UPDATE: I'm so sorry to all that have read this chapter without any divides in it. I honestly forgot to put them there, and for that I am truly sorry. I know it must have been confusing to read it before hand, but now I have updated it all. Hopefully you find the chapter much more enjoyable.
Chapter Nine: Mission Daze
Naruto stood in a small clearing, made up mostly of dirt, directly across Naoki. The duo had been paired up for a spar, with Eiji stating that he wanted to see how strong they were. The others simply sat on the side, waiting to see what would happen. The spar had two rules. No weapons and no lethal blows, which suited Naruto just fine as he was good at taijutsu. Months of getting pummelled into the ground by Jin had made sure that he was more than adequate for someone his age.
What was not fine for Naruto was Naoki. He did not know how she fought, in fact he did not know how most of the people around him fought – although he could venture a guess as to how Kai fought. After all, the sword was a dead give away. Naoki though, she was a mystery. He hadn't met the girl till earlier on that day, and she was fiery. He would try to use that against her. It was the only thing he could do.
"I'll call the spar when I see fit." Eiji said in his usual aloof tone, "So until then, have fun knocking each other's teeth out."
Naoki could barely contain her excitement. Ever since she first heard about the golden haired kid with the highest IQ in recent Uzumaki history, who also appeared to be very good at the ninja arts, she had wanted nothing more than to fight him. Watching him slip into a very loose stance, which involved him just dropping his shoulders, as if getting ready to run, increased her excitement.
"You know, I've been waiting for this for a very long time." Naoki's excitement was evident in her tone.
Naruto just tilted his head slightly to the side. "I'm sorry, but I don't even know you. I mean, I just met you today."
"That's fine." Naoki stated, a smug smile finding its way onto her visage, "You'll know me well enough by the end of this spar." Then she shot off towards him, moving at speeds that would have caught Naruto off-guard had he not been training with a clan head nearly everyday. The girl was taller than him, and as such she was able to use her superior frame to her advantage. Her slightly longer legs and arms meant that she could reach him without getting too close and putting her torso in danger of a counter attack.
Naruto was able to avoid her punches and kicks, however, thanks to his smaller frame and speed. A punch whizzed over his head as he ducked under it slightly, not realising that he had set himself up to receive a knee to the face, which caught him on his forehead, causing him to stumble back slightly, before he received a spinning kick to the face, knocking him down to the ground.
"Aw~" Naoki cooed, "Is that the best the famed genius of the Uzumaki clan has to offer? Then again, what was I expecting from someone so short."
Naruto knew that the girl was goading him, but he could not help himself. This had been declared a spar, hence why he did not go all out yet, but the girl's goading was making it hard for him not to. Getting up, and spitting some blood out of his mouth, Naruto took a deep breath in, before slowly exhaling.
He quickly dashed forward, catching the older girl by surprise with his increased speed. He jumped into the air and tried two kicks that she blocked by raising her forearms to cover her face. By the time she lowered them enough to see what was happening, Naruto was already on the ground and had already launched a straight jab to her neck, which she quickly caught – just a few centimetres away from its target. Almost as if he had been expecting that, Naruto unfurled his fist in a piston motion, catching the older Uzumaki in the throat, surprising both Naoki and most of the people that were viewing the fight from the sidelines.
Naoki's grip on his forearm loosened completely, allowing the blonde boy to retract his fist, before sending it crashing into the girl's face. While Naoki was still reeling her head into position from punch she just received, Naruto was already midway through a roundhouse kick that connected with her cheek as soon as her head had oriented itself. The kick sent the young woman hurtling to the ground.
While his eyes stayed trained on the girl in front of him, he had opened his ears, hoping to catch any word from Eiji, calling off the spar. None came however, instead all he heard were some murmurs from his fellow graduates.
Naoki got up to her feet, massaging her neck as she glared at Naruto, before speaking through bloodied teeth, "That hurt a lot."
"Shinobi." was all Naruto said as he prepared to fight her some more. While she was physically stronger thanks to being older than him and having a slightly more imposing build, he was faster and more agile. Immoveable object, meet unstoppable force. Sort of.
Almost as if Naoki had wanted him to reply the way that he did, she simply smirked and said, "Touché." She raised her right hand into a half ram seal, and Naruto instantly regretted not acting at all.
He felt a crushing force pull him down on his right arm, sending him crumbling into the ground quicker than he thought possible; and he stayed there. Whatever was acting on him made his entire right hand side, specifically around his forearm, feel like lead.
As he struggled to get up, Naoki came rushing at him with the intent to finish off the fight. The girl reared her leg back and kicked him hard in the face, forcing the boy's head to snap back from the sheer force of the blow, but not enough to snap it. If that kick had transpired before his training with Jin, he would have been out cold already, but as it stood, he was barely hanging onto consciousness.
