First Mission: Bird Nation

A few minutes have passed since Naruto created his shelter for the privacy of Chishima, and the current Daimyo of the Land of Birds, Lady Toki. Whom almost everybody assumed was her older brother, Lord Sagi, who, along with his father, Lord Owashi, was murdered by High-Priest Moso. Moso however, was a cover, an imposter, he was in actuality a Ronin Shinobi, named Hōki, who had attempted to assassinate the current Daimyo so that as regent, he could take control of Bird Country. Once in power, Moso could use his position to hunt down, and find the person behind the entity known as the Cursed Warrior, but would have succeeded with the assassination, and would not have known it. It turned out the current Daimyo, whom everybody, including Chishima, his childhood best-friend, thought was Sagi, was in truth Toki, and also the Cursed Warrior.

After the assassination plot failed, largely due to Naruto's quick actions, Toki said some things to Chishima that were hurtful, for which Naruto rebuked Toki, still under the guise of Sagi, at least to everybody without the senses of a Fox and the ability to sense metals. Toki revealed her true self to everybody – the guards must have known of course, because they did not seem all that surprised – after some interrogation of the spirits of the assassins, which is how they found out about Moso's treachery. This was where Chishima, found out about his friend being dead this whole time, and not even being able to say good-bye. He added his own rebuke to Lady Toki, who had also been his friend, or so he thought. Chishima ran off even over the pleas of Lady Toki, his Feudal-Lord, disobeying his Daimyo for the first time in his life. She was frozen in disbelief for a few seconds, before another scathing rebuke from Naruto moved her into throwing her Daimyo dignity away and chasing after her last true friend in the world. Naruto followed after them after assuring her guards that he would keep her safe. He reached them in time to see Toki passionately kiss Chishima, who returned it almost immediately. Naruto hastily constructed a shelter to afford them some privacy, and was now, sitting on a log some yards away, resolutely ignoring the sounds coming from said enclosure.

While he was curious about such things, since he had never actually done anything like what he believed they were doing, he had a girlfriend sure, but it's been years since they had seen each other. Could he even really call her that anymore? Sure, they write, and declare their feelings for each other, but Naruto was beginning to wonder, if he still felt the same for her, or if he was, just going through the motions to spare her feelings; or his own? For that matter, what about Ayame-chan, was he being incredibly selfish, holding her back from dating, as she must surely be watching her peers go out on dates, listening to her friends talk about what they did with their boyfriends or girlfriends the night before, talking about love with stars in their eyes? I hope, she at least goes out with her friends, occasionally, he prayed, it's not like she can even talk about me, if the enmity of the Village toward me runs as strong as it always has, surely it would have transferred to the next generation. They probably said, I was the boogie-man or something, if they didn't do right the Demon-brat would come and eat them, or something to that nature. I wonder if they have any urban legends like Bloody Mary or Candyman, say my name so many times in front of a reflective surface and I will appear to devour you? Ayame-chan, if she's smart, would have to keep her association with Naruto platonic, or even act like the only association she had toward him, was an act of kindness.

Naruto heard footsteps, he turned to see Chishima and Toki walking up to him, from behind. He stood up, dusting himself off and approached the couple. He smiled as he notice their appearance, while their clothes were all in their proper place, there were grass-stains, and other evidence of their activities, all over them. Despite his early street upbringing, he spent the majority of his life in a loving family environment, they had taught him a few manners, Miu insisted upon it actually. So, he decided to ignore their appearance and focus on important things, "So what is the plan, I cannot turn against my current client, it goes against my nindō," Naruto told them, "and it might impact my ability to attract clients in the future?"

They all began to walk back to the lakeshore, "couldn't we just arrest Moso, and interrogate him," Chishima asked?

It was Toki, who answered, "unfortunately no, as my regent he is as much the Daimyo of the Land of Birds as I am, you'd need more proof than the word of three dead men. Plus, the explanation of my survival would severely dissolution the people of my fitness, as Daimyo," Toki informed her new boyfriend, "not that I would dispute them at this point. The whole time I've been Daimyo, I've been thinking of nothing but myself," Toki stated, leaning back against Chishima, grasping his hand, clearly still remembering the things she said to him, "that's not the type of Daimyo my father was, and Sagi was trying to rule the same way, to think of the people before himself."

