Naruto: Tornado of Souls Final
Blanket disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or RWBY
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
In this chapter things were changed around a lot. Naruto is getting a weapon but it's not a gunblade. Here is chapter 18. Enjoy!
Last time:
Northern Fire Country
Team 8 and Nobuyuki's Caravan were making good time though the sun was starting to set. The old man chuckled at the bored looking Kiba who was riding with him. "Kiba; I thought you kids were all talk but since you took out the Reapers I feel like I can relax and actually enjoy this trip."
Kiba looked a bit nonplussed. "Well Nobuyuki Jiji, there's still three days before we make it to our destination. We can't afford to drop our guards." 'Damn I wish I could be up running around with Akamaru. Hinata-chan and Kurenai-sensei are really being strict with me over this shoulder injury.' the Inuzuka boy pouted mentally.
Nobuyuki smiled and said, "You'll be up and around before you know it Kiba. The ladies are mother-henning you just because they care. My wife does the same thing to me when I'm sick or hurt. Just sit back and take it easy."
"I wish it was that easy." grumped Kiba. "Kurenai-sensei might as well have eyes in the back of her head and Hinata-chan basically does."
"At least they're both quite easy on the eyes." said the old man as he waggled his shaggy eyebrows.
Kiba sweat dropped. "Hinata-chan is like a sister to me and Kurenai is my sensei…For all that matter they're both way too young for you dirty old man!"
Nobuyuki's laughter carried across the caravan…
Kurenai radioed her students. "The sun is starting to set. We're going to break for camp soon so be on the lookout for an area that is easily defendable."
Hinata saw the orange in the sky as the sun set and thought of Naruto. 'I wonder how Naruto-kun is doing…' Activating her byakugan; the Hyūga heiress saw a hill beyond the next ridge they could camp at. "I see a hill about a kilometer ahead of us Kurenai sensei." she said over the radio. "There is a large area of high ground that would be good to camp at."
Kurenai replied, "Excellent. Once we get there we'll set up some basic defenses and see about hunting down some dinner."
"Can Akamaru and I do the hunting?" asked Kiba hopefully over the radio.
"NO KIBA!" replied Kurenai and Hinata in unison.
The dog ninja just pouted as he cried anime tears at the injustice of it all…
…
Chapter 18
Otafuku Gai, Mitsubachi Inn
Anko got two rooms for Team 7. One was for her and Naruto and the other for Blake and Pyrrha. Naruto was quite annoyed because Anko swept him into their room before the orange loving ninja could give his girlfriends a proper goodnight kiss with each of them. 'Damn it Anko-sensei; I hardly even got to wave at them!' he thought mutinously. Anko and Naruto were lying in twin beds with a small table with a reading lamp between them. Naruto noticed Anko was already dozing and turned the light out.
"…So which one of your teammates do you like the best Naruto?" asked Anko innocently in the dark. "I noticed you pay a lot of attention to them…in more ways than one."
Naruto blushed red as a tomato in the darkness. "Shut up sensei! Go to sleep!" whispered the blonde loudly.
Anko chortled evilly. "Oh I see…you can't make up your mind. Well my advice is-"
Naruto said in a strangled tone, "If you don't be quiet and go to sleep I will strangle you when we get back to Konoha!"
"But Naruto-" started the purple haired jonin.
"Not. One. Word. Anko. Sensei." bit out Naruto as he buried his head in the pillow.
Anko smiled to herself and silently chuckled. 'If I go ahead and tell him to always use protection Naruto will probably try to kill me in my sleep…It's almost worth the risk…'
While Anko was terrorizing her only male student, her two female students were quietly conversing in the next room over. They too were in their beds with the light on in between them as they chatted. Blake's amber eyes were narrowed. "Anko nee-chan knows we are both in ...relationships with Naruto-kun."
Pyrrha had her head propped up on her arm. She pondered a moment. "...Hinata-chan is wanting Naruto too."
"It's hard to believe Hinata-chan was our hated enemy in the past." said the cat eared girl. "Considering what happened between you and her; I believe you are the most forgiving person I have ever met Pyrrha-chan."
Pyrrha shook her head. "Hinata isn't Cinder but sometimes she says our does things that show she still has a dark side. It gives me the chills even though she is my friend now. Other times she is really fun. It's kind of strange now that I think about it."
