over the place but Konan's nowhere to be seen."

"Could she be away, then?"

"Let's go ask."

They lift their hoods' cloaks and enter the rain. The entrance to the village itself is a long bridge going over the rivers flowing around. Usually one walking through would be considered surrounded and an ambush would be easy, unless the person walking over knows Sage Mode or has the Byakugan.

They already know someone is approaching them.

Naruto sends a Shadow Clone off to the side. The Clone reaches further ahead on the bridge and performs hand signs, slamming his hands on the bridge. The water directly under him begins swirling with increasing intensity.

"Sage Art Water Style: Great Waterfall"

The jutsu creates a raging whirlpool that reaches down to great depths, the power of the water should crush anyone caught inside it, although it seems like the person manages to avoid taking the brunt of it.

Hinata gathers chakra in both hands and thrusts them to the opposite sides of the bridge.

"Gentle Fist: Twin Vacuum Palm"

Just as two figures emerge from the water, they're blown back inside with great force.

Naruto and Hinata keep the kids close. Kotori and Yokumaru are themselves preparing chakra, but are aware there's little they can do in this situation.

The figures emerge from the ground, passing through it like passing through water. Multiple copies of the same 3 people- all of them dressed in white wetsuits, bandage covering the eyes, and a mouthpiece.

But that's not all. He senses two more presences making their way towards the bridge. Back-up for these guys?

"You found us before we could even put you in a genjutsu." One of the three takes a closer look at Naruto. "Hey, Oboro, that's the kid from the Chunin Exams."

"Yeah, you're right. Why are you here?"

"As if a genjutsu was ever gonna work." Naruto and Hinata take a fighting stance. "Where's Konan?"

Oboro of them tilts his head, his large spiky hair wetted by the rain and smooth over. "Konan? You mean that fake Angel? What's it to you, kid?"

"Just answer the damn question! If you're from the Hidden Rain then she's your leader, right? She knows who I am so why are you attacking us?"

All three of them laugh. "As if we'd want that fraud as a leader. We're loyal to Lord Hanzo and his beliefs, and we'll retake our village."

"Why you… Don't you dare call her that!"

The Clones charge at them without warning. Hinata and Naruto strike to disperse them. They're not entirely solid like a Shadow Clone and they seem to have different compositions- some are made of water, others of a more mist-like substance.

Naruto ducks and weaves between them. He knows better than anyone that the best way to deal with Clones is by dealing with the user. Another Clones comes his way but is quickly dispatched, although it does leave some black gunk on him and his clothes.

Before he can strike, Oboro speaks up.

"Konan is dead."

Naruto slows down in shock. His posture slacks off, his footing is off. It's only for a split second, but it's enough.

"Ninja Art: Seeping Poison"

Naruto cries out in pain as the black gunk he got on himself earlier burns into his clothes and skin. He can feel his muscles being burned and his chakra being sapped.

"Water Style: Water Fang Bullet"

The liquid left behind by water clones swirls into a spiral and lashes out and hits Naruto in the back.

"Naruto!" "Dad!" "Sensei" Hinata, Kotori, and Yokumaru cry out.

They've had their own onslaught to deal with. Hinata's more than capable of keeping multiple foes at bay, especially Clones. Yokumaru's been using his Crystal Wall to give themselves cover, while Kotori's been sending out Feather Kunai to hit even more of them.

Oboro leans down. "Guess you haven't changed that much since the Exams, kid."

Naruto looks up and smirks. "You'd be surprised."

"Talk big, but your chakra's being drained as we speak. You'll barely be able to use a Clone."

He laughs. "Well, I never was good at that, anyway." A shroud of orange chakra surrounds him, covering him on black markings. The chakra pressure is immense. Team Oboro step back in fear. "And. You have no idea how much chakra I have."

In reality, Naruto probably could have done this earlier but he doesn't know whether these guys have some method of escape like that masked guy from Kusatsu. So he waited until it became too late for them, and the pressure he's giving off masks the person who snuck closer. Whoever the two other ninja are, it became clear to him, their targets are these three and not them. They're the enemy of his enemy, but whether that makes them an ally remains to be seen.

It's too late for Oboro to notice a presence appearing behind. Emerging from the haze is a woman with long green hair, her headband worn as a bandana, and a facemask. She stabs Oboro in the back with an umbrella and pushes him forward. The umbrella expands and needles fly out to the other two, Mubi and Kagari.

Hinata rushes to Mubi and cuts off his chakra points. Naruto lunges at Kagari and knocks him out with a single Frog Strike to the gut. The two of them fall unconscious.

Oboro slips through the ground and into the water. They try to keep track of him, but his chakra grows fainter until it disappears.