"Give yourself a break, Lady Toki," Naruto stated, "you were not the intended Feudal-Lord of this land, it was supposed to be your brother…"

"No!" Toki interrupted him harshly, then more gently said, "no… thank you, Naruto-san. I won't allow anyone to remove my responsibility in this fiasco, whether I was intended to rule here or not, I attended the same lessons as my brother," she informed him, "and if my brother had decided not to take the throne for one reason or another, it could still have descended to me."

They reached the lakeshore, where the dead bodies still lay, Naruto moved over to them, and began searching the bodies. He removed their weapons and money-pouches, then using Earth jutsu, moved them over into the lake. He encapsulated them in the earth below the lake, their final resting place would be a watery grave at the bottom. He picked up their weapons, testing their blades, serviceable for the job they were intended for, Naruto nodded to himself, then he picked up the shuriken, these are the same quality, the tri-leaf design, seems to be simple but effective. There was a gasp from both citizens of Bird, that caught his attention, "do these weapons mean something to you two?"

They both nodded but it was Chishima that answered Naruto, "Yes, there are no ninja in the Land of Birds, but some of the guardsmen are receiving special training.'

"This is a weapon the guardsmen would use," Toki added, "but all of them are commanded by the tactician, Lord Komei. Could he also have been behind the plot to kill me," the Daimyo asked in fear?

"No, this is a classic double-blind scenario," Naruto told her immediately, "and would lay the groundwork for Moso to totally discredit Komei, even if you survived, which was a real possibility, using weapons and gear linked to Komei would implicate him in a coup. Now that we know this, we can pull off a coup of our own, against Hōki or Moso, whatever his name is," Naruto stated, "but first I need to complete my mission for the High-Priest, so I can help you, because this guy won't go down without a fight, and he's got a whole house full of people to back him up now. This will also allow you to make amends to the people of Bird, Lady Toki," Naruto stated seriously, "for your dereliction to them, if that is what you want?"

There was a determined look on the lady's face, and she asked, "what do you want me to do, Naruto-san?"

Naruto just smiled, "arrest Lord Komei."


Drafting the Strategist

The Daimyo called out his most loyal guardsmen, they laid the weapons of the dead assassins before them, showing evidence that Lord Komei, was responsible for the attempt on their Feudal-Lord's life. The guards that were present for the attempt were sequestered, to prevent them from letting slip, what the dead ninja told them, while politically they were loyal to the throne, not the individual sitting on it, everybody has personal loyalties.

Moso was present as an 'impartial' judge, Naruto and Chishima were there as material witnesses, giving the testimony Hōki expected. It was ironic really, they were telling the truth about what they saw, they just left out the parts about dead ninja coming back to life. Huan's lessons about a ninja's greatest tool, came true, 'the greatest deceivers and con-artists, never lie, they use the truth as a weapon, and in deception the truth becomes as sharp as a blade of grass. Just remember, the only people immune to deception, are the honest, and the humble, and those traits are seldom applied to ninja or those in power.'

Moso appeared to be giving the matter some due deliberation, "this is not enough to convict Komei," he decided, "any of his guardsmen, could have decided they did not wish to follow the current ruler of our nation, and tried to put their training to use. It was a good thing there was a better trained ninja nearby, to thwart the attack," he turned to the blood-haired ninja, "tell me, Naruto-san, what were you doing spying on our Daimyo like that?"

Naruto was expecting the question, and he used his original thought, before he learned of Moso's treachery, "it seemed logical, Moso-kōsō-sama, Chishima told me you were attacked by the Cursed Warrior, then the night before we arrived, there were rumors that Komei-teme was attacked as well. The Warrior, whoever or whatever it is, seems to be targeting top government officials, that only left Your Highness," he said with a head point to the Daimyo, "he was the only one left, who had not been visited. So, unless, he was the Cursed Warrior, trying to play both you and Komei-teme against each other and get you off his back," Naruto stated with derisive sarcasm, "or Lord Sagi was the next target. Turns out, I was right, I was just wrong about the type of attack." Then to get a few digs into his true enemy, Naruto chuckled, "these guys were amateurs and that's being generous, I didn't even have to employ anything but my most basic techniques to take them out. The only thing they had working for them, was their loyalty to who sent them," he added, gotta say something nice about them, "when I went to question them, they all committed suicide before I could touch them," Naruto could feel and smell, the ebb and flow of Hōki's emotions with his blood and sweat, Naruto's comments at first made Moso feel embarrassed, then proud, before finally turning down in disgrace, when Naruto finished with, "the only thing they were good at, was dying."