"Our whole situation is strange generally speaking." said Blake. "I never would have predicted our souls travelling to another place after we died." Deciding they needed to sleep; the feline faunus clicked off the light and snuggled into her pillow. "Pleasant dreams Pyrrha-chan…"
"Good night Blake-chan." replied the redhead with a yawn.
The girls settled in for a much needed rest…
…
Konoha, Yamanaka Residence
Ino was in her shower feeling the cascade of warm water as it ran down her body. The blonde had her blue eyes closed as she cupped her right breast with her left hand and her right hand made its way down between her legs. She moaned, "…Naruto-kun…" as she lost herself in her fantasy…
Naruto gently ran his hands all over Ino's body and she felt flushed from the intimate contact as he stroked her nether regions with his hand. Ino gasped at the sensations as her lover leaned in and kissed her passionately against the shower wall. His tongue entered her mouth and teased and caressed her own tongue into reciprocating every delicious sensation. She reached up and started caressing his chest and reveled in the feeling of his smooth skin over rock hard muscle. As the blonde kunoichi reached up around his neck their kiss deepened and she could feel his manhood rubbing heatedly up against her.
The blonde kunoichi gasped as Naruto's hand stroking her nether regions increased the pace and pushed her over the edge. She moaned erotically into his mouth as he withdrew his fingers making her whimper. She stared into his eyes and said, "I want you now Naruto-kun…."
The steam rising in the shower and the cascade of flowing water had them both perspiring and Ino licked the sweat off of his neck and ran her tongue up his jaw line. She wanted to taste her lover and found herself caressing him with her tongue as a cat would lick up cream. She smiled hungrily as his erection grew harder against her and Ino reached down to caress his shaft. Naruto hissed her name as she stroked him until he was standing rock hard.
Naruto leaned the Yamanaka heiress back against the shower wall and gripped her hips. She looked down excitedly as she used her small hand the guide her paramour into her womanhood. She gasped at the sensations of being stretched so much and Naruto slowly started moving up and down in slow strokes. Her breasts were rubbing against his chest with a tantalizing amount of friction. Ino was moaning in time with his thrusts as Naruto penetrated deeper and deeper into her wanting body…
Ino whispered, "Faster Naruto-kun; I want it all…" Naruto quickly cupped her rear and lifted Ino up with his strong arms. Ino quickly put her arms back around his neck and wrapped her legs around his waist. They were both panting now as they kissed each other wantonly in between strokes. Ino's eyes widened with passion and her breath quickened as she was driven closer and closer to the edge. She was gasping for more air and the heat had her soul afire. Finally her body exploded into pure ecstasy as she screamed her lover's name at the top of her lungs…
Ino opened her eyes and felt the juice running down her shaky legs and onto her right hand. The blood was rushing through her causing her body to shake and the blonde kunoichi slowly slid down the shower wall behind her into a squatting position. The water from the shower splashed around Ino and soothed her as she steadied herself and her heart started slowing down finally. She whispered, "Naruto-kun…You are amazing…"
…
Northern Fire Country
Hinata relieved her teammate Shino for sentry duty at 3 AM. An insect landed on his finger and Shino said quietly, "My allies and I haven't spotted any movement at all in the last three hours Hinata-chan. I believe your shift should be equally as peaceful."
"Let's hope so." said Hinata. "Get some sleep Shino-kun." Shino half waved and tiredly went to the tent he shared with Kiba. Hinata looked up at the stars and thought of her Father Hiashi. 'I hope to see to see you soon Father, Hoheto-san informed me that you were injured by letter but are well now. I'm sure there is a story behind it but I didn't tell Hanabi-chan because it would have worried her greatly. This war isn't completely over until you and all of the Konoha shinobi come home safe and in one piece. I know there have been losses but we of the Hyūga Clan have been blessed with no serious casualties.' Her byakugan eyes turned to flame and she smiled rather viciously in the darkness. 'I can't wait to roast the Hyūga Elders. That omiai they arranged for me is going to land them in the bowels of hell.'
As her shift on sentry duty went by, Hinata was very alert of her surroundings but her thoughts were drifting. 'I wonder how Hanabi-chan is doing.' wondered Hinata. The Hyūga Heiress worried that the Elders might do something stupid in her absence but concluded that her concern was unwarranted. 'She's probably fast asleep in bed with Genma; her stuffed panda.' Hinata could see Hanabi snuggled up in bed in her mind's eye and smiled.
