Chapter Thirty Two
Welcome back to Son Of Two Heros!
Blandusername: I'm so happy you looked at my story! I'm pretty sure one of the first fanfiction I ever read was yours. I believe that it was either Namikaze Naruto, or Path of a Legend. You're amazing! And you're a huge inspiration for me to even think about writing my own stuff! Anyway, I'm super happy to have you review this! You made a lot of great points, and I see plenty of room for me to improve! This is my first fic, and to have someone like you who has a lot of my respect critique me is great.
Honestly you made a lot of sense with Naruto being more Minato than he is himself. I plan to try and really separate them in future chapters. I feel like my Naruto does border on a bit of a darker personality than Minato sometimes though.
On the factor of OC's I always knew from the start Rikka would get pregnant during the war. Honestly I chose an OC love interest because I didn't want to worry about having to feel the need to scale the power of Sakura, Hinata, or any original female from the show to keep up with Naruto. I feel no problem with keeping Rikka out of the spotlight when I need to and that's why I created her if that makes sense.
Honestly I can say one hundred percent of my pacing issue was me wanting to get to the pain arc and my war arc. It's where I feel I have actual creative freedom. I have a bad habit of focusing solely on Naruto, because while I know the others have stories going on at the same time, I honestly don't really want to write about them. Maybe you have tips?
I agree with you on my action scenes. I'm still trying to figure out how to write those in a way I feel makes sense. It's hard to convey what I see in my head ya know? Notice how I haven't really had him fight anyone but jinchuriki's? That's the only way I see to cause any tension here. I think I have it covered for future chapters. Anyway, thank you so much for your review!
Hawk2010 and DbzpreteenGohanfan87: thank you both for your long reviews! I enjoy reading them quite a bit! I'm glad to have the both of you following my story, and hope you stay until the very end.
DbzpreteenGohanfan87: I can confirm that Naruto is capable of using Flying Raijin Guiding Thunder. You suggested it yes, but I intended on it's use from the beginning. You're very good at picking out some of my plans before I actually reveal them!
Hawk2010: The jutsu of Minato's that geezer toad spoke of was indeed the Flying Raijin. Also, that's fair on your disagreement with my reasoning for him not being able to use Sage mode. Unfortunately it was the best I could come up with, and it is imperative that for later events in the story that I keep Naruto from being overpowered any more than he already is. Flying Raijin is extremely OP imo. Sometimes it's actually hard to write fight scenes because of it.
Carlos619: you made fair points in your review on chapter 30. Im saddened you are no longer going to follow the story, but it is my first fanfic. Anyway maybe one day you'll give SOTH another chance. Lock the door on your way out my good sir.
MIKE202303: Fair question. A) Han was a personal vendetta for Naruto. So he had no quarrel killing the man. B) Naruto almost killed Roshi… however Roshi and Han were fighting him almost to a stand still at the time. C) The main difference was that Naruto had Yugito outclassed during the entire fight. She honestly had no chance, and he knew he didn't exactly need to kill her. Thanks for reviewing!
Flying Raijin: I'm honestly annoyed with your comment. Not enough to upset me in any way, but you and I both know your comment has no basis. The difference between the Raijin marker and a seal containing a tailed beast is immense. My single example will be this; If you snap the blade off the handle of Naruto's kunai, he's only going to be able to teleport to the handle that has the marker. Not the blade. I understand what you were trying to say, but it was a bad comparison. Anyway I still thank you for your review, and hope you stick with my tale.
Most Bodacious: You're kinda right. Honestly when I reread this last chapter I also feel it seems a bit forced. If I rewrite this ever I will get rid of the part where he takes prisoners before. However; I do have a small counter argument. A jinchuriki is essentially like a nuke in a way. It's why Rin chose to kill herself instead of letting Kakashi take her back to the village.
So let's say you're Naruto. You've just sealed a Jinchuriki's chakra. I never specified if the seal was permanent or not, which I should have. But either way, you're sitting there with what you're fairly sure is a disarmed nuclear device. The last thing you'd want to do is bring it home. But you still made a valid argument. Thank you for your review and I hope you stick with my story.