Hōki was better trained than those he sent to kill the Daimyo, in acting at least. He did not change his outward façade as a benevolent holy-man, "as I said, it was a good thing you were there, you have my thanks. Also, while this is only circumstantial evidence against him," Moso determined, pointing at the weapons of the assassins, "it is not enough to convict him, but it is enough to warrant a search of his estate, do you concur, Daimyo-Osama?"

After some apparent thought, Sagi nodded and said, "Yes, I concur," then pointing to Naruto added, "and I'm authorizing this shinobi, to lead the search, while I do not doubt my men, most of them trained under Komei. It would be cruel of me to send his own men after him," he stated, "and I try not to be cruel to those trying to protect me."

Later, outside of Lord Komei's residence, a contingent of guardsmen marched in formation up to the entrance. They blew upon a shrill whistle, announcing their presence to the occupants inside, Komei merely sat in his main house, meditating in zazen. Naruto with as many Shin Bunshin as guardsmen, fanned out and searched the house methodically, there was a Naruto with every royal guard. They found it in an attic, a set of white armor, with a sword, and halberd, it was shut into a chest, folded carefully the way any military man would take care of his equipment. They took the armor and made their way to Lord Komei, "Lord Komei, we've found a suit of white armor, hidden in your attic," the Naruto informed him, while laying the evidence before him, "in addition, there were a number of guardsmen shuriken found on your property. The Cursed Warrior incident, and the attempted assassination on Lord Sagi, were both orchestrated by one man, and you're our main suspect," Naruto told him solemnly, "by the power vested in me by Lord Moso, and the Feudal-Lord, I hereby place you under arrest. Please, come along peacefully," Naruto asked, "the Daimyo has asked me to take you alive if possible, he would be terribly upset, if I had to send you to meet Lord Owashi."

Komei opened his eyes, and quietly answered, "I have no choice." They bound Komei's upper-body with rope and led him away to the palace prison.

Later, in the palace prison, after an abridged interrogation session they placed Komei in a cell as far from the rest as possible. He had just settled into his cell, and the guards were called away, when, "I'm so sorry, Lord Komei." He turned and stepping out of the shadows of the cell, was the daughter of his Lord Owashi, at first, he actually thought she was a ghost, come back to haunt him, then his strategic, rational mind asserted itself.

"My Lady Toki," he said, bowing to his Daimyo, before narrowing his eyes in accusation, "so what was it that killed your brother, and who?"

"It was not me, if that is your suspicion," Toki answered, "it seems that my father welcomed his own killer into our nation, over some parlor tricks and illusions. He must've really been bored if he could have fallen for something like that so easily," Toki stated bitterly, then straightened her features, "but he was my father, and he was a great ruler, much like his son would've been if Lord Moso hadn't murdered him, the same way he did my father. All so he could become ruler of our nation," Toki told him, "he would've succeeded a third time in murdering members of this family, if he hadn't hired his own ninja to come and ferret out the true identity, of the Cursed Warrior."

"I am not the Cursed Warrior," Komei grated!

"I know," Lady Toki agreed, then continued with what she wanted to say to him, "I was there with my brother when he died, I was so distraught I almost took my own life, just to be with my family. Sagi's spirit stopped me, such was the power of our connection, that I briefly brought his soul back from the Pure Lands," Toki admitted, "it was there that I had the brilliant idea to take his place. I wanted my family back so much, that I willingly became one of them, the person I was closest too in the world," she screamed in rebuke to herself, she turned to launch her fist into the wall, again and again, "I became, Sagi-Onīsan, just to hide from everyone!" She felt someone grab her hand to stop her from hurting herself, she looked up to see Lord Komei holding her wrist like an injured bird, Toki smiled, "thank you, my Lord Komei, but you show your concern for me, when I don't deserve it. You see changing into my brother wasn't my only transgression, you see to further hide my pain from the world, I adopted a different persona. I knew my brother was murdered, I just didn't know by whom," she told him, "I suspected his two chief political rivals, the one who seemed determined to control every aspect of my brother's life, and the person who thought he was too young to assume the throne."

"You suspected me, and Moso," Komei came to his own conclusion, not sounding at all angry, but he was far from pleased, "I get suspecting Moso, he was a newcomer to our nation, these events didn't take place until shortly after he arrived, but why would you suspect me?"

"You did threaten to evict us, from the only home we've ever known," she told him, "when you were against my brother's ascension to the throne."