The second presence he felt earlier makes her presence known behind the first woman. Her fringe hiding her left eye, she takes a good look at them, as Naruto stops using his chakra cloak. Hinata comes by him with the kids and shuts off some of his chakra points so the poison doesn't spread too far in his system.

The woman with the covered eye draws closer and activates the Mystic Palm. "I can get it out of your system." Naruto allows her. "My name's Fuyo, and that's my teammate Suiren." She points to the green-haired woman.

"You're a Hyuga, from the Hidden Leaf."

Hinata looks to Suiren. "Yes, I am. You've met the Hyuga clan?"

"We faced one at the last joint Chunin Exams 2 years ago, but circumstances lead us to work together."

"I see." If it was the Chunin Exams, then there was only one other Hyuga present. Neji. So they've worked with his team.

Fuyo gets a closer look at the blonde she's healing. "You. You're Naruto Uzumaki, aren't you?"

"What? Yeah, how do you know? Have we met?'

"No." She shakes her head. "But Lady Ange-, no, Lady Konan gave a very vivid description of you. She spoke very highly of you and your shared ideals."

"Konan did… Wait, those guys said she's dead!" He nearly jumps up remembering. "Is that true? She can't be dead, right?"

"That's… complicated. It might be better if we take you to our base. I know you're not obligated to help us, but ... Lady Konan respected you a great deal. I beg you." She lowers her head.

Naruto and Hinata share a look.

"Of course."

At the base, Team Oboro are locked away and awaiting interrogation. The 4 Leaf ninja are sitting on a bench, opposite of them is a man with flowing light blue hair and a young boy around Kotori and Yokumaru's age, with purple hair. Fuyo and Suiren are standing behind them.

"I'm afraid you come at a rather tumultuous time." The man speaks. "My name is Bairin and this is my charge, Mutsu." He motions to the boy. "Mutsu, you don't need to stay. Go out and rest."

The boy nods and goes to leave without a word. Hinata turns to Kotori and Yokumaru. "Why don't you go out, too? This is a pretty personal matter, okay? Chat with Mutsu, maybe you can become friends."

"Okay." The two follow outside.

Naruto's gaze follows the purple-haired boy. He feels like he's met him before but that can't be possible.

Bairin sighs. "Right. As I was saying, I'm the leader of our faction that supports Lady An- Lady Konan."

"So what happened to her?"

Bairin sighs. "I'm not entirely sure what you know and where I should begin. But about a year ago, Lady Konan returned and said things would change for the Hidden Rain. She said how we could put our trust in other nations and villages, she spoke how you, Naruto Uzumaki, changed her viewpoints and made her believe in a better world."

Fuyo fiddles with her umbrella. "It was… a drastic change, but she told us the truth about Akatsuki, and Lord Pain and herself. We always held them in such high regard, we saw them as our saviour and yet they were not unlike us, in a way."

Naruto is getting antsy. "Look I get that a lot of things have happened and it hasn't always been easy. That's exactly why Nagato and Konan did what they did. But she's my fellow pupil who studied under the same master. She said she'd change the Hidden Rain and now those guys..." He points to the general direction they were taken. "... tell me she's dead? What. Happened." Each word is said with a slightly more raised voice.

Kotori and Yokumaru sense the pressure he gives off, that they didn't even think he was capable of giving ogg. Hinata, seeing this, tries to calm him down. "Naruto please."

Suiren steps forward. "Watch how you speak-"

Bairin raises a hand to stop her from continuing. "You're right. I blabbed on. I apologize. We found her in critical condition by the lake, she was… as close to dying as one can be while still alive. We rushed her over and tried to heal but she wasn't getting any better so we used our machines to keep her alive until we can actually heal her. Some who felt betrayed, who still held some loyalty to Hanzo's old rule, used this chance to split off and took the machine and Lady Konan with it. We don't know where they're keeping her."

Naruto clenches his fists. "Damnit. But if she's still alive, then I should be sensing some chakra from her."

Fuyo shakes her head. "There are seals placed on the machine. We hoped to prevent her from being found in her vulnerable state, but we were betrayed and it's ended up working against us. Now we can't find her."

"So how are we supposed to find her?"

"What about my Byakugan?" Hinata looks around the room.

"Ah." Bairin gasps. "That's right, your eyes. But can you cover such a wide area? We're not exactly able to move freely."

"With my abilities as they are, the Hidden Rain Village is far too big, but…" She turns to Naruto. "... if my chakra were to be boosted."

"Ah, just like we did during the War!"

"Precisely."

Bairin looks between the two of them. "Then, you can transfer chakra to others and boost their abilities?"

"Yep, sure can! I got a lot of chakra so it's a pretty powerful boost!"