Zabyne: Thank you for reading! I'm doing my best, as this is my first fic. I hope you'll stay with it as I get further into my war arc. You mentioned the whole Kushina Mikoto revival. And honestly I'm likely to one day rewrite that chapter and I think I may cut that and find a way to make that entire fight more believable. It's something that has bothered me since I wrote it. Please continue to read and review! Casual and constructive criticism is always welcome!
Anyways! It's time to continue with the story. I'm super super sorry this chapter took so long. I struggled to write it and I hope y'all like it. I hit some brick walls with my plot and had to think about some things. This chapter actually got almost finished before I scrapped it and started over. I hope it's not terrible. I don't own Naruto, Kishimoto does.
The sounds of battle and the smell of blood filled the ruins of the destroyed fort. Naruto found himself and his platoon now defending the ground instead of assaulting it. They were currently fighting tooth and nail, outnumbered ten to one. During their assault on Kumogakure's Typhoon Fortress, the last few Kumo shinobi had managed to activate a self destruct system that had been built into the Fortress to prepare for an attack. This had been done in direct response to the destruction of the Storm Fortress.
The explosions that had ripped apart the fort caught many of the Konoha shinobi in the blast, leaving the group with more incapacitated nin than combat capable ones. As they tended to their wounded, and prepared to move, Naruto had suddenly ordered them all to dig in. The sensor had caught wind of the rapidly encroaching enemy, and their force was large.
Now the battlefield saw Yuta, Mikazuki, Kenji, and Juzo standing tall in defense of their comrades over half the fort. On the other half Naruto, Kiba, Neji, and Suigetsu held their own. Tenzo meanwhile, had been sent back to the cove before the attack, and likely had no idea what was occurring.
"Naruto! I don't know how long we can keep this up!" Yelled out Kiba.
"I know, just hang in there!" The blond called back. He showed no fear or worry to his comrades or enemy, but his mind was racing. They were trapped behind enemy lines. Most of his nin were wounded, and moving as a group would be impossible. There were few options left for the jounin.
Miraculously, the fighting soon died down and the Kumo nin pulled back slightly, giving the Konoha shinobi a small reprieve. Naruto knew however; that this was no miracle. He felt the strong chakra signatures of a new group of enemy shinobi arriving on the battlefield.
Something else worried the man as well. When the chakra signatures arrived, he quickly felt each of his marked kunai suddenly disappear off the battlefield. Unbeknownst to Naruto, the new arrivals had blasted high amounts of electrical current into each of the kunai, enough to cause the metal blades to explode into fragments, ripping apart the sealing formula they held, and rendering them useless.
A few minutes passed, and finally he noticed the strongest two chakra signatures moving close to the fort. "Yellow Flash! Come out and speak!" Called out a tough voice. They obviously wanted to have a chat, and Naruto knew not indulging their desire would spark a new assault.
Slowly, the blond hero stood from his cover, waiting for any sign of attack. When he found no ambush, he stepped out slightly, to get eyes on the newcomers. At the same time his eyes grabbed hold of his enemy, he felt Suigetsu take place by his side. When the "ex" Kirigakure shinobi caught sight of the two who had called for Naruto, he muttered three words. "Oh fuck me."
Naruto didn't give Suigetsu a response, instead choosing to answer to his opponents. "What can I do for you…?" He asked, while also implying an inquiry as to what their names were. Of the newcomers, their were about twenty large and strong chakra signatures, with the two before him being the strongest of the group. He took in the appearance of the two tall men and their strangely wild but familiar look. The people they seemed to resemble were long dead however; confusing the blond slightly.
"I am Jinkaku." Spoke the first man, who had large long headdress styled gold hair.
"And I am Minkaku." Spoke the second, who had the same hair, but it was silver. "Honestly you don't stand a chance. Surrender now, and your deaths will be painless. A few of you can live if you are compliant and give us intel on your village."