"What are you…" Komei started to ask, then he understood, "is that really what you and Sagi thought I'd do? You thought I'd take the throne and just kick you out," he dropped her arm feeling slighted, "by the Three, Lady Toki, that was never my intention. When I opposed your brother's claims to the throne it wasn't some cruel, power grab, it was my attempt to allow you and Lord Sagi, a chance to remain children for a little while longer!" Lord Komei began pacing the floor, then looking at his Daimyo, he declared his true intentions, "I would've adopted you and Sagi, made you my heirs, I don't have any children of my own, I would have continued grooming you and Sagi to one day take my place. How could you even assume I would be so cruel to you, or your brother," Komei demanded?

Toki just smiled, "perhaps it was how aggressively you were trying to take the throne, or the demeaning insults, you'd sometimes hurl in Sagi's direction. I don't know, but you never told us any of this, we're not mind readers, Komei-san," Toki answered, "you were just so mean to us, Sagi in particular, even though he was trying to rule the same way father did, you were so dismissive of his efforts. That's why I suspected you, and that is why… I became the Cursed Warrior," Toki confessed, "to see if I could scare you or Moso into confessing to the murders of my father and brother. I wanted revenge not justice, I was, and still am being selfish, and that's not how Father raised me and my brother," Toki was beginning to well up, "I am a disgrace to my family, and no longer fit to be Daimyo."

"What are you saying, Lady Toki," Komei demanded, though his underlying tone suspected the answer?

Toki began unbuttoning the Daimyo robes, under it, she was wearing a plain, off-white yukata, and plum-colored hakama, and geta sandals on her feet. She arranged the garments neatly, then knelt in seiza, before prostrating herself until her forehead rested on the ground. Her arms were outstretched to prevent as much of the garments from touching the ground as possible. "I, Toki, Daimyo no Tori no Kuni, hereby abdicate my position as Feudal-Lord, and beg Lord Komei, to take my place as soon as the current crisis for succession of the throne, has been permanently laid to rest," Toki pledged.

"I, Komei, accept the post of Daimyo of the Land of Birds, and I take into my household Lady Toki of Bird Nation, as my ward and successor," Komei replied.

"Lord Komei, no, if I become your successor," Lady Toki began, "it means I can't be with Chishima-kun, anymore."

Komei looked at her, then let out a huge bellowing laugh, "finally, you have realized your feelings for the young man," he was still chuckling, she looked bewildered, "trust me, all will be well, I assure you."


Code of a Ronin

While the Daimyo confessed her failings to Komei, Naruto was collecting his pay from Moso. "five-hundred…, six-hundred, seven-hundred-ryo, and it was well-earned, young-man," the priest stated with a good-natured laugh, "thank you for your help in this matter. You are a credit to your profession," Moso approved, "I hope, I hear more of your exploits in the future."

Naruto calmly, accepted his payment from the priest, "Thank you, Lord Moso, and I can practically guarantee it. I intend to establish a Code for all Ronin to follow, it won't guarantee huge paydays, but it will bring in more clients, which translates to a steadier cash flow." Chishima was kneeling next to him, beaming with joy that his gambit with Naruto paid-off, he got more than he wished for when he brought Naruto back here, Naruto stood up and got ready to go, "well, I've got to be going. My master always told me never to linger once the mission is over, just collect your money and leave."

Moso took on a speculative expression, "Naruto-san, I don't suppose I can convince you to stay on here indefinitely, the Land of Bird's could use a ninja of your strength?"

Naruto appeared to think it over, then regrettably shook his head, "thank you, but no, while it is an enticing offer, I want to gain a bit more experience on my own, before I find a permanent base of operations. I want to grow my reputation a bit," he concluded.

Moso looked at him solemnly, "I quite understand, you still have wandering feet and want to see more of the world before finding your place."

"That's probably more true than even I believe about myself," Naruto agreed, "well, I'd best be going now," he said, but as he turned, he pulled out his payment, and counted out two-hundred-ryo, placing it in Chishima's hands. "One shouldn't have to lose his life-savings to get justice for his friend," Naruto stated graciously, then immediately turned, opened the sliding door and jumped out, he was out of sight within two-seconds flat.

Chishima stared after the departed shinobi for a bit, but behind him, Moso looked sharply at a particular section of his garden. He gave a small flick of his hand, and two distortions seemed to separate from the background, following in the direction of the Ronin.