Quickly bringing up his left arm to protect his head, Naruto was able to soften the blow of the second kick considerably, especially since there was no running momentum behind it any more. It was, however, powerful enough to knock him onto his back. Acting on the instinct to protect his cranium from being stomped down on really hard, Naruto raised his legs and grabbed hold of the leg that was coming down on him through the use of the water walking principal. He twisted hard enough, while also pushing out as much chakra as he could without hurting her, and forced her body into doing a split.
"That's interesting." Eiji commented from the sidelines as Naruto drew in his leg and kicked out at the girl's face, catching her quickly before she could try to right her body's current position. With the girl rolling away slightly, Naruto was afforded the opportunity to take a sneak peak at his right forearm, and he immediately spotted what the problem was.
On his long sleeve, there was a seal stuck to it – a resistance seal to be precise. Resistance seals were used by the taijutsu specialists of the clan whenever they trained. Jin beat him black and blue in training, with his whole body littered with them apparently.
He rolled into a crouch as he tried to pry the seal off, but had no such luck. As Naoki stood up to continue their bout, she saw what Naruto was trying to do, and smirked. "Don't bother, Blondie. It ain't coming off. Those were specially made by my father to use your own chakra against you. As long as you've got chakra flowing through you, it's stuck."
Naruto had to admit, it was damn good Fūinjutsu. The way it was used was probably even better. He would have to remember this for future reference. Forcing resistance seals onto your opponent was a good idea, so long as if you can specially design the seal to use your opponent's chakra once it was stuck on them to power itself. This was an ingenious move to use on anyone other than an Uzumaki, especially Naruto, for two reasons.
Number one: Uzumaki know Fūinjutsu. Even the really crappy ones within their clan are at least good enough to know how to power through seals like this if given enough time on their hands.
Number two: Naruto may have been a young graduate, but he was not the run-of-the-mill Uzumaki graduate. He knew Fūinjutsu. More importantly, he knew how to cheat Fūinjutsu. Somewhat.
Acting quickly, as Naoki rushed towards him, with the clear intent of finishing their spar, Naruto raised his free hand and placed it on his chest, and without a single hand sign utilised, he placed a chakra suppression seal on it.
Just as Naoki was upon him, kick already launched for his head, the chakra suppression seal activated, cutting off all of his own chakra while also negating the resistance seal's effect on his body long enough for him to roll out of the way at the last second, surprising all of the onlookers, and Naoki. Moving as quickly as he could, Naruto got up from the ground and jumped onto the older girl's back, encircling his arms around her neck and his legs around her waist. He had her in a head lock quicker than she could even react after missing with her kick.
Naoki jumped off the ground and fell onto her back, or what would have been her back had Naruto not been there, choking her; and as a result he took the blow for her. Despite having knocked the air out of her opponent slightly, Naruto did not let go off her.
"… Give…up!" Naruto snarled through heavy breaths.
"Rargh!" Naoki struggled, trying to pry his hands off her neck – and failing. "Nev…er!"
"Alright," Eiji said, suddenly appearing above them both, "I'm calling it. Let her go."
Naruto let her go almost immediately. He did not harbour any ill will towards the older girl, and she just seemed like someone that had made him a rival for some reason. It was all just a spar.
Naoki got to her feet, rubbing her neck once again as she struggled to stand up straight. She silently mused on the fact that Naruto had an iron grip, refusing to let her go. If Eiji had not told him to, he probably would have choked her into unconsciousness. She watched as the blonde boy got up, slowly. He wobbled on his feet as well, but it did not take him too long before he was upright. He nodded his head in her general direction, a sign of acknowledgement on his end that no matter who won, he enjoyed himself.
Naoki nodded right back at him, feeling the exact same way. Somewhat.
"The winner of this spar…" Eiji declared as soon as they were both on their feet, "Naruto!"
Naruto stood up straighter, feeling some pride swell in his chest as he and Naoki bowed at the same time, before they headed off to join the others that were sitting on the ground.
"Congratulations." Akira said quietly to Naruto, while Kai and his cronies just looked at him with indecipherable.
"You are as good as advertised." Naoki stated as she sat down, still massaging her bruised neck.
"Thanks. You are good as well." Naruto congratulated her right back. He had enjoyed that spar, and he found himself looking forward to more of them in the coming future. He was sure that Naoki would not be satisfied until she beat him, and he relished that challenge. They say two great fighters understand each other through their fists more than through actual words, and while he still did not know what drove her to fight, Naruto was sure that he might have made a new friend in the hot-headed girl.
"Alright, next up:" Eiji called out, "Akira and Yuri."
Naruto was not having a fun day. It was only ten in the morning and he already wished that the day was over.
"… And I'm telling you that this bastard doesn't belong here!" shouted a man that sported hair that barely had any colour left in it.