"Hah, what do you mean you have a lot of chakra? It's my chakra you're transferring."

Naruto replies in his Mind Space. "Look, let's not sweat the details, alright?"

"Then could you also transfer chakra to Fuyo? She's a sensory type and a competent one, at that. We've been trying to locate the two leaders of the opposing faction, Hiru and Numeri, but with little result."

"Take out the leaders on top of everything? Do we truly have the time to do that, as well?"

"We must. There are two scrolls needed to operate the machine that's healing Lady Konan and I know for a fact they're each carrying one. We need to get those scrolls back."

Naruto stands up, pumping his fist. "Right, let's go!"

"Right now? Don't you wish to rest?"

"No time for that. We gotta get Konan back!"

As the children step outside, Mutsu is very quiet and reserved. Kotori and Yokumaru catch up to him.

"Hey, my name's Kotori. It's nice to meet you."

"And I'm Yokumaru."

Mutsu remains quiet and somewhat standoff-ish. He's acting like he didn't hear them which may very well be true since he looks sleep deprived. A voice rings in his head. "Mutsu." A woman's voice that he neither knows nor recognizes. His head starts ringing and he falls to his knees.

"Hey, are you okay?" Kotori goes to his aid.

He turns around surprised to see someone there. "Yeah, yeah, I'm okay." He picks himself up. "Umm…" He looks like he has a question to ask but is too shy to ask.

"I guess you didn't hear us the first time. I'm Kotori and this is Yokumaru."

"Hi." The boy waves.

"I'm… Mutsu. Sorry." He stands up by propping himself against the wall and goes to a nearby exit leading outside to a terrace, followed by the other two. He sits down and holds his head as the rain falls and spatters on the ground some floors below them.

"Hey, are you sure you're fine? You don't look so good." Kotori looks him over.

"Just a headache. I just need to sleep it off."

"How's that worked for you?" Yokumaru crosses his arms.

Mutsu gives a faint smile. "Not well. I keep… hearing a voice. A lady I don't know keeps calling my name."

Kotori and Yokumaru share a look. "Uhh, is that normal?"

Mutsu shrugs. "Wasn't before. But please don't worry." He tries to give a smile but his tiredness wins. "Why are you all here?"

"Oh, Dad said he wanted to meet a friend here but it sounds like… that's not gonna work out."

"Say, is rain usually this bad around here?"

"Yeah, I think that's why it's called the Hidden Rain Village."

"... Good point."

"Mutsu." Another jolt of the pain. That voice again. He feels like he's being pulled somewhere, like he knows where the voice is coming from, but he's too afraid of it. He hasn't even told Bairin and the man raised him.

He stares in the direction he feels the voice coming from.

Naruto made his way to the top of a tower a bit further ahead, trying to get the entire village in his range. Hinata and Fuyo are with him.

"So, what do we do?" Fuyo looks between the two of them.

"Just use your abilities, and Naruto will do the rest."

Fuyo focuses her chakra on her sensory abilities as Hinata activates her Byakugan. The Rain kunoichi can't help but be curious about the Hyuga clan's abilities, having seen them in action once already.

"Just like before, I can't sense far."

"I believe I can see why; this isn't normal rain, it's infused with chakra. It's also interfering with my Byakugan, my vision is blurry."

Naruto stretches as if he's about to exercise.

"Alright, let's get to it." He enters his Tailed Beast chakra mode, causing Fuyo to gasp in surprise and a bit of admiration. He places a hand on the two kunoichi and a cloak of red chakra surrounds them, 2 pointed ears and a single tail swishing back and forth.

"W-wow. I can sense so much farther than before. But the rain is still getting in the way. Wait, I can feel them and… so many more! They're headed this way!"

"Dozens of them!" Hinata scans with her Byakugan.

"Damnit, already?" Naruto creates several Shadow Clones, and sends some of them to warn Bairin so they can prepare, while the remaining Clones go off to fend the attackers. "I'm feeling a theme of us being attacked by large forces. Fuyo, which ones are Hiru and Numeri? We'll go directly for them."

"Hiru is 5 blocks north/north-east on top of a tower, Numeri is 4 blocks north at the base. She's… weaving a lot of chakra."

"Alright, you go prepare with Bairin."

"What about you two?"

Hinata stands up. "We're going, before they retreat."

The two Flicker away while Fuyo goes down.

Along the way, they avoid the attacking Rain ninja as much as they can, using their respective abilities. What they can't avoid for long are the giant creatures that appear in front of them.

In 3 towering blasts of smoke, Summoning creatures charge out directly for them. A buffalo, a leech, and a salamander. The Salamander shoots a ball of fire but they manage to dodge.