It did not take Naruto long to reach the border of the Land of Birds. It took him even less time to feel the two ninja following him, he topped out on a rise overlooking the entire valley of the lake. "I'm done here, I need to get to Flame, there might be a few shops that would hire a journeyman metalworker, I've got a lot to learn from my main chosen profession." He turned and began dashing along the path away from the Land of Birds.

Behind him, two distortions, separated themselves from a rock formation, "Do you believe he's really leaving, to go pound metal for a living, Nagare?" The one that spoke, had long sky blue hair, with his bangs going over the right side of his face, down to his chest area. He has big black-coloured eyes, wears a white, very, thin headband covered by his hair, and wears a beige-coloured, vest-like shirt, that goes down to his knees. He wears a purple-coloured shirt underneath it, a black sleeve on each lower arm area, and a thick black belt around his waist.

"It's possible, Hokushin," the one known as Nagare replied, he has small black eyes, and cheek length black hair, bangs down the middle of his forehead. He wore a beige-coloured, tunic, buttoned together with a single button, and a black collar. He wore black, lower arm sleeves, on each lower arm and a tan-coloured baggy pair of short pants, held up with a white belt.

"He worries me," Hokushin declared.

"If you want me to follow him, I will," Nagare offered?

"No," the long-haired man replied, "leave that to me. Go, report back."

"Hai," the other man nodded.

Hokushin leapt into the trees, after the running Ronin, while Nagare turned and headed back toward home. Hokushin hopped from tree to tree after his prey, after a while they came to a stand of trees. Naruto decided to stop to get a stone out of one of his boots. Hokushin studied the red-head intensely, a little too intensely, so focused was he that he did not sense a presence behind him. There was a steely-whisper, and Hokushin suddenly started to feel weak, his vision swam, and legs gave out, the last thing he ever saw was the ground rushing up to meet him. Such was the difference between a half-trained ninja, and a master trained ninja, not to mention a master of the soundless murder technique.

Back in Bird, in the house of Moso, the owner of the house was sipping tea, when Nagare's reflection appeared on the surface of said tea. "What do you have to report," Moso asked?

"The ninja we hired for this mission was seen crossing the border," Nagare said, "he said something about heading to Kaen, in Fire to look for work in a metalworker's shop."

"That's good," Moso judged, "and Lord Sagi's ordered Komei's execution by seppuku, that thorn in my side, standing in the way of us taking over this nation." He continued to drink his tea, "Very good, indeed," Hōki confirmed as Nagare vanished.

Exactly a week later, in the prison cell of Lord Komei, he knelt in zazen, praying and meditating to keep his emotions in check, from a long hallway, came several prison guards to the gate, "My Lord Komei," the captain called, he stated with deference, "it is time."

Out in the courtyard, which was a huge expanse of terrain, several people waited, including an audience of the people of Bird. There would be six guardsmen, plus Lord Moso, bearing witness to the end of Lord Komei, and another to act as his second, should his courage and honor fail him in the end. Komei entered the executioner's yard, with rope tied around his upper-body, his wrists bound in front of him, and a lead-line running from his hand to the arm of the lead escort. It seemed all of the official guards for Komei's execution, were from the same guard regiment that witnessed their Daimyo's near demise a week ago. The escort came to a mat, placed upon the ground, they forced Komei to kneel, and as soon as that was completed, Moso unrolled a scroll and began reading from it.

"A verdict has been reached, Lord Komei," Moso began solemnly, "for betraying your position as general of the armed forces of Tori no Kuni, you conspired in the assassination of our late Lord Owashi, as well as that of his daughter, Lady Toki, and the attempt on our Feudal-Lord, Lord Sagi. In addition, you manufactured the apparition known as the Cursed Warrior, to sow disorder among our people, these actions led to the dissatisfaction of our Lord Sagi's reign," Moso accused, "playing on the beliefs of our people that our late lord was displeased with his son's rule, so you could usurp his rightful rule over the Land of Birds." He turned a dispassionate eye, upon the condemned prisoner, "You… are a traitor, sir! Lord Komei, it is the decision of the Daimyo, to whom you have pledged your life, for you to take your own life, in ritual seppuku!"