Naruto felt like rolling his eyes for the umpteenth time as he stared at the scene that was unfolding before him. It was only his fourth day of working under the Home Guard, but he was already fed up. He might have chosen the wrong division to start with. Naoki, who was next to him did not feel any better than he did at that particular moment. Unlike him though, she voiced her frustration.
"Old man, for the last time. This guy has a permit, and as such he is allowed to-" Naoki was cut off.
"I. Don't. Care!" The old man said, levelling a glare at the young girl, "He could have a letter from the clan head himself excusing him being here, and I'm telling you that he needs to move! The man's a fraud!"
Most of the first week was rather pleasant in comparison to this. Sure, it might have been a little boring, what with them being stationed outside the village for their first three days and staring at nothing but trees, but if given the opportunity to do that again or face the wrath of an angry civilian, Naruto would have picked the former. It was marginally less annoying. Marginally.
After the first day where they all just introduced themselves, the second and third days involved them being positioned at different parts of the island, both inside the clan grounds and the forests that surround the habitable zone within Uzu no Kuni. They had been split up into different groups, and they would rotate from there.
Day four brought him here, where he found himself paired up with Naoki, the impulsive redhead that had challenged him to a duel, and under the guidance of one of the more senior members of the home guard, they were supposed to supervise over the Whirling City.
"Now sir, to be fair-" their senior commander began, before he was rudely cut off by the old man.
"There is no fairness!" the man proclaimed, "Not so long as this fraud is around."
The old man was pointing at a young man that had recently set up shop, selling the same product as him, hence why he was feeling incensed. Which was putting it lightly. Luckily for the third regiment, only the old man seemed to be acting like a raving lunatic, and not the young man accused of being a fraud. He was just quietly standing off on the side, just observing, and only speaking when spoken to by the three gathered shinobi.
"You can't have two florists in the same district!" the old man proclaimed, pointing at both his cart and that of the his young competitor.
"Yes, you can." Naruto found himself saying this before he could actually stop himself. He was tired of this old man's tirade. He had been at it for the last twenty minutes, and Naruto felt like punching him into next week .
"Oh yeah?" the old man sneered in his direction, "How?"
"Well, you could just sell different flowers." the boy answered, not wilting under the stare of an ordinary civilian. He had been living under the tutelage of their esteemed clan leader for quite some time. He made most people's glares look like smiles.
"The boy is right." the younger florist said, deciding to step in, "We could do that. I could do that. Just give me a list of all the flowers that you sell-"
"-So you can steal them all, huh?" the old man accused.
"No! So I can sell flowers that are different from yours. In fact, most of the flowers I sell are already different from the ones you sell."
"Except that one!" the old man pointed towards a purple flower that had a pink core.
"Look, will you just accept the compromise already?" the lead shinobi asked while rubbing his eyes, "He got a permit fairly, meaning this was obviously reviewed by admin, taking you and your business into consideration. They felt that neither of you would get in each other's way-"
"Ha!" the old man exclaimed, before a glare from the shinobi made him wilt slightly.
"The point is," the elder shinobi said, "Either you can take the offer that is being presented to you, or you can up and leave. Find another business venture. Who knows. Just stop wasting our time with something so juvenile."
The old man seemed to be considering this, with his eyes showing the pondering that was going on in his brain. Naruto could see the old man weigh the different options that he was being presented with. Either stay and play nice, or leave. Both options had their drawbacks. Naruto hoped that the drawbacks of the latter would make the old man shut up. His morning was ruined already.
Almost as if in defiance to what Naruto wanted, the old man said, "I choose the third option."
"Argh!" was the universal sound uttered by all.
"Do you have eyes on the target?" was the question that was asked by the scroll that was currently unfurled in front of Naruto. Standing next to him was Kai, holding onto the hilt of his sword while scanning the forest with keen eyes. Naruto did not bother looking up at Kai as he reiterated the question asked by the scroll.
"No." was the predictable answer. If they had seen the target by now, they would have been in hot pursuit. Naruto wrote Kai's response into the scroll, with the person holding the other communication scroll linked to the one Naruto was using getting the answer they desired.
There was silence as the two boys simply kept watch for their target, never letting their eyes search an area that the other was not already searching, especially since their backs were facing each other. Although this was a highly sensitive mission with the possibility of enemy combat, and with Naruto fully concentrating on the task at hand of apprehending the intruder, Kai apparently did not get the gravity the situation as he decided to speak with Naruto.
"You know, I wasn't joking when I said I wanted to mend things between us." the older boy said while his eyes roamed the trees.
Naruto did not respond, not feeling the need to. To him, mending things meant that their relationship had any legs left to stand on, which would be the biggest lie in history. Kai did not seem to get this, however, as he continued to speak, this time with a slightly sombre tone, "Look, I know I messed up. And for that, I truly am sorry."
