Chapter 14 – The Past Catches Up

In a compound, four robed figures knelt in front of the Wagarashi Kyuroku, head of the Wagarashi family. The man had a slimy smirk on his face.

"Remove your hoods. I want to see your faces. Kyuroku ordered. The four removed their hoods to reveal themselves. All of them had the symbol of Amegakure (Hidden Rain). The one to the left had his hitai-ate covering his whole head, a rebreather and a sash around his eyes. The one to the center had the same set up only his sash had eye holes. The one to the right had his hitai-ate covering his whole head, a rebreather and a sash around his eyes with only his left eye visible.

The man in front had green hair and purple eyes. His Amegakure hitai-ate was on his forehead. Kyuroku gave them all a look before speaking.

"Okay, you are hired to protect my runner for the race. However, if you feel the need to 'hinder' my competition, I'm willing to pay extra." He said with a smirk.

"Very well." The leader said but stopped when he felt that someone was watching them. He pulled out a kunai and rushed outside. He searched outside but he couldn't find anything. All he could hear were the sounds of crickets. He closed the doors and went back to Kyuroku. "Apologizes, I believed that we were being watched."

"No apologies needed. You just proved you're worth the money. Now, what are your names?"

XXX

At the same time, Naruto, Kiba, Shino and Akamaru were getting settled. Hinata had her own room and was getting settled herself. Naruto and Shino were rolling out their bed rolls while Kiba was still complaining.

"I can't believe that we have to protect that jerk." Kiba said hotly.

"We've heard you since the introductions. I don't like it either but we just have to deal with it." Naruto said with a little annoyance toward Kiba. Kiba was about to say something until an army of insects came through the window. They pooled in front of Shino. Naruto understood what this meant and turned his attention to his fellow chunin. They all watched as they took the forms of the Ame ninja.

"Akamaru, go and get Hinata." Naruto ordered. The puppy barked and trotted out of the room. Naruto turned back to Shino. "So, I was right about the Wagarashi family. They did hire a team. Those three I remember from the chunin exams." When the insects got to the adult, Naruto recognized him. Naruto went to his pack to grab something. He got it just as Hinata entered the room.

"Y-You called me?" Hinata asked. Naruto turned the pages of a book before finding who he was looking for.

"Rokusho Aoi, he's a nukenin (Rouge ninja) from Konoha." Naruto read.

"Wait, he's a nukenin? What for?" Kiba asked.

"He stole the Raijin no Ken (Lightning Sword), the weapon of the Nidaime Hokage (Second Fire Shadow)." Naruto said. That's when he felt something warm in his pocket. He pulled out a tag that was glowing. Realizing what this meant, Naruto did some hand seals.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu! (Summoning Technique)" Naruto called out and put his hand of the ground. In a puff of smoke, a small toad appeared.

"Hey Kosuke, did you get to Tsunade-baachan? (Grandmother)" Naruto asked.

"Oh yeah." Kosuke said and handed him a folder. Naruto opened the folder for everyone to see. What they read surprised them all.

XXX

Anko jumped into the streets with a cheer and her arms in the air. She was happy because she was finally done with her punishment. How was the important question due to her having two hundred D-rank missions? Anko would never tell but she was just happy for it to be over.

"You look happy." Anko turned toward the voice to see Kakashi. He had his team, two of them giving her the stink eye.

"Of course I'm happy. My punishment is over. I can get back to some real missions and to my team." Anko said.

"You shouldn't even be a ninja." Sasuke stated. "After what you did to me,"

"That will be enough genin." Kakashi commanded. Sasuke glared at Kakashi but the jonin glared right back. Sasuke scoffed but remained silent. Anko looked at Kakashi with some surprise.

"Wow, you've discipline him. Can you make him do tricks or beg?" Anko asked jokingly. Sasuke glared hard, his Sharingan active. Before he could do anything, a kunai was to his throat. Sasuke looked up to see Kakashi's Sharingan glaring at him. Sasuke deactivated his Sharingan making Kakashi cover his and removing his weapon. Kakashi then looked at his reading partner a look.

"Please don't antagonize him." Kakashi said.

"Fine, fine, I apologize. How about I make it up to you? First rounds are on me." Anko said. Kakashi nodded and motioned his team to walk. They walked toward the tower. Anko looked at the team, especially Sasuke. She turned her attention back to herself and walked off.

XXX

Naruto was learning against the mast. They were sailing but didn't know where. Idate decided to change course on them and ran east. They ran to a dock where a boat was waiting. Naruto wasn't happy but he did not argue. If it helped, it helped. He looked at Hinata who kept a look out.

"So, why did you keep that quiet guy back? He not as good?" Idate asked mockingly.

"Shino is a chunin, just like me. I had him stay back to help with the mission. Seeing that the Wagarashi family put out a hit on you, I had him stay back and gather evidence and learn some things." Naruto said. That got Idate attention as he looked at Naruto.

"Wait a minute, what are you talking about? What hit?" Idate asked

"Just like your boss, the Wagarashi hired a group of ninja but they aren't here to protect their runner. They are here to take you out, to make sure that you don't win." Naruto informed him.

"N-Naruto, a ship is coming." Hinata said. Idate looked over the bow to see a larger ship coming toward them.