Komei turned his head down to the earth, his eyes closed, then his body began to shake, it was weak at first, but gradually the trembling became more pronounced. At first, it was assumed he was trembling in fear, and several looks of disgust began cropping up in several faces among the crowd, they were wrong, it was not fear they saw, it was mirth. Komei began to burst out laughing, then amidst his humorous outburst, he began to speak in derision, "I was wondering how you were going to spin it, Moso-kōsō-san," he stated, "or is it, Hōki-ronin-san, of the Watari ninja?"

Komei watched as Moso's face became aghast, "how did you know," he let slip, before cupping his hands over his mouth?

The general of the Land of Birds just smiled, "it was Naruto Uzumaki-Namikaze, a few minutes ago, between my cell to this place. He knew, as soon as you made your attempt to assassinate our Daimyo, you see, he wasn't being entirely truthful, when he said your men never talked, after some… enhanced interrogation, which unfortunately went too far and ended up killing your subordinates," Komei shuddered theatrically for effect, "they told him all about your deceit, but once they were sent to the Pure Lands to meet the Three, they would not make the best of witnesses." Komei waved his hand to the guardsmen holding him, who had let him go as soon as he began talking, "not to mention just now, when you laid the murder of Lord Owashi and his daughter at my feet, I mean we were told by the embalmer that the cause of both deceased's demise was indeterminate, meaning unknown, unless of course you have a medical ninja, taught by the Slug Princess, herself. There are methods of poisoning, known only to ninja and are taught as basics in medical ninja training," Komei informed his political rival, "so unless you spent the last week performing an exhumation, then a secondary autopsy, where you found the injection sight for air-poisoning (embolism), in both Lord Owashi and Lord Sagi, which if you had, I'm surprised we never tripped over each other while doing it ourselves, or were the poisoner yourself, how would you know they were murdered?"

"Wait, Uzumaki-Namikaze-san, has been gone a week," Hōki stated, "so how could he have done all of this?"

There was a puff of smoke right next to the still in disguise, Lord Moso, "you shouldn't believe everything your subordinates tell you, it always pays to make sure of things yourself, Hōki-san." There were five more puffs of smoke all around Hōki, as five more Narutos made their presence known, they had been the guardsmen standing behind Hōki this whole time.

"Hokushin, Nagare," Hōki called out for help!

Two blurs appeared in the execution yard, they had the appearance of the two men he called out for, but then they puffed into nothingness, and in their place were their heads laying on the ground in the relative positions they were before. "They've been dead for a week, Hōki-san," Naruto informed him, "Nagare a little longer than Hokushin, by at least an hour, tops. Nagare put up the better fight, though," Naruto added…

Flashback

Nagare, after leaving his master's presence, headed to the same temple where sightings of the true Cursed Warrior seemed to occur the most. He stopped inside the courtyard to have a look around, maybe now that they were no longer hiding, they could really get to the bottom of who it is. Nagare suddenly felt a shiver run-down his spine, he turned to find the Cursed Warrior standing behind him. Looking at Nagare in accusation, "was it you," came the disembodied voice of the ghost, "did you murder me," it asked with a sigh?

Nagare for all his level-headedness, had one irrational quality that he never told anybody, he was afraid of ghosts, the supernatural in general. When he was a child, he would always shy away from dark spooky places, and never really grew out of that. Still, despite the fear racing through him, he did have courage, "What are you talking about," he demanded?

Then, a second voice began, "did you murder, my son," the voice asked, as a strong almost gale force wind came gusting out of nowhere, venting its fury on the man?

"Yes, alright, yes," Nagare shouted in fear, shielding his face and eyes, "it wasn't me personally, but we killed, Lord Sagi, and Owashi, we just wanted a place to live, we were tired of wandering all over the place, we wanted a place to call our own!" Suddenly the wind died, like Fujin-sama, just closed his bag of winds, Nagare heard the clomp of combat-boots racing at him from the front. He opened his eyes, just in time to get that boot, square in his face from a flying-kick, right between Nagare's eyes. The kick was powerful enough to send him back into a bolder, some thirty-yards away, across the entire length of the courtyard.

Naruto and Nagare charged each other, trading incidental blows to find holes in defenses, and to keep the other in sight at all times. They were clearly equal in throwing skill, as evidenced by the amount of throwing weapons that littered the floor. At least, that is what Naruto wanted Nagare to believe, he could have ended it quickly with his Hiraishin, but he did not want to let that or his flight capabilities become common knowledge, nor to rely on those abilities too much. Plus, each exchange was quite informative to him about his own taijutsu skill, this was a real fight, not just a spar. They had one particularly fierce kunai exchange which sent them both skidding back on their heels, generating distance.