Naruto stared back at the men, seeing the whisker marks all three of them mutually shared. "Let us think on it?" He asked, hoping against all odds for a possibility to stall for time.
"Heh, damn tree hugging bitches. You have exactly three minutes, don't think we're stupid enough to allow you time to recover." It seemed to Naruto that the enemy was a bit overconfident, but they did have the overwhelming advantage. Naruto was already pressed for chakra, and knew that if he wanted to keep the shinobi under his command alive he couldn't leave them undefended for a second. (Say hello to that plot armor!)
He returned to cover with Suigetsu, who immediately got his attention. "Namikaze."
"Yes?"
"Do you know who these guys are?"
"They seem to be descendants of the Gold and Silver brothers responsible for killing the Second Hokage."
"More than that. I recently got intel on this situation, our Kage shared it with yours, but I thought you'd have known about it. Not only are they pretty much the second coming of the Gold and Silver Brothers, but they lead what Kumo is calling the Second Kinkaku Force. They're dangerous Naruto. Extremely so." The swordsman said.
An almost sad look gathered on the blond's face before he sighed."Suigetsu... gather everyone in the center."
"What? Why?"
"Just do it. We don't have time."
Quietly and in seconds, Naruto's small force had been gathered in the center of the fort. They only had about thirty seconds before the enemy would attack if Naruto did not show himself again. He ordered his soldiers to gather tightly together in a circle, and before any could ask why, he gave them all a look that made them immediately comply. All of the shinobi except for Naruto stood in a circle, all very confused. They were surrounded by six of Naruto's kunai, He weaved through hand seals quickly and quietly while staring at the ground. As he finished, he clenched his teeth hard, before raising his eyes to meet Yuta's, who stood closest to him. "Yuta."
At this moment, the other jounin and the combat capable shinobi beside him realized exactly what the blond had planned. "Get them back to the village safely. I'll catch up soon. Also, that's an order." The blond said with a soft smile and stressing the last word.
Kiba's eyes widened, and he called out while jumping forward, Juzo and Neji following suit. "Like hell!"
"Flying Raijin: Final Retreat." Naruto said quietly. A bright flash filled the interior of the wrecked fort's walls, grabbing the attention of the surrounding enemies.
Tenzo stood roughly a mile from the cove, waiting patiently for anyone from his team. He was concerned something may have gone terribly wrong, when he heard a snap come from the direction of the fort his group had set out to attack. They trailed out of the forest, carrying each other and helping the wounded who could stand walk. They looked bruised, battered, and half dead. But the wood user caught onto something else, they looked sad.
Tenzo stared as his entire platoon minus four appeared before him. They seemed to be as confused as he was. "What happened?"
Yuta walked at the front of the group, and raised his eyes to meet Tenzo's. "We lost." The man sat down by a tree, and drew a flask from an extra pouch he kept on himself. He took a long drink from it before beginning to explain the situation to the ANBU.
"God damnit Kiba!" Naruto yelled. "You weren't supposed to stay." As he yelled he dodged strikes from the strong shinobi that were currently facing him and the others.
"You're not the only one who refuses to abandon his friends idiot! You're lucky I picked up on your stupid plan." The animalistic shinobi called back. As soon as he finished, he launched into a fang over fang attack alongside Akamaru.
Naruto had used a jutsu based off of the Flying Raijin: Guiding Thunder technique. It was used to transport a large group of people a long distance away. Unfortunately, the farthest kunai away from the fort where they had been, was still within range of any decent sensor in the Kumo group. He'd known if he hadn't stayed as bait, they enemy would have immediately went after the retreating Konoha shinobi.
"The whole goal was to get you out safely!" The blond yelled back, throwing a kunai at Jinkaku. The Kumo nin easily shot the incoming thrown projectile with a bolt from the lightning pistol jutsu, exploding the metal into fragments. On orders from the Kinkaku Force, the rest of the Kumo shinobi that had been participating were told to retreat to a safe distance so the Kinkaku Force could go all out. All of the ninja in the special force were strong in their own right.