"W-What, who is that?" Idate demanded.

"That would be the Ame-nin that were hired. They knew about your plan and were waiting for us." Naruto said. He turned to Kiba, Akamaru and Hinata. "Guys, get our stuff ready. I'll start setting up everything." The two nodded and went below deck. Naruto pulled out a brush and some ink. Idate was begin to freak out.

"What the hell are you doing? You have to do something about this!" he shouted.

"We are doing something." Naruto said, writing seals onto the boat. "I have no doubt that their leader is watching us from the island. Even if we escape his team, he will be waiting for us. Lucky for you, my clones tailed his underlings and I have dealt with them. We're about to change ships. So," Naruto stood up and turned to Idate, a serious expression on his face. "Why don't you tell me about Rokusho Aoi?"

"I-I don't know what you are talking about." Idate said nervously.

"Oh I think you do Morino Idate." Idate was surprised and fearful. He was looking for an escape but he knew that he would not get far with Naruto in front of him. "When we met, I sent word about you back to Konoha. Who knew that you were the one who help steal the Raijin no Ken. (Lightning Sword)"

"Look, you don't know the whole story." Idate tried to explain. That's when the ship came up alongside them. Naruto quickly grabbed Idate and pulled toward the bow.

"Good, you can explain it during the journey." Naruto said before tossing Idate over to the other ship. Kiba grabbed Akamaru and jumped across. Hinata followed and Naruto was the last one out. He did a seal that suddenly set the boat on fire. He made his way over to the three Ame-nin that were tied up to the mast. The boat began to sail away as the old boat burned. All three genin looked at the down Idate who was looking up at them.

"So Idate, how about that story?"

XXX

Kyuroku looked out at the port with a slimy smile. He couldn't wait. When his runner won, he would own all of this. He could do anything he wanted and that fool Jirocho could do nothing about. He always hated Jirocho for how he did business. He didn't act like any criminal. Criminals were not fair and did not help anyone else but themselves. To him, the Wasabi family was an embarrassment as a criminal family.

"Looking over your future empire?" A voice said. An old man with black eyebrows, short smooth ear length grey hair and slanted black-colored eyes. He also has a small grey circular moustache. He was wearing a small black cup-like hat on top of his head that is tied under his chin with a white-colored string. Kyuroku smirked at him.

"Minister Aruno, so glad you can come to see me. How is our plan going?" he asked.

"Not to worry. My men will keep an eye out. Even if your team can't complete the job, we will find something to disqualify Jirocho's brat." Aruno said.

"Good, it is good that I have you on my side." Kyuroku said. Unknown to them, a figure was in Kyuroku's office. He went through his drawers without making a sound. It did not take him look to find what he need as it was all out in the open. Taking what he needed, Shino dissolved into bugs and left without a trace.

XXX

Aoi arrived at the docks just as the ship came in. He counted himself lucky that he got here ahead of it. He was annoyed because of a feeling he got when he saw Idate's ship burn. He did not see any use of a jutsu or the fire arrows that was agreed upon. He quickly made his way on board and was surprised at what he saw. All three members were tied up and knocked out. He was trying to get a sense of everything when he heard some metal flying toward him. He rolled out of the way and threw off his robe. Naruto appeared to face him.

Naruto looked at the man in front of him. The dark blue and grey, sleeveless jumpsuit looked stupid on him. He watched as he pulled out a handle with no blade. Naruto recognized it and prepared himself.

"I'm going to be taking that back." Naruto said. This made Aoi scoff at him.

"I don't see how. By the vest, I can tell you're a new chunin. I'm a jonin and I wield the Raijin no Ken." Aoi said and activated the sword. The yellow blade glowed and lightning arced around it. Naruto narrowed his eyes at him before rushing forward. Aoi swung the sword in an arc but Naruto ducked under it. He swept at his feet but Aoi dodged it and brought the blade down. Naruto rolled out of the way, tossing shuriken. Aoi blocked them all and charged forward.

He slashed and stabbed at Naruto who dodged everything with ease. Naruto slipped into his guard and punched Aoi in the gut. It staggered him enough for Naruto to kick him across the bow. Naruto quickly did some hand seals.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique)" A fireball raced toward Aoi. Recovering, he cut the fireball in two. He then pulled out his umbrella. Throwing it into the air, he called out a jutsu of his own.

"Jouro Senbon! (Senbon Shower)" Hundreds of senbon rained down on Naruto and punctured him. Naruto was cover in senbon as Aoi walked up to him. "A nice attempt but like I said, you can't beat me." He boasted.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that. I hope you don't mind being trapped for a while." With that, Naruto dispelled in a puff of smoke, shocking Aoi. That's when he suddenly felt his body get hit with several volts of electricity. He frozen in place and wondered how he did not notice this. He was able to look down to see the sealing array all over the deck of the ship. Aoi growled and struggled to move his limbs. He stabbed the deck with the Raijin no Ken. The blade of lightning began to absorb the electricity and after a few moments, Aoi was able to move.

He dropped to a knee and tried to catch his breath. He couldn't believe that he got caught like that by a chunin. This did not sit well with him and he would get even with the brat. He waited a few minutes before making his move. It was time to hunt down some dead men.

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Authors' Notes

New Chapter! Enjoy!