"I thought it was customary for you ninja for hire to leave after a mission was complete," Nagare challenged, "and weren't you spouting some nonsense about not turning against your own client? Where is your honor now, boy," he spat?

"I am working for my client, the Daimyo of Birds," Naruto answered, "once I collected my pay from your leader, I was no longer his ninja. That's when the contract with my new client began," he explained, "so you see my honor and integrity as a Ronin is quite intact. That's more than you can say, wandering ninja," it was Naruto's turn to spit this time, "did it ever occur to your group that if you had come to Lord Owashi from the beginning, that he might have taken you in," Naruto asked rhetorically, "you could've found a home here, if that is what you really wanted? A Feudal-Lord from a small country like Tori, would welcome new additions to his defense force," Naruto explained, "but you didn't want to find a home, not really, you wanted to be in charge, not supplicants to someone else's will, and for that you murdered, or nearly so, an entire family."

"You stuck your nose into something that's none of your business," Nagare growled, "if you'd only continued on your way, you might have lived long enough to get a girlfriend."

"I have one, thank you very much," Naruto bragged, despite his misgivings about that relationship, "and what makes you think you're going to win this fight?"

Nagare backed up into the boulder from earlier, "because I've been taking it easy on you, Runt-san! Universal Assimilation jutsu!" Nagare said that as he charged, Naruto thumbed Tokichi open, and set himself, at the right possible moment, his battojutsu and iaijutsu clicked into place and faster than the eye could follow, he drew-cut-spun, and ended the maneuver with a downward slash along Nagare's back. He looked to assess the damage he had done and found his enemy, unblemished. Naruto went back through his memories and remembered the feel as he made his strike and noticed that his blade reacted to Nagare's flesh, the way it might react if he tried cutting a rock. Then, going back further, he remembered Nagare activating a ninjutsu…

"Aw, that makes sense with the way my blade reacted," quickly glancing at his sword, noting it to be undamaged, now I know, this is truly my finest masterpiece, in metallurgy, he glanced at Nagare, who was looking at his own side, there was some actual damage to his body, but it was equivalent to what one may get, if they were attacked by a housecat. It hurts, but it is far from debilitating. Naruto returned his blade to its scabbard, it would take too long to kill him with that, "time for round two," he said quietly.

Nagare turned, he was quite angry, "now, you pay," he shouted, "Assimilation: Rock Tank!" Nagare suddenly, turned himself into a spinning boulder, and began advancing quickly toward his enemy.

Naruto's eyes shined with delight, "Awesome, I love this game!" Naruto pointed off into the distance, then began his own charge toward the advancing sphere, "we're going downtown," he shouted to nobody in particular, as just before impact he brought his back leg forward, "PUNT-KICK," he shouted as he connected with his foot! If it had been made of anything else but porous stone, he might have sent it to the moon with the full might of his monstrous strength, instead it just shattered into shrapnel.

Naruto was grinning, thinking it was over, and about to walk away, when he heard, "Assimilation: Rock Shower!" The pieces of rock laying around him, began flying off the ground, directly at the blood-haired ninja. Naruto brought his arms up to prevent serious harm from coming to him, he would not have been killed, but it still hurt like a bitch. The rocks formed themselves into the shape of Nagare, and began monologuing, "We are nomadic shinobi, wandering from village to village, stealing jutsu and adapting them for our own purpose…"

Naruto raised a hand, the shinobi stopped talking with an 'Erk,' "Oh, shut-up," Naruto snapped, "I'm far from hurt, I was just surprised is all," he told him, "you've made yourself like stone, that was not a good choice, when you face not only a master of Earth and of Fire, but also of Lava." Nagare's eyes suddenly bulged, and he began to shake, like there was an earthquake going inside his body. The Nagare-quake culminated when the head shot straight up, with the mouth open and a fountain of lava came spewing out of his mouth like he was a volcano. Naruto made him drown in his own lava, then drawing Raijin no ken, he ejected the metallic blade, sent scorch-chakra into the blade, a blade of pure, white fire extended itself to the proper length for a young man his size. Naruto did all this in the span of milliseconds, all while turning a perfect 360-degrees, so fast, it left an afterimage in a perfect circle, that did not dissipate for several seconds.