"Focus Namikaze! Or we'll kill you here!" Jinkaku yelled jumping forward at him. While more of the Kinkaku force engaged Kiba, Juzo, and Neji, the second of the two brothers also charged at Naruto. Naruto's eyes shot wide as he felt a familiar chakra emerge from the pair, and he voiced his surprise in a simple question.
"How the fuck do you have the Nine Tails' chakra!?" He was forced to backpedal as massive bolts of electricity burst from the ground around him. The two men had immense skill with lightning style, enough to send it through nonconductive material. The pair seemed to have endless amounts of fun fighting the Second Yellow Flash, and each had a permanent smile on their face.
The brothers developed a version one Nine Tails' cloak around them and laughed. "There was a surprisingly interesting boy who originated from the Fire Temple that fell into our hands. Someone had sealed residual chakra from the attack on your village in the boy, and let's just say we made use of him!"
Seconds later found Naruto and the brothers dueling it out in an extremely fast paced fight. Naruto was forced into a situation where they wouldn't even let him let go of his kunai, meaning the blond had limited use of his Flying Raijin.
However; this did not mean the Shinobi was out of his element. His natural speed equaled their own, even with the Nine Tails' cloak. When Naruto combined his speed with his skilled use of the body flicker though, the brothers almost completely lost their advantage.
As the blond parried blows, and landed his own strikes, he sensed something that nearly terrified him. He realized that Kiba, Juzo, and Neji were neigh at their limits, but something else struck fear for the lives of his comrades into his heart. "Juzo! Duck!"
Had he not flashed to the radio nin to push him down along with the shinobi's own dodge. His head would have been ripped off by the Raikage's Lariat. He was too late however, to stop Bee from taking off Neji's arm with a sword. "Neji!" Naruto shouted as he watched the blood and the severed limb fly through the air.
He sped to the side of his injured comrade, pulling the man away from the enemy. He set Neji beside Juzo, and was forced to flash away to stop Kiba from being destroyed by the Gold and Silver Brothers. Naruto forgot Kiba's loyal companion in his rush, and the canine user was forced to watch as the enemy fried the poor animal nearly to death before Naruto interfered.
Once again arriving by his comrades sides, he lay the dog beside Kiba. The animals breath was shaky and labored but he lived. Naruto realized he was the only thing between his comrades and their deaths, so he began forming the hand seals for the Final Retreat jutsu again.
The Konoha shinobi's actions were halted when a massive tentacle slammed down where he stood. He spun around, glancing a blow from Minkaku off his arm, before having to block Jinkaku with his leg. Their blows had large amounts of power behind them, but he took them in stride. The Second Yellow Flash of Konoha was no match for four opponents however, and took a devastating blow to the chest from Jinkaku while dodging. He'd essentially flashed to the kunai in his pouch, allowing him to move about a foot to the right to escape Ay and Bee's Double Lariat. He'd avoided their attack, but put himself in prime position for Jinkaku to make contact. Naruto was sure he'd felt multiple ribs crack, and at least one snap.
He impacted a tree, quickly forcing himself back to his feet. With haste, he formed three shadow clones, who immediately jumped forward at the brothers. Once again, Ay came at him, and Naruto quickly drew multiple kunai from his pouch. He launched them at his enemies, some being destroyed by the brothers. Ay drew near, knowing how Naruto's jutsu worked after his skirmishes with Minato. He watched closely, knowing that the blond would likely be just as fast as his predecessor. However; they hadn't noticed the blond had drawn them away from his comrades, and when the man disappeared it wasn't to attack.
He flashed beside his friends, and clenched his teeth at his sudden revelation. He'd successfully lead the strongest enemies away, but left his friends wide open to the rest of the Kinkaku Force. Four of them stood between him and his friends, and he watched as Kiba desperately tried to keep two nin away from Juzo and Neji. "You're in the way!" He yelled launching forward at the nin that stood in his path. He killed all of them without a second thought, forcing his way through the enemy to help Kiba.