More silence reigned supreme over the two boys as they continued scanning their surroundings. If Naruto could have seen Kai's face at that moment, he would have seen a twinge of disappointment on it. Kai knew that he had messed up with the younger boy, using his superior intellect in the shinobi arts to his own advantage. While Kai would never claim to have felt like Naruto was a true friend of his, but he did feel like Naruto felt that that was the case with him. He was truly riddled with guilt.
"Can I ask you something?" Naruto's voice broke the redhead out of his musings, with him realising that he had been off on his search, as he had allowed his mind to wonder. Not waiting for the older boy to respond, Naruto pressed on with the question, "Why?"
"Why what?" Kai asked, eyes still facing forward as he and Naruto continued to search for the slightest hint of their target.
"Why are you bothering with this…whatever this is?" Naruto's face showed the clear confusion he felt towards the older boy's actions.
"Apologising?" the older boy was slightly amused by Naruto's tone. His confusion was evident in his voice, although Kai did not know why the youngster was confused. It was a simple apology for the time when he acted like the boy's friend, only to turn around and stab him in the back slightly.
"Yes." Naruto said as he felt the scroll in his hand heating up slightly.
While he took it out and opened it, in order to inspect its contents, Kai responded with, "I originally did it because I thought it was funny. But I've soon come to realise that my actions were that of a jerk, and-"
Whatever else Kai had to say was immediately quashed by Naruto hurriedly shouting, "Incoming" after he had seen the message in the scroll. The target was headed their way.
True to form, a blur shot past them a second later, hurrying towards the residential part of the island. Naruto and Kai were hot on the target's trail, with the latter going through a flurry of hand signs as they tried to catch up to their target, "Naruto!"
The younger boy heard the older one call out his name and already knew what was expected of him. Quickly throwing four kunai with small tags attached to them at the target, the knives sailed past the man without him even bothering to duck. Clearly they had not been meant for him. The man seemingly knew this as well because as soon as they hit the ground a few feet in front of him the man changed course immediately and darted left, just as Kai held the ram seal and a small yellow barrier erupted in between the four thrown kunai forming a metre-tall lopsided box. Lopsided because the kunai were not perfectly symmetrical.
This was a containment jutsu that was standard issue for all that worked within the Home Guard. They had been taught about it just as few days prior.
Their target jumped into the trees, bouncing between two of them, before shooting for a third. While he was in mid-air, Naruto made his move. Judging the trajectory of where the man might land, Naruto used the only Suiton jutsu he had in his arsenal, the Teppōdama, and aimed it at the branch the man would land on. The jutsu hit the feeble branch, snapping it at the right moment just as the man's right foot was about to make contact with it.
At that precise moment a kunai embedded itself into their target's head, courtesy of Kai, in the only place that was not protected by body armour that would provide an instant kill. Rather than die, the man was covered in a puff of smoke, and in his place was the branch that Naruto hand broken with the Teppōdama. Where the branch once was, there now was their target, who had since pulled out a kunai and flung it back at them.
Naruto ducked under it while Kai ducked his head to the left, neither breaking their stride.
"He's two minutes from reaching the village.!" Kai shouted, knowing that they had to stop their target before he got there.
"I know!" Naruto was clearly annoyed with his partner stating the obvious. Thinking quickly, the younger of the two boys fished out his trusty yo-yo, and acting quickly, flung it at their target while channelling chakra through it. The yoyo's string hand been specially modified with the help of his father to be able to stretch for up to twelve metres, which was just about the distance between themselves and their target.
The yoyo sailed past their target, with the man moving his head slightly just as the yo-yo reached him. Naruto retracted it as soon as it hit its twelve metre mark, with the chakra he had channelled earlier finally taking hold.
Whatever their target thought would happen when the yo-yo retracted was not what actually happened. The yo-yo expanded in size to the point where it was as large as his entire body. The man dived to the side just as the yo-yo reached him. Naruto shrunk its size just as it sailed past their target and returned to him, with the boy catching it in its original size once again with his open palm.
"What the heck was that?!" Kai asked in shock.
"An opportunity." Naruto responded as he got the desired effect from his yo-yo throw. It slowed down the target. Not enough for them to catch up, but enough to close the gap, where the next part of the plan could take shape.
"Kai, cast it now!"
Kai did not need to be told twice as he went trough a small string of hand signs before he pulled out a scroll and tore it open. From within the confines of the scroll, with the word 'chain' on it, there came two identical chains that headed straight for their target.
The man turned and caught one with his left hand while simultaneously kicking the other one away with his right foot, kicking it toward a fast-advancing Naruto. The scroll was quickly yanked out of Kai's hand, through the chain still connected to it, before it was sent Naruto's way. The younger boy had just side-stepped the first chain when the second one came flying at him. Thinking quickly, he channelled chakra into his yo-yo, which was still in his hand, and watched as it grew in size, covering half his torso just in time for it to get belted by the chain and send him hurtling backwards into a nearby tree, with the yoyo being shattered in the process.