Extending another blade from the hilt, Naruto slowly, methodically brought his family heirloom to the sheathe on his back, as soon as it clicked home, the Nagare in front of him crumbled to pieces starting with its head, and the true-Nagare's head, tumbled off his shoulders. Both Nagares were antipodal to each other, at a 180-degree interval from each other, "it's not good to try using misdirection with me, sir, especially with a clone, that's my favorite tactic."

Flashback End

Naruto finished informing Hōki of one of his subordinate's deaths, then turned-back to the condemned prisoner, with a grim smile. He reached and ripped the Moso disguise off the Ronin. Hōki was a man with fair skin, short, and low-faded black hair. He wore face paint, a sleeveless purple kimono, with thick white lining, and thin purple lines, mesh armour underneath that, black gloves and ninja sandals. The two Ronin looked at each other, one looking for mercy and not finding any, when that failed, he looked for naïveté, and while there, it had nothing to do with kindness. Finally, he tried his last ace in the hole, "MEN, help… me," a metal spike made of the iron in his blood, pushed itself from where the heart in his chest lay.

"Your allies, are no longer available to you," at Hōki's widened eyes, Naruto shook his head, "no, not that, I only kill if I have to, what I mean by no longer available. They have been offered amnesty, and a home here in Tori," Naruto explained, "it seemed all they really cared about was finding a home of their own. Unlike you, and those other two, they don't care who's in charge, they just want a place to belong," Naruto told him, "any who surrendered, and allowed themselves to be taken, will become citizens of Bird, as a part of the defense force." Hōki looked at the Ronin, and actually smiled in gratitude before succumbing to Shinigami's grip.

Finding a Gem

In the weeks that followed, Komei was raised to the status of Daimyo, but adopted Lady Toki as his heir. As loathe as she was to do it, she knew her duty was to her people first, even if she had to let go of her love for Chishima. That however was not what happened, it seems Chishima, unbeknownst even to him, was the nephew of Naruto's own Daimyo in Fire Nation. He was brought to Bird by his uncle when he was just a year old, it was so he could grow-up away from the politics of court, and to increase relations between the small nation and the large one. When Naruto heard that, he immediately, dispatched a letter to his old home, specifically to the Flame-monk, Susumu Kōetsuji about a new potential ninja-monk protégé. Naruto's brother, arrived within a day to assess Chishima and found him to be an exceptional candidate for indoctrination into the ninja-monk arts. He found him to have exceptional gifts in Fire and Wind-chakra.

Naruto's payment for his service to Bird and the royal family, was the property of the late Moso, but since he would rarely be present to live there, offered it to Susumu and Chishima while they trained together. He left a Shin Bunshin to take care of the place, his room and the common areas, the other two living there would see to their own areas. Long story, short, since Chishima was royalty, albeit from another nation, he was of sufficient status to maintain his relationship with Toki-chan, as she insisted Naruto call her from now on, at least in private. Naruto departed Bird, about three-weeks after tying up loose-ends, which was how he found himself, walking along the bank of a branch of the Naza River. It was down-stream from Konoha, which was when he felt a compulsion, like a magnetic-force pulling him along a particular path, that eventually led him to a small shoal along the river bank.

Naruto pushed back some of the brush and discovered a skeleton. From what he saw, he knew the bones were of a male human, the garments were still somewhat intact, with a high-collared, dark-coloured outfit along with a tantō strapped to the right shoulder, by a harness which ran across his chest and fastened over both his shoulders. Naruto approached the bones cautiously, he saw the Hidden Leaf headband, down around its neck, as irrational as it was, Naruto felt he should know to whom this set of bones belonged. There seemed to be a tremendous amount of trauma around the eye sockets, the left side in particular looked like it had been mauled by an animal, the other only gently effected. Naruto moved closer, until he was touching the bones, when he did, there seemed to be a resonance between Naruto's flesh and the bones. His chakra, seemed to react strangely by gathering in Naruto's eyes, when it passed, he felt like he was seeing the world through a whole new pair of eyes. Moving over to a pool of standing water he looked into it, and the image looking back at him, had his face, hair-color, shape, and everything, except instead of his normal violet-colored eyes, a pair of scarlet-red eyes, with a single tomoe in each of them stared back at him.

Frantically moving back to the skeleton, he turned it over; on the back of the shirt as plain as the nose on his face, was the stylized picture of a fan, it was one of the most recognized family crests in Konohagakure no Sato, and the symbol of the Konoha Military Police Force. "Son of a bitch, now I've gotta go home," Naruto fumed, "Konoha, here I come."