The jinchuriki blew past Juzo, who was crouched down in pain and exhaustion. He buried his blades in the vitals of the Kumo shinobi, successfully freeing Kiba from his struggle. As Naruto let out a sigh of relief, he spun around to stop the incoming enemy, who'd already cut through his clones, only to be greeted with a horrible sight and a sickening wet stabbing sound. He was shocked as he watched Juzo's head roll on the ground, and growled at the sight of eight different swords being buried in Neji's chest.
Another sound ripped away his concentration, and he turned his head to see Jinkaku and Minkaku running Kiba through with lightning coated serrated swords. The feral man let out a choked scream as the blades ripped through him, and blood burst forth from his mouth. The wounded animal on the ground looked with pleading eyes and whined as it watched its master die. Kiba reached for the white dog as he fell to the ground, and gave his loyal companion one last smile as he died.
The surviving Konoha shinobi was ripped away from his shock when he felt Bee close in on him, he side stepped at the last second, managing to avoid fatal damage from his enemy. A blade cut through the side of his chest, deep enough to heavily wound the blond. In his shock his sensor ability had nearly shut down, and had he not managed to reign in his composure slightly, Bee might have killed him. Naruto ignored the growing pain, and leapt back to his only surviving comrade. He scooped up Akamaru into his arms while throwing a kunai to the trees before he flashed away with the dog in tow.
He leveled a glare at his enemy while he comforted the wounded canine. They stared him down, knowing that chasing him would be a fruitless effort. "Jinkaku! Minkaku! Take the Kinkaku Force and find the rest… leave no survivors." Said the Raikage before turning to his brother. "Bee. Stay here Incase this one decides to come back." He said pointing to Naruto. "I must return to the village."
"Of course bro! If that's what you say.. sooo!" Replied the… eccentric shinobi. (Oh my god I apologize I cannot even think of how to write his speech!) The jinchuriki sat down, and the Kage turned to face the Namikaze once again.
"If you were anyone else, you would not have survived coming into my country."
Naruto leveled a glare at the hulking man in return, before he turned around and launched a kunai far away into the surrounding area. He proceeded to throw and flash to kunai repeatedly, putting large distance between himself and the enemy.
Soon enough, the blond hunkered down as night began to fall. He tended to the wounds of himself and Akamaru. As he worked, the dog weakly whined, pain constantly coursed through its body, but the pain of losing his master was far worse. "I know boy…. I miss Kiba too." He patted the dogs head lightly, and look directly into the animal's eyes. "Akamaru… I'm sorry I couldn't save Kiba." The large canine whimpered quietly in response, before lightly licking the face of the prodigy. Naruto formed a few shadow clones, and he and the dog curled up together to sleep.
"It's been a over six hours Yuta, we haven't seen those four anywhere. Not to mention the other two we lost on the way back. We should go search for them!" Said one of Kiba's cousins.
"I'd like to say yes… but Naruto gave a strict order."
"I'll go, I can handle it." Spoke up Tenzo.
"No you will come too, you're the only one that can quickly repair the boa-." He was cut off when Tenzo created a massive shield above them with his Wood Style. A distinct chorus of hundreds of kunai hitting wood rang out, and the Konoha shinobi were forced into a new fight. They'd been lucky the Kinkaku Force strangely had no sensor nin (Naruto had actually killed the two who filled that role in the Kinkaku Force.) but unfortunately that didn't mean they couldn't track.
Suigetsu fought against one of the newly arrived pseudo-jinchuriki along with Kenji, while Tenzo and Yuta took on the other. As the battle began to involve the still wounded shinobi and the rest of the Kinkaku force, Tenzo began to take control of the situation. While the Gold and Silver Brothers were fearsome opponents, Tenzo was likely one of their worst match ups.
The ANBU's skills played a gigantic role in their survival, but he wasn't enough to overpower the duo of brothers. All the Konoha shinobi could do was fight a slow losing battle while on retreat.