Hinata's thoughts then drifted to Naruto and all the X-rated things she could be doing with him about now. Fighting back a slight nosebleed Hinata looked up at the crescent moon and thought, 'What are you up to right now Naruto-kun? Maybe you're playing an epic prank. I can't wait to show you those pictures of the Elders in their bald glory.' Hinata was chuckling daintily to herself when she saw one of Nobuyuki's men get up to use the nearby bushes…Then he tripped over another man and fell on his face and peed all over himself and his friend in the process. 'Oh my gawd. What a klutz. I'll just pretend I didn't see that.' she thought to herself.
The rest of the night went peacefully for the Byakugan Princess as she thought about her clan mates and friends and wondered if they were all sleeping well…
…
Rice Country, Orochimaru's Northern Headquarters
Early the next morning Kabuto was making his morning rounds and smelled blood and antiseptics wafting out of the showers. When he entered them found something strange. There was blood spattered on the mirror. Not masses of blood either. 'The women were the last in here….' It was as if someone was carefully doing surgery from the smell but Kabuto had no idea why. His immediate thought went towards his rather unstable apprentice Sakura but she didn't have enough mastery to be doing anything too advanced. 'She just got back for all that matter…' He had her studying skin grafting and surface healing techniques currently but unless she was practicing on herself Kabuto simply couldn't fathom what the hell Sakura was doing now. The Mystic palm jutsu was very limited after all. She also was learning Chakra scalpels.
'Could the girl have masochistic tendencies and is hiding it? Somehow it honestly wouldn't surprise me…' thought the puzzled medic. That's when he found something else. "An eye?" he thought aloud. "What is part of an eye doing here?!" That's when Kabuto realized it was a part of a sheep's eye. He sighed. 'Sakura-chan is the only one that has access to my lab aside of Orochimaru-sama of course…I'll have to see if any of the eyes I have stored for experimentation have been taken.'
Over the next couple of hours Kabuto carefully inventoried the supplies in his lab. He'd found out some things missing and decided that talking to Sakura directly would be the best choice of action. It turned out she was very interested in how the sharingan worked and had been studying animal eyes of her own accord. This was an immense relief to Kabuto. 'I thought she'd gone over the deep end...' he thought dourly.
Flashback...
"I'm sorry Kabuto-sensei, I was studying a way to cut down the chakra cost for my sharingan and didn't ask permission to use your lab." said the pink haired girl shyly. "I was studying eyes and I was afraid you would think it was a waste of time."
'It seems her more positive side is interested in medicine.' thought Kabuto. "Sakura-chan, you are free to study whatever you wish. If you are curious then simply let me know. I'll be happy to guide you on your path. I am your sensei after all. If I didn't help you quench your thirst for knowledge, then I wouldn't be much of a teacher would I?" Kabuto smiled soothingly and said, "I found blood in the showers by the way. You haven't cut yourself by accident, have you? I know you are mastering the Chakra scalpel and Mystic palm but I don't want you hurting yourself."
Sakura looked shocked. Her visible green eye was full of surprise. "I'd never cut myself sensei! I'm still learning how to heal fish you know." 'Of course, that wouldn't stop me from cutting others...' she thought darkly. "May I ask you something Kabuto-sensei?"
"Of course Sakura-chan, what is it?" Kabuto asked his disciple.
"It occurred to me that a contact lens covering my sharingan might look a bit less obvious than this eye patch." said the rosette. "Would it be possible to make my sharingan appear to be my original green? I know they make contacts especially for the Hyūgas and I wondered if the Uchihas had something similar. It would be useful to hide my sharingan in plain sight you know. They could even be used by Sasuke-kun if you think about it."
Kabuto looked thoughtful. "So you want to create a chakra conductive contact lens to turn your sharingan on and off?" Seeing Sakura nodding hopefully Kabuto said, "That's...quite brilliant Sakura-chan! Such a lens could hide any implanted doujutsu really. It would have to be made of the materials of an actual eye of course..."
"That's why I was studying those sheep's eyes sensei." said Sakura.
Kabuto shook his head. "While it's admirable you've already taken these steps it would be best to clone a human eye."
"What about my original eye that was removed to put Kakashi's sharingan in?" asked Sakura. "If we clone a few them couldn't we make these contacts from them? By making copies of the original user's eyes there would be no cellular rejection correct?"