"Ow." the blonde said meekly, feeling a sharp pain from where his back made contact with the tree.
While Naruto had been skilfully avoiding getting whacked by the summoned chain, Kai had decided to engage their target in close quarters combat. He had not bothered with seeing how the boy was, instead choosing to prioritise the mission above Naruto. Quickly drawing his sword out from the side, the young boy slashed upward at their target, but the man deftly dodged it with relative ease.
Kai continued slashing at the man, watching as he ducked under, side-stepped, and even backhanded some of his sword strikes.
Naruto, who was already up and seeing the opening that Kai had provided him, went through a string of hand seals before he placed his palms on the ground. Fūin immediately sped out from under his palms and rushed towards the duelling duo, where it pooled around their feet and expanded in a circular manner. Just as the seals glowed, the man substituted at the last second, and the thing that took his place was a large chunk of the now destroyed yoyo.
Realising this, Naruto turned to the side and was able to put his arms up just in time to block a Spartan kick to the face. His forearms took most of the damage, and he was sent tumbling backwards by the sheer force behind the kick.
Naruto shook his arms out slightly in an attempt to alleviate the pain.
"C'mon," Eiji, who they had been fighting all along, said in his generally aloof manner, "you guys have to work together and make this more interesting for me."
With Naruto's hands no longer on the ground, the seal that he had activated earlier was no longer active, meaning that Kai could simply walk out of it freely.
"What was that?" Kai asked as soon as he stood next to Naruto.
"Chakra suppression field." was all Naruto said. His eyes not leaving Eiji.
"Okay." Kai was glad that it was not some sort of barrier that would have left him trapped in it while Naruto got his ass handed to him. He had heard of chakra suppression seals, but those were generally classified as part of an advanced study of Fūinjutsu. For Naruto to know how to utilise one at such a young age was a testament to the boy's genius in the art.
"So, what do we do now?" Kai asked, sword in hand. Ready to unleash holy hell on Eiji.
"We fight."
"… Happy birthday dear Naruto~" the gathered crowd intoned, "… happy birthday to you!~"
Naruto had a huge smile on his face as the people closest to his heart sung happy birthday to him.
"Hip! Hip"
"Hooray!"
"Hip! Hip!"
"Hooray!
It was crazy to Naruto just how fast time flew. Shinobi did not generally celebrate birthdays, hence why most of Naruto's were unceremonious. This was his ninth birthday. It was not a huge affair, as there were seven people in attendance, Naruto included. Though he preferred it that way. He was not much of an attention seeker. His parents were a no-brainer, along with Mito. They were joined by Shimonosuke, Ginrei, and surprisingly Naoki and Akira. What they were doing here was not a mystery. Why they had bothered to show up, was. It was not like they were friends or anything. They just happened to work within the same group.
"Happy birthday!" Mito exclaimed happily, as she flung her arms around her best friends neck.
"Thanks." Naruto reciprocated her hug before letting her go shortly after. The adults chatted away amongst themselves, with Kushina dishing up food for the guests while Minato talked with Ginrei. Shimonosuke was busy entertaining Naoki and Akira, telling them a funny story if their laughter was anything to go by.
"Look what I got you" Mito pulled a scroll the length of her forearm from the white kimono she wore that day. Presenting Naruto with said scroll, the young boy took his apparent gift, nodding at his best friend in gratitude for her getting him a gift.
Placing his scroll on the ground, the newly minted nine year old opened the scroll and was surprised by what he found inside.
"Yoyos?" He said in astonishment, although it sounded a bit like a question. Indeed, in front of Naruto lay a clear plastic container that had an assortment of yoyos that came in different colours and, from what he eyes could tell, were made with different materials.
"Wow, Mito…this is…" Naruto was at a loss for words. The entire set was beautiful. Whoever had made these had not only taken their time, but had gone through the painstaking process of acquiring different materials.
"It's nothing." the girl beamed proudly. "I mean, I know how much you like them, so…"
Naruto felt his chest well up slightly. This was nowhere near the best gift he had received from someone, but he cherished it more than any other because of who it came from, "Thank you. I love it."
"Hey Naruto." it seemed like whatever story Shimonosuke had been entertaining Akira and Naoki with was over, as the duo had sauntered over to them. Upon reaching the eponymous blonde and his redhead best friend, Naoki asked, "So…who's this?"
Naruto pointed towards the young, bun-haired girl, "This is my best friend, Mito." After that he pointed at the duo he worked with and said, "Mito, these are my colleagues Naoki and Akira."