Hours before the battle that would take place between the Kinkaku Force and Naruto's platoon, dawn had come and Naruto walked slowly through the trees. The Nine Tails had done a tremendous job at healing his wounds, but he was still exhausted. He hadn't been able to sleep, and he'd torn open his field stitches in his tossing and turning, forcing the jinchuriki's healing process to restart. After all the fighting, he had burned quite a bit of chakra, and still favored his side. Not to mention, carrying Akamaru in his wounded state helped nothing. The large animal had struggled to keep up, so Naruto had taken it upon himself to carry his new charge.
At the very least, Naruto intended to return Akamaru to the Inuzuka, and personally apologize for his failure to protect Kiba, and his failure to retrieve his body. Well, at least he considered it a failure. He'd sent about ten clones to attempt to retrieve the bodies of his fallen comrades, but if the enemy jinchuriki still stood guard over the fallen fort… they likely wouldn't have the opportunity to seal away the bodies. Considering it was well known that Bee was a perfect jinchuriki, shadow clones could only do so much against a tailed beast. The possibility also arose that the Raikage may have returned. He figured he'd find out soon enough.
He was currently moving to where he could feel the chakra of two of his jounin. They must have been separated from the group. There seemed to be the chakra signatures of three civilians as well, but something was off… they felt.. distressed? The blond quickened his pace, moving toward where his fellow nin where. He arrived shortly, and found a small farmhouse. He heard commotion coming from the building, and cautiously made his way forward.
"Let her go!" Came a shout, undoubtedly from a female civilian with a Lightning Country accent.
"Sit back down you fuckin cloud worshiper!" Yelled another voice, one he recognized as one of his shinobi.
More sounds of a struggle were heard, and the next two noise put Naruto into action. A scream of pure desperate fear rang out from a woman, and the words of the other man in the house rang out. "Hold still you fuckin weasel!"
Naruto launched a kunai straight through the kitchen window, and swiftly set Akamaru down. In a flash, he appeared in the home, and with a quick body flicker found himself behind one of his nin, holding his blade to his comrades throat. "Just what the hell do you think you are doing?" He questioned forcing the man off of the young woman.
In the other corner of the house, he saw what was likely the father and mother. The father lay bleeding on the floor, and the mother shook in the corner. "Com-Commander?" The other shinobi asked nervously with his hands up. The blond jounin launched a kunai that wizzed right past the man's head and stuck into the wall behind him in response. The Konoha shinobi wisely shut his mouth.
"Don't make me ask again Karru." Naruto said, venom in his voice.
"S-sir.. we, we were just investigating this house an-and… and… that guy just came at us." The man spoke, filled with fear.
"I didn't tell you to lie to me Karru." Said Naruto. With blurred speed, he flipped his kunai around and rammed the butt of his kunai into the man's temple. Just hard enough to knock him down and scramble his brain, but not enough to make him unconscious. He wasn't done with him yet.
The other man actually had the nerve to attempt to draw a kunai on him, but before he could get it out of his pocket, Naruto sent the man to the floor. He walked to the other, and grabbed him by the shirt. He lifted the shinobi up so that he could look him in the eye. "If it wasn't for the fact that it's not my call to make… I'd kill you right now you son of a bitch." When he finished, he rammed his forehead into the man's face, knocking him out cold. He gave the other man a harsh kick to the head to make sure he was unconscious, and sealed their chakra up tight.
He turned his attention to the young woman on the floor, whose skirt had been pushed up, and her shirt was ripped apart. He unsealed a jacket from his scroll, and held it out to her. "Here. You should cover yourself." She flinched away from him, but he just continued to hold it out and look away. Eventually she took the coat.
He turned to the mother, who had pulled a kitchen knife out and held it in defense of her husband. "Ma'am.. please put the knife down. I can't change what my men have done, but I can save your husband." Her hands shook as Naruto approached, the knife extended out towards him, but with each of his steps, her resolve weakened. He got up to her, and gently pulled the blade from her hands, setting it down gently on the counter. He unsealed a medkit, and quickly tended to the man's wounds.