Flashback end...
Since then Kabuto had been diligently teaching his apprentice in the medical arts. After explaining Sakura's rather brilliant idea for custom made chakra contact lenses to Orochimaru; the Snake Sanin was very impressed with young Sakura and gave them the go ahead. 'It seems that Sakura's erratic behavior is under control when she's doing medical work. Her intellect overrides her emotional instabilities. I wish she was the same way outside the lab. When she's with Sasuke her mood shifts actually seem worse.'
...
Three days later Sakura was looking at the perfect green eye contact lens she'd just finished. "Perfection!" she cheered.
"You seem excited Sakura-chan." said Kabuto as he walked into the lab.
Sakura beamed at him. "It's hard not to be Kabuto-sensei. Look at this lens! It's nearly perfect."
Kabuto looked over his apprentice's shoulder at her work. "Outstanding Sakura-chan!" he said. "We're getting closer by the day."
Looking over at Kabuto with a smile Sakura thought darkly, 'It would be so easy to cut that misshapen head of yours off of those stooped shoulders Kabuto-sensei. I've got a new jian…but you still have your uses to me for now...'
...
Fire Country/Rice Country Border
Early in the morning, Team 8 and Nobuyuki's caravan came rolling into the camp where many of the refugees from Rice Country were staying. Judging by the cheers they were very welcome. It was there that Kurenai saw her old academy teammate Namiashi Raido. "Kurenai!" said Raido with a wave. "You guys are right on time."
Kurenai smiled and said, "It's good to see you Raido. Can we get a medic? My genin Inuzuka Kiba took an arrow to the shoulder."
"How bad is it?" asked Raido.
The red eyed jonin smiled. "I think he'll be fine, but we need an actual medic to look it over. It's just a flesh wound."
Raido nodded and signaled for a medic. "How long are you here?" asked the scar faced jonin.
"We're supposed to be here two days and then escort a caravan back to Konoha." said Kurenai. "I wasn't told why refugees are going to Konoha specifically though."
"It's not all refugees." said Morino Ibiki as he strode up. "Several former ninja and kunoichi of Oto have submitted to join Konoha's forces. You'll also be travelling with several Konoha ninjas that are rotating home."
Kurenai raised an eyebrow. "What do they need Team 8 for then?"
Ibiki answered, "Several are sick or injured and need more than a field hospital. You and you team can consider yourselves an insurance policy for the caravan."
"Got it." said Kurenai as she waved her team over.
…
An hour later the caravan was being unloaded and Hinata caught a glimpse of someone she wanted to see…her father. After getting permission from Kurenai; Hinata went over to see Hiashi. "Father, it is good to see you." said Hinata with genuine happiness in her voice.
Hiashi blinked and said, "Hinata-chan!" as he engulfed her in a hug. He shed a tear. "I've missed you my baby girl."
Hinata pulled back and looked her Father over. "You must have had a rough time. I am glad to see you are safe and well."
The Hyūga Patriarch looked his daughter over and despite her revealing battle dress he said, "You look well Hinata-chan. I am glad to see you but what are you doing out here?"
"I am an active duty kunoichi Father." said Hinata with a warm smile. "Team 8 got an escort mission to bring a supply caravan up here. We are going to head back with a return caravan in two days so hopefully we will be able to spend some time together."
Hiashi smiled softly at his beautiful daughter and said, "We'll make time. I'm going home on that caravan." He hugged his daughter again and said, "I want to spend more time with both you and Hanabi-chan from now on…"
…
Otafuku Gai
For three long days Anko and her genins had searched the roads high and low for a second set of bandits in the forests north of Otafuku Gai and found absolutely nothing. The caravans were moving again and there had been no attacks since Team 7's battle at Kurai Lake. Eventually Anko took her team back to the city. They were looking forward to heading back to Konoha but decided to check in with the authorities to see if any other sightings were reported.
When they arrived in town there were all kinds of crazy rumors flying around about someone trying to assassinate the local Lord Tomi-sama who was a vassal directly to the Fire Daimyo. The samurai at the gates to Otafuku Gai immediately told Anko that Team 7 was summoned to Tomi-sama's residence to speak with him.
After traipsing across town Naruto, Blake and Pyrrha were staring at the lavish mansion home that Tomi-sama had. Anko sweat dropped and said, "It seems that Tomi-sama has done pretty well for himself here in Otafuku Gai. I wasn't aware such an opulent home existed here."