"Naruto, if you go into Nine Tails mode…"

"I know. We still don't know where Konan is." He bites his finger. "If Kurama and I fight here, we'll end up destroying a lot of buildings." He smears the blood on his palm. "I'm not used to fighting in tight places, so I'll just get someone who is." He forms the seals and extends his palm, markings manifesting in the air.

"Ninja Art Summoning: Big Three"

Another large blast of smoke, probably bigger than the one just before, fills the air.

The leech tries to slither by to get to its targets but it's met by a sasumata, a 2-pronged studded spear. Gamaken digs his weapon deep into the ground, crushing the leech's body so it can't wiggle free. "Sorry if I'm clumsy."

The buffalo's running forward horns first but is met by 2 katana blades. Gamahiro jumps above it, still intertwining his blades with the horn. He flicks his wrists and the buffalo does a somersault in the air. Before it can crash into a building, the blue toad slashes down with both swords to drop it to the ground, where the bovine lands with a splash that sends waves throughout the streets.

The salamander gathering fire in its throat is met by a blast of water, sending it flying back. Gamabunta hops to it and shuts its mouth closed, slashing with his tanto blade. "I ain't the way I used to be, and you're no Ibuse. Naruto, whatever you're doing, do it quick."

"That's the plan, Boss."

Mutsu's headaches are getting stronger. He feels himself being pulled to a specific direction. Kotori and Yokumaru are to the side, having a discussion about Mutsu.

"I dunno, should we just go back inside?" Yokumaru expresses his concern.

"We can't leave him. Come on, just play nice."

"We don't have to be his friends, you know. You don't have to befriend everyone."

"Worked for you, didn't it?" Kotori gives a cocky grin.

Yokumaru grumbles. "Fine, we'll stay. But if he keeps at it, I'm going inside where it's warm."

They turn around, only to see Mutsu climbing down the stairs.

"Hey, wait up!" Both of them run after. "Where're you going?"

Mutsu is very purposefully not looking down as he uses the stairs. "I gotta find her. I gotta go to her."

"Go to who?"

"I don't know!" Mutsu practically screams, his headache not helping the situation.

The purple-haired boy reaches the bottom and begins running at full speed.

Just as Kotori reaches the bottom herself, Yokumaru hesitates. "We should go tell the grown-ups!"

The girl just keeps running without looking back. "There's no time!"

Yokumaru muses to himself. "Is she gonna be like this the whole time?"

Several Rain shinobi fall to the ground in front of Numeri. She's crouched in the centre of what appears to be a large summoning formula.

Hinata lands in front of her, taking a stance.

Numeri places her mouth piece. "Leaf. You have business in the Hidden Rain, you've never had any business in the Hidden Rain yet you always come and do as you please. No more." She slams her hand on the ground.

"Ninja Art Summoning"

The water that has fallen, and even the water that's about to fall, is drawn to the circle. Rather than the usual puff of smoke that appears when a creature is summoned, this summon seems to materialize itself from the water around.

Blobs of water grow larger and larger, enveloping the entire area and protecting Numeri.

The giant slime fully emerges and is ready to attack.

Naruto reaches the top of a tower. Even though it's so high up, it's actually a large even area for purposes he doesn't really know. Either way, the person Fuyo identified as Hiru is here. Sitting on the ground.

He's cross legged in the traditional Rain uniform. Flak jacket, mouthpiece, cloak over his shoulders. He's not moving.

Naruto remains on the ledge.

"You're being cautious. Good. I was told you're an impulsive brat but it would appear not."

"So you know who I am."

"Of course I do. That moron Oboro wouldn't recognize a jinchuriki if it clawed his face off." Hiru stands up. "I know you're here for Konan. She spoke a lot about Naruto Uzumaki from the Hidden Leaf. Disgustingly so."

"That makes it easier then. Where is she?"

"You'll find out when you join her in the afterlife."

He whips out several kunai with tags attached to their handles. He throws them in all directions. Whether side Naruto dodges towards, he'll be caught in the explosion.

The explosion tags go off, detonating each other in a domino effect of blasts that resound throughout the area. The smoke is visible from nearly every part of the city.

When the smoke and high pitched squeal die down, Naruto is nowhere to be seen. He jumps up onto the platform again.

"You'll have to try harder."

"Oh, I will."

Hiru takes out a small metal ball and plays around with it in his hand.

Name meanings

Bairin = 'rainy season'

Mutsu = the name of a Japanese battleship

Hiru = 'leech'

Numeri = 'slime'

Trivia

Fuyo and Suiren are Ajisai's (female Animal Path) teammates from the 'In Naruto's Footsteps: The Friends' Paths' arc (Naruto Shippuden 394-413)