"It's nice to meet you both." the youngest Uzumaki in the room said, bowing her head slightly at the two shinobi.
"Likewise." Akira said, bowing as well. Naoki just nodded slightly, but did not say anything, feeling like Akira spoke for them both.
"Big boy, huh?" Naoki teased, "The big nine."
"Yeah." Naruto said in a slightly embarrassed tone, rubbing the back of his neck.
There was a slightly awkward silence, before Naoki broke it with, "You know, it sucks that I lost to someone that hasn't even hit double digits in terms of age yet. I want my rematch."
Naruto just rolled his eyes and laughed lightly. "C'mon, we got a party to enjoy."
The festivities were not that grand, but they were appreciated nonetheless as they continued long into the night.
The air smelled of salt, a fragrance that Naruto was used to, being an island boy and all that. It was much more pronounced right now, however. The open sea had that effect. Right now, he was standing on a ship. The vessel was not incredibly large, with it serving on as a transport vessel for small goods and services. It was one of many that the Uzumaki had that fulfilled this role. This one in particular, code-named Tide Breaker, had been transporting a few civilians to Nami no Kuni, from Uzu no Kuni. Once they had arrived there, they dropped off the civilians along with a few supplies that the Senju clan had sent representatives to collect.
He had not seen them since they had departed a day after his spar with Hashirama. Apparently whatever it was that they had been there for had been concluded early. He did not know the exact details, but his mother had told him to expect the Uzumaki to help the Senju in one of their famed battles with the Uchiha clan. He did not know everything about the current political climate that his clan was involved in, knowing just enough to theorise a few things here and there thanks to the few months he spent with the main family.
The vessel he was on rocked a little bit, drawing the blonde boy out of his thoughts. He then remembered that he was on the open sea, on his maiden voyage back home. A smile crept onto his face at remembering that. This being his first voyage, Naruto had been nervous and excited about what awaited him in the open sea. Unfortunately, it had all been rather uneventful. Salt assaulting his senses had not been his idea of fun.
It had been a whole month since his birthday party, and over that time period he and the small rag-tag group that had selected the third regiment as their preferred first contact with the Uzumaki shinobi lifestyle had been ingratiated into the system, at least when it came to the Home Guard.
They had continued being swapped around on various missions and patrols, with Naruto having a particular dislike for guard duty outside the village. It was the most uneventful part of the job, with nothing but nature surrounding you for hours on end. It was worse when he was paired up with Kai, or one of his cronies. Fortunately that was not a constant, otherwise Naruto would have ripped someone into two with how irritated those guys made him feel. Out of the graduates that he was grouped together with, they were by far the most annoying.
Naoki and Akira on the other hand were pretty cool, especially the girl (although she did tend to grate his nerves with how frequently she wanted a rematch). Akira was quiet, like him. Speaking only when spoken to. Despite his timid appearance at first glance, the boy was shrewd. He may not have been some physical specimen when compared to his peers, but he was no slouch. Turns out, the kid had a natural aptitude for Fūinjutsu. He was nowhere near Naruto's level, but he was functional at it; unlike Naoki.
The loud girl seemed to be really good at taijutsu and utilising weapons, with the few seals she had on her being seals that had been made for her beforehand by someone close to her, be it her father or her aunt. Her mother, from what Naruto had gleaned, was no longer among the living. It was one of the many times he was glad that he had both of his parents. He did not know how his life would have turned out had he not had them both.
"Naruto!" a gruff voice said, pulling him out of his musings. Turning around, Naruto was greeted by the image of Tide Breaker's captain. He was a tall man that had the trademark hair colour of his clan, piercing green eyes and a bulbous nose. He had a lean physique that had light blue armour covering it, with grey clothing underneath.
"Hai, taicho." the nine year old boy responded, standing ramrod straight as he waited for his ship's captain to address him.
"Your friend has decided to show us all his breakfast." the man said in a serious tone, "Take care of it."
"Hai." Naruto understood what the man meant. When the small group of graduates had gathered by the port earlier on that day, as they had been instructed to by Eiji the day before, they had been paired off once again. They were split into different crews, with each pair finding itself acting as the cabin boy(s)/girl within the ship they were put on. Naruto and Akira found themselves on Tide Breaker, with the quiet boy unfortunately being sea sick.
Naruto approached the end of the ship that Akira was in, and saw that the boy looked like he had seen a ghost, because of how pale he looked. Sea sickness was no joke. Reaching the boy who had been balancing close to the ship's rail, so as to make hurling into the open sea easier with him right by the ship's edge, Naruto looked at his companion with slight pity. Seeing some of the puke that the older boy had managed to hurl onto the ship's deck instead of the open sea, Naruto got to work.
He positioned himself in such a way that he was adjacent to the small puddle that contained some of Akira's breakfast, moulded some chakra, before he said, "Suiton: Teppōdama."