"Opulent is a good word for it sensei." said Pyrrha as they looked at the three story pagoda like mansion. The decorations on the home glinted with gold and ivory trimmings in the afternoon sunlight and the guards there looked to be dressed in parade uniforms rather than combat ones.
The snake princess led them over to the wrought iron gate and said to the guards there, "I'm Mitarashi Anko and this is my team. We were summoned to appear before Tomi-sama."
The guard snapped a quick salute to Anko and said, "Tomi-sama is eagerly awaiting you." Then he looked at the genin. "Ummm…these are kids. Where is your team that slew those awful missing ninjas up at Kurai Lake?"
The purple haired jonin sweat dropped and her three genin glared angrily. "These kids are the team that wiped out those missing nins. My genin are quite formidable and I would appreciate it if you treated them with proper respect."
The guard fidgeted from a moment when the genin's glares started to get to him. "Ah, of course. I meant no disrespect. Please follow me and I'll announce you."
…
Anko and Team 7 were soon in the rather extravagant meeting chambers of Tomi-sama. After they all bowed appropriately to the Lord, Anko said, "Tomi-sama; we came as soon as we heard from the gate guards that you summoned us. How can we Konoha ninja be of service to you?"
Naruto looked at the foppish 'Lord' in front of them and resisted the urge to roll his eyes. 'Lilly white hands that don't look like he's worked a day of his life. He probably spends more on manicures than I do for food and utilities each month.'
The Lord was sweating nervously and said, "I am glad to see you have arrived Mitarashi-san. Your reputation precedes you and your team. The guilds of Otafuku Gai are ever so thankful that you handled that dreadful business up at Kurai Lake." Tomi-sama fanned himself and his eyes were looking around fearfully. "I'm not sure if you are aware of this but last night an assassin came after my person. I have sent notice to the esteemed Hokage but as your team is already here and obviously quite capable, I would ask that you hunt for this man in the interim…"
Soon the aristocrat wove a fantastical tale of a superhuman assassin that was stalking his every move. It was painfully obvious that Tomi-sama was completely paranoid. Worst of all he always wanted Anko within arm's length of him. The snake princess sweat dropped and realized this was a real mess. She turned to her team and said, "It appears that I'm going to be on guard duty along with a couple of shadow clones. I'm counting on you three to investigate and patrol during the night. I will get a message out to the Hokage and see what he wants us to do." Then she whispered so only genins could hear. "Our biggest obstacle in this case may be the client himself. Be careful and work as a team while I babysit."
Naruto, Blake and Pyrrha travelled the mansion under the direction of a bunch of paranoid guards to investigate the way the assassin broke in the two previous nights. "These guys are as likely to attack us or each other if they are this high strung." said Naruto to the girls. It was obvious the orange loving ninja was less than impressed.
Pyrrha nodded. "I agree Naruto-kun. We will need to practice caution when we are patrolling after dark tonight."
Soon they were on the roof where a hatch was broken into. "So, he hopped from the stone wall over that statue and onto the roof ledge." said Blake as she looked at the probable path. "Then he picked the lock and made his way in."
"It's easy enough." said Naruto in agreement. "You could make those leaps just with parkour; chakra wouldn't even be necessary."
Pyrrha walked over to the edge of the roof and said, "The person landed here. There is a smudge here left by a footprint."
One of the guards said, "Another one of those blasted things? We've had the cleaning crews working on getting rid of them all day."
All three genins resisted the urge to smack the man. "That was evidence of the criminal's probable path. You've been erasing information that would help us stop this person."
"Well, be that as it may; Tomi-sama's house must be spotless." said the guard.
"Kill me now." muttered Naruto under his breath. The rest of the investigation proved equally fruitless. Any damage done to the mansion was considered vandalism and an affront to Tomi-sama so it was repaired or cleaned up as soon as humanly possible.
…
"The security around here is deficient at best and criminally negligent at worst." reported Pyrrha to Anko that evening. "The guards were chosen for their looks and parade abilities rather than their fighting skills. Appearance is everything to these people. They are all afraid of their own shadows. Even worse-"
"There's actually a worse?" asked Anko dourly.