As he worked, he could remember the hatred he held for the Iwa nin that had torched that farmhouse in Taki with everyone inside. Back then, he'd have never thought there was still a naive bone in his body… but today proved him wrong. Karru was just as terrible as the Iwa nin. He knew that today, his illusion of Konohagakure at least being somewhat morally superior was shattered. He now knew that men under his command were capable of the same atrocities that had been committed by other villages. "Can mankind even exist without hate? Scum like these two litter the earth… and we can't even keep them out of our own ranks."
Sometime later, Naruto gave his absolute best apologies for what had happened, but he knew it wouldn't change the way the family likely now thought of Konohagakure. He assured them that if he had his way, they would be thrown in jail for the rest of their lives, but the family wanted them executed on the spot. A part of him wished he could, but that was the Hokage's call to make, not his.
He left the home shortly thereafter, and was soon greeted with the arrival of his clones, and the memories of one as it burst when it saw him. The rest carried the bodies of his friends. And he gave a small sad smile at the though that they would at least be buried in Konohagakure. The memories of what went down flowed through his mind.
His clones arrived on site, being greeted with the sight of Killer Bee standing over his fallen friends. The large man took a fighting stance, but one of his clones waved his hands in surrender. "Wait please! We're just clones… we'd desperately like to take the bodies of our comrades back home."
"Yo yo yo, even in your state.. you came back for your friends doe?"
Naruto almost dead panned at the man in response. "Yes… their families would be deeply troubled if I don't at least give them a chance for a proper burial."
"You're likely the man who killed Yu gi to, no? So why the hell should I let you go?"
"The decision I made to kill Yugito was a hard one… I'd never thought about killing another jinchuriki before. The first jinchuriki I killed I had a burning hatred for, but I had nothing against your friend… A long time ago; when myself and the Kazekage: Gaara were genin.. I made a statement. I told Gaara when I beat him, that I wouldn't kill him, and that I would be his friend because we jinchuriki need to stick together. Those words haunted me when I killed Yugito… I wish the world wasn't like this Bee. I'd much rather have friends than enemies… but this war… Yugito and I were just on opposing sides…"
"Na ru to. The son of the great Mi na to. I think I'm gonna let you go! You're much like your father, and he wasn't a bother! These words you speak.. they might just bring peace. Now get goin. Take your friends, 'cause times a flowin!"
"Thank you Bee." Naruto said.
"Thank you Bee." He said aloud himself. He carefully picked up Akamaru again, and they made their way back to where the Platoon should have gone. Sure, any clone could have carried the dog, but he felt personal responsibility for the safety of his last living comrade from his group of four. Well, five if you count Akamaru himself.
Soon enough Naruto found his platoon. He was greeted once again with a battlefield. One Hyuga, one Inuzuka, and both Sarutobi, along with two more of his civilian born shinobi lay dead or dying on the battlefield.
The seven survivors were fighting a losing battle at the edge of the cove. It didn't help that the watchtower on the shore had been alerted, bringing a few more Kumo nin to the conflict. Naruto had two of his clones take Akamaru from him, and he himself quietly and quickly joined the battle. As one would assume, when the Flying Raijin is combined with the element of stealth it is nearly impossible to defend against. With this, he wiped out half of the Kinkaku force along with all of the reinforcements from the watchtower before the Gold and Silver brothers took notice.
Once they did, Naruto fought openly alongside Tenzo. With Naruto's arrival, the battle became much less one sided, especially with the addition of Naruto's now fairly restored chakra pools. He'd gained enough back during his travel to the coast, and was now in fair fighting condition.
As it turned out, the combination of Mikazuki and Suigetsu was an extremely deadly one. Between them, it seemed water became and absolute danger for any enemy on the battlefield.
The leaders and survivors of the Kinkaku Force soon realized their inability to continue fighting their targets. They wisely chose to retreat and at what would likely be the ire of the Raikage, they let the Konoha shinobi escape.