Three rapid-fire globs of water hit the puke puddle and sent it all flying into the ocean. Yeah, there was no way he was going to use a mop when there was a perfectly usable suiton jutsu in his arsenal. It was significantly weaker than the usual Teppōdama, but that was because he did not want to damage the ship in any way if he messed up slightly.
"I guess this puts being a member of the Marine Corps out of the question." A very weak-sounding Akira said, just as Naruto straightened up. Cracking a small smile, the blonde boy said, "Well, I guess it just depends on whether you get used to it or not."
Akira smiled weakly and said, "Between you and me, I was never really interested in joining up."
Naruto just nodded his head, understanding him completely. There was a small bit of silence between the boys as Naruto proceeded to perform the only suiton jutsu in his arsenal once again, this time on the rail that had a small amount of puke on it, also sending it flying into the ocean. As soon as he was done with that, he turned to Akira and asked, "You want to join the Fūinjutsu Corps. Right?"
Akira shook his head, surprising Naruto. "No, I actually wanted to be in the front lines."
Naruto raised an eyebrow at that. It was totally uncharacteristic of the boy in front of him. Akira's quiet nature and his understanding of Fūinjutsu lead him to believe that the older boy wanted to join the Sealing Corps. After all, he had considered doing so at one time. It was only recently that he had changed his mind, deciding that he wanted to explore the world a little rather than be cooped up on their island.
"Why? I mean, you do know that you will be on a ship a lot because of the constant travel to the island because of missions?" Naruto found himself asking. His questions seemed to have an effect on Akira, making the boy seemingly temporarily forget that he was sea-sick and instead focus on whatever reasoning he had for wanting to be part of the main fighting force of the clan.
Whatever the boy would have said was disturbed by a young man, in his mid teens, shouting from the crow's nest.
"Taicho!" that cry got everyone's attention. With all eyes focused on him, including that of Tide Breaker's captain, the boy pointed at the starboard side and said, "There's a powerful chakra source headed this way!"
Those words put everyone on guard as the ship's captain, Akinari, started barking orders, "Daikichi, Hakaru!"
"Hai!" two men said in unison, apparently not needing to be told what to do. They went through a string of hand signs that were different from what the other one was doing, with Naruto watching in trepidation and fascination. He felt the ship wobble slightly, throwing him off-balance a bit. The colour of the sky changed slightly, becoming slightly darker, which caused Naruto to look up and see a dark blue barrier slowly form a protective layer around the ship, coming down from the sky in a dome-like shape. From beneath the tides, a similarly coloured barrier slowly rose up to the sky, meeting the barrier falling from the sky in harmonious synchronisation. The entire ship was now covered by this dark blue barrier.
Without missing a beat, Akinari said, "The rest of you, defensive positions!" As if the more seasoned crew members had needed to be told what to do, seeing as how they were already in those positions, covering every surface of the ship, with a few having gone below deck to man the cannons. There were only six on either side of the ship, but it was better than not having any like most civilian vessels.
"Cabin boys." Akinari said, drawing attention to Naruto and Akira.
"Hai!" Naruto replied alone, because Akira could not. It was at that moment that Akira remembered that he was sea sick, and as such, he started looking green in the face.
"Tell me, what are your skill sets?" Akinari said, approaching them. Akira attempted to answer, before quickly sticking his head over the rail and puking what was now just pure liquid, into the ocean, or at least what would have been the ocean if a cannon had not been sticking out.
"Oi, watch it!" someone said from below deck, probably the person operating the cannon that Akira just puked on.
Naruto did not want to answer the man's questions. He did not like divulging what he could and could not do. It was this reason that kept others on their toes around him in training, always guessing whatever it was he would whip up. Unfortunately for him though, this was not training. It was real life. Whatever the boy with the Mind's Eye Of The Kagura had just sensed, it must have been massive. Either in the form of a potentially dangerous enemy, or a slew of slightly weaker ones that happened to have a collectively powerful chakra source when grouped together. Either one was a bad prospect.
"I don't have all day, sailor." Akinari said menacingly. There were no threats needed when he was involved. He was one of those individuals that just exuded a high threat-level when around living beings. "I need to be able to group you accordingly. Now what are your skills?"
"I'm a close-range combatant. I only have one offensive suiton jutsu, and one defensive one, sir. Everything else that I can do is related to close quarters Fūinjutsu."
"And your friend?"
Seeing as how Akira was struggling to keep his bodily fluids on the inside, Naruto decided to answer for him, drawing on what he knew from their training sessions together on the Home Guard. "He's not much of a fighter. He does have some Fūinjutsu, though none are any good in combat."
Akinari seemed to contemplate something in his head as he said, "At least the civilians aren't here." He turned on his heels, ordering Naruto to stick close to Akira. He then looked at the other sailors on the ship and said, "Sailors, prepare for combat."