Blake said, "Yes, there is a worse. A non-ninja could easily infiltrate this place using parkour skills and the most basic of lock picks. There are so many holes in the security that only a complete idiot would get caught. Talking to the guards they basically broke into a disorganized panic when the alarms went off. From what evidence there is left after repairs were made it seems there is indication of a sword user or whip user. The whipcrack noises paralyzed almost everyone in the mansion in fear. They all thought it was explosives."
The jonin was face palming by this point. "Is there anything else to add to this damning report?"
Naruto nodded. "We have no idea how Tomi-sama hasn't been killed till now. He's been skimming off most of the guilds in Otafuku Gai to ignore their indiscretions. Half the town probably would rather see him dead than alive. After his father died he inherited the title and has been lining his pockets ever since then."
"We're protecting a crooked aristocrat that is doing everything in his power to get himself killed." summed up Blake nicely.
Anko just sweat dropped…
…
That Night…
It was two in the morning and Naruto was sitting behind a screen with the lights out on the second level of the pagoda. Blake was above him on the roof of the third floor and Pyrrha was concealed on the ground floor. The guards on night watch were all basically shaking in their highly polished boots and were jumping at the slightest noise. The three genin were trying to keep from getting distracted by the noises the jumpy guards were making so they could focus on real threats. Naruto suddenly heard a scream outside and launched silently out into the darkness on the roof of the second floor.
The crescent moon wasn't providing much light that night, so Naruto was relying as much on his ears and instincts as his eyes. He heard a groaning noise from the front of the mansion and a sounded like metal giving way. Then there was a lot of yelling and the guards started abandoning their posts to see what was going on. 'Amateurs. They left the place wide open.' thought the blonde ninja.
Pyrrha suddenly radioed, "There's a break in at the front gates. Multiple people. The guards are mobbing them. I'm monitoring the situation. I don't think it's connected to our target so stay alert."
Naruto hopped down to the ground and sniffed around for a scent of blood in case someone had been wounded. He heard Blake on the radio say, "Naruto, above you!"
The orange loving ninja saw a man with a blade chakra hop up to the second floor where he'd been moments ago. "I'm after him Blake!" said Naruto into his mouthpiece.
"More targets to the south!" said Blake. "I'm moving to intercept!" She quickly roof hopped down to the outer wall where a group of seven was climbing a ladder to breach the wall.
They looked up and saw Blake land on the wall above them. She was silhouetted by the moonlight and after they admired her shapely curves they saw her Gambol Shroud drawn, her blazing amber eyes and cat ears on top of her head. Then man with his head sticking up above the wall said, "N-nice kitty…?" That was just before Blake kicked him in the face and sent him tumbling back along with the ladder on top of the others. Seeing she had the momentum going her way the feline faunus girl leaped down into the disorganized crowd to kick their collective asses…
…
Naruto hopped up on the roof after the (apparent) ninja and the man pointed his sword at Naruto and extended the blade with a whipping motion at the blonde. Naruto was grazed at the temple but managed to get a Gale palm jutsu off that blew the man though the wall and into the room behind him. Naruto crashed in after the man and his strange weapon.
In the low light the ninja used his sword to try to cut Naruto down but the orange loving blonde kept deflecting the strikes with his kunai. Naruto took a shallow cut across his chest but his chainmail protected him from too much damage. Then the man extended his weapon like a whip again. Luckily for Naruto he'd already slid backwards and avoided further damage.
The man tried to go in for an overhead slash only for Naruto to kick him down the stairs with a brutal wind chakra covered foot. After a loud crash and the sounds of things breaking Naruto heard only stillness and carefully went down the steps in silence…
…
Pyrrha was at the front doors to the mansion when the last of the hapless guards were beaten unconscious. 'To be honest these people look like regular citizens instead of assassins….' she thought to herself. Pyrrha said in a clear voice, "Please turn back. I am a Konoha ninja and am much more formidable than the guards you just waylaid."
The crowd could see her figure in the moonlight and one of them said, "We don't want to hurt you girl; we just want Tomi-sama. He's done enough damage to this town."
About that time there was an explosion on the second floor where Naruto had been and Pyrrha saw the townspeople were going to be riddled with shrapnel. Acting on instinct the redhead leapt down in front of the mob, turned around and held out her shield to focus her magnet release. The debris stopped within a few feet of killing many before it all fell to the ground like rain. The crowd was in awe as she sank into the kneeling position from exertion. Pyrrha was breathing heavily and said, "Please go home. I never saw any of your faces in the dark."