A loud angry sigh rang through the office of the Raikage. "So you let them escape."
"Yes sir… we failed your orders."
"Well, no matter. Namikaze will be killed eventually during this war if I have a say in things. Jinkaku, Minkaku. You bring honor back to your bloodline, and no longer will the betrayal of your ancestors stain your name."
"Thank you sir, it means a great deal to us."
"Good. Now dismissed." The large man ordered. After they left the room, he snapped the arm off his chair in anger. "That damn blond asshole is too fast to kill! There's not a shinobi on this planet that can match his speed!"
A strange chuckle rang out as the door crept open, and a man in strange robes walked out. "I might be able to help you with that. There is one..but he no longer lives."
"Just who the hell are you!?" The Raikage shouted, slamming his fist through his desk.
"Well, if we can talk business first… I'll tell you."
As the group made their way through the gates of Konohagakure, Naruto turned to look at Yuta. "Please go to see Lady Hokage first. Tell her I'll be there shortly. Something of the utmost importance must be done."
"Um alright.. well don't take to long Naruto."
The blond made his way to the Inuzuka compound with great speed, Akamaru held gently in his arms. He knocked on the door and within a minute, Inuzuka Tsume answered. "Oh, Naruto. What can I do for you?" At this moment, she noticed the still fairly beat up dog. "Wait.. No."
"Lady Tsume… I'm sorry but.. Kiba and one of his cousins were killed in action. The death of your son was… directly my responsibility. I failed to keep him safe." He said, bowing and holding out the scroll containing his dead friends body. Tsume had let the blond boy into her home a few times for meals when he and Kiba would play together. She had always known he was the son of the red and yellow couple. The feral woman had always liked the kind young boy, and she knew his heart hurt nearly as much as her own at that very moment.
"Oh Naruto…. it's not your fault. Come here boy." She said, grabbing the scroll before pulling the taller man into her embrace. The matriarch of the clan growled lightly as she fought back tears, and soon enough Naruto let just a few of his own drip down his cheeks.
"Would you like me to tell Hana for you?" He asked.
"No that's alright Naruto. Thank you for bringing Akamaru back. He may never serve as a ninja hound again, but he'll definitely live."
After a few minutes spent with the clan leader. Naruto departed the home with a sad smile. His next stop was the Hyuga compound. He was about to deliver news of the death of a clan prodigy, along with another of the clan members deaths. The Hyuga had always been a proud and emotionally closed off clan, so he wasn't suprised when no tears came from the clan leader.
Tears that did flow however, came from Hinata. As she had stood next to her father as he delivered the body and news of his fate. She cried even more when he pulled her aside after, and let the kind woman know the fate of her boyfriend as well. "I'm sorry Hinata." He left with that, as she spoke no words through her tears.
Naruto had a final stop at a place he had not wanted to go. The Hokage would be pissed if he took much longer, but he dreaded this visit. He knocked on the door, and an older woman answered quickly. "Oh hello, do I know you? Perhaps you're a friend of Juzo's? I'm sorry but he's on a mission right now."
"Ma'am. Please forgive me. Your son.. was killed in action under my command." He said, holding his arms out with the scroll containing Juzo's body.
"My Juzo… is dead?" The fit that followed deeply hurt Naruto. Seeing the pain of the people closest to his fallen comrades. He deployed clones to do the rest of the notifications of death. He personally delivered the news to the three who had died in an attempt to help him survive. But he wouldn't let some messenger be the bearer of bad news to anyone else either. All of them had died under his command, and he would do this himself. Even if it meant using clones.
Finally, Namikaze Naruto stepped through the doors of the Hokage's office, and found Yuta and Suigetsu there. It seemed the rest had been sent home.
"Naruto." Said the blond Kage.
"Ma'am. Namikaze Naruto reporting back from a complete S-tank mission. I'd like to report that, despite our success in our objective… my unit took mass casualties. I took it upon myself already to deliver the bad news to each family already, but I'd like to request that you send a Yamanaka by each home