This was not their first time in this scenario, and it would not be their last. Hopefully.
In the distance, a wave started forming, growing bigger and bigger with each passing second as it drew closer and closer to the ship. Pretty soon the wave was three times larger than the barrier protecting the ship. Naruto felt himself shake slightly at the possibility of facing his first true opponent. Most children on the mainland had already tasted combat by his age, but at the same time most Uzumaki children had not; and probably would not for a few years.
"Brace for impact!" Akinari shouted. One look at the man showed him to be cool as a block of ice, despite the tsunami headed their way.
A few more seconds went by, before the wave finally crashed onto the barrier. The entire ship was rocked by the impact of the wave's collision with the ship. Everyone that Naruto could see struggled to remain upright, but managed to do so thanks to utilising their chakra to stick to the ship. Not a single drop of water managed to punch through the barrier.
"Wow. I gotta learn that someday." Naruto said, amazed by the barrier's strength. His fascination with the barrier was soon overtaken by worry as he noticed something odd happening. The water that had impacted against the barrier did not slide of the barrier as many of them expected it to. Instead, the water just remained in place, covering every inch of the barrier.
Naruto was not the only one who noticed this, as everyone that was above deck saw the water remain in place, not moving an inch.
"What's going on?" Naruto heard someone ask. Then, almost as if it were aware of the question that had been asked, the water started to move slightly – but only in a specific spot. In the direction that the wave had come from, a figure slowly started to coalesce within the water. Their body seemed to be made of the very same water that surrounded it.
Naruto knew who, or rather what clan this was.
"Hello, Uzumaki shinobi." a very deep voice said from within the water, his voice coming of slightly distorted due to being submerged in water. The figure that spoke did not separate from the water, instead remaining locked inside the water, a few metres away from the surface of the barrier.
"Hello, Hozuki-san." Akinari had stepped forward to confront this being that had pretty much trapped his ship. "What can we help you with?"
The figure in water appeared to be contemplating something, before it said, "You can help by sending a message."
"And what would that message be, Hozuki-san?" Akinari said, his mind racing a mile a minute, trying to find the best possible way to get his men out of the situation they were in.
"We're declaring open war with the Uzumaki clan." the figure said, but instead of looking worried or horrified by the news, all Akinari said was, "Really?"
"Yes." the Hozuki shinobi replied.
"Well, forgive me Hozuki-san, but I just don't see that happening." Akinari's statement drew a slightly perturbed look from the submerged shinobi, "You don't see what happening?"
"Us being able to deliver your message, since you have us completely surrounded." Akinari said. "We would need to make it back to-"
"Who said you have to deliver the message personally?"
At this, everyone on the ship was confused, some more so than others, but they hid their confusion really well.
"I do not understand. How else would we deliver the message?" Akinari spoke after a moment of silence.
Without missing a beat, the man that was one with the water all around them said, "By dying."
As if that was a trigger word, the entire place started to drop in temperature. Everything started to feel colder than what it once was.
"Taicho!" the Mind's Eye Of The Kagura user shouted, still perched up on the crow's nest – although now he was shivering slightly. Whether it was from whatever he was sensing, or the cold that was now eliciting visible steam from the gathered shinobi's breathing was anybody's guess.
Akinari did not need to be notified this time, however. He was a veteran, having been involved in many open sea skirmishes. They had honed his senses to a fine degree. He may not have been a Mind's Eye Of The Kagura user, but in the open ocean he was the next best thing.
As such, when there was a powerful disturbance in the very air around them, he had sensed it before his subordinate had alerted him. When the air became chilly, he knew that they were in trouble; and when mirrors made out of ice started to materialise out of thin air, he knew that he and his sailors were in the fight of their lives.
Slowly, but surely a mirror formed on the outskirts of the water encased barrier. That mirror was soon joined by a few others, all of the mirrors were at the same level of around ten feet off the surface of the water. They went all the way around the ship. Then images started to appear on the surface of the mirrors. Some of the most beautiful men and women that any of the Uzumaki had ever seen appeared on the mirrors.
One by one, they all jumped out of the ice mirrors and landed softly on the water.
The Yuki clan had just joined the battle.
To be continued
Well, shit. Things just heated up a notch. Or is it cooled down in this case? Eh, doesn't matter. What's important is that the story finally has its first true conflict. Yay.
Wanna know what happens next? Follow and favourite this bitch in order to find out. A review or two doesn't hurt either.
How would you guys feel if Naruto had a kekkei tōta (not Dust Release)? Personally I'm undecided, as I wanted this Naruto to not have any crazy power-ups. Yet, I also feel like it would be cool if he had one, especially with the one I have in mind.
I like hearing your thoughts on the story.
Peace.