"Kunoichi-san, are you…okay?" asked one of the townspeople.
"I will be fine." said Pyrrha as she stood up slowly.
Blake landed by Pyrrha a second later and asked, "Are you hurt Pyrrha-chan? These people…?"
"They are just bystanders that are leaving." said Pyrrha. After many of them thanked Pyrrha; the crowd quickly dispersed leaving the beaten guards lying about by the gates…
…
The magnetic pulse from Pyrrha had knocked out Anko's radio but she managed to get Tomi-sama to the relative safety of the back yard with a body flicker. The servants were quickly evacuating through the ground floor as the upper two floors burned from the explosion. The group soon gathered around the front of the burning mansion and started taking a headcount in the firelight. Anko found Blake and the exhausted Pyrrha and asked them where Naruto was…
Inside the ground floor the ninja that had been dueling with Naruto was hobbling out the back of the building as quickly as he could. The demolition charge went off prematurely and he had to get out now. The ninja kept twirling his weapon behind him in an attempt to ward off Naruto but kept hitting shadow clones. As he cleared the burning building a wind enhanced kunai shot straight into his back and out through his heart. Naruto came running out of the doomed building a second later with his sleeve on fire. The blonde immediately started rolling to put out the flames and rolled to a stop by the dying ninja. The man held out his odd sword to Naruto and coughed out, "Take it…spoils of war…" Naruto picked up the odd weapon and seconds later the unknown ninja coughed up a gout of blood and died in silence…
…
By morning the Samurai that policed the city had moved everyone clear and Tori-sama's mansion had burned completely to the ground. It was nothing but embers now. The beat up (but well dressed) guards were at the hospital and all of the servants were accounted for. By some miracle; aside of the unidentified ninja that Naruto killed no one was too badly injured. Blake was standing over Naruto and Pyrrha after she checked the body of the dead ninja. She dropped a long sheath with a strap on it at Naruto's feet. The blonde looked up and Blake said, "It's the sheath for that snake-sword*① Naruto-kun."
"Is that what this thing is called?" asked Naruto. "It has the name Viper engraved on it."
"That's a good name. I'll bet Tenten will love to have a look at this." said Blake.
'I wonder where this came from?' wondered Naruto.
He strapped on the Viper and Team 7 joined Anko as she talked to the samurai keeping the peace…
…
The Next Morning…
Team 7 received their orders from Konoha and headed for home. They sealed the body of the still unidentified ninja Naruto got his snake-sword from and planned to turn the body over to forensics in Konoha. As they travelled along in the early afternoon the group cut across country and avoided the well-travelled areas. Around four in the afternoon they stopped to eat and take care of the call of nature. Naruto had the Viper out and was testing the weight and feel of the weapon. "I wonder what this is made of." thought the blonde aloud.
"We know the blade is made of some kind of chakra metal." said Anko.
"Do you have any idea where it could have been made Anko nee-chan?" asked Blake.
"I'm afraid it's going to have a weapons specialist that identifies it Blake." said Anko "I figure your friend Tenten will be able to tell us a lot."
Pyrrha chuckled, "I'm sure Tenten-chan will enjoy looking the Viper regardless."
Naruto put the weapon back in its sheath on his back and said, "Well, one thing is certain. I can't really use traditional sword training to use this. Viper is just too different."
"On the positive side, few opponents will have any idea how combat it Naruto-kun." said Pyrrha. "Once we get back to Konoha you can start training in earnest with it."
Blake nodded. "One thing that will be necessary is to train your body so that blade is like an extension of your arm."
The blonde got a puzzled look on his face and said, "An extension of my arm?"
"What Blake means is the weight of the weapon won't slow you down; like it's part of your arm." explained Anko. "It's a traditional kenjutsu step in mastering a blade."
"Hmmm…Cool." said Naruto. "I guess I'll be working on whipping it too. Sounds like a challenge."
Pyrrha smiled and said, "I'm sure you'll excel once you get used to it Naruto-kun."
"We will get you there before you know it." said Blake confidently.
The orange loving ninja grinned. "Thanks Pyrrha-chan; Blake-chan."
Once they finished with their break, the group was underway again, each looking forward to getting home to Konoha…
…
POSTSCRIPT:
*①: The snake-sword is based on Ivy's weapon Valentine in the game Soulcalibur although the idea has been used elsewhere.
See you next time. Blue out. 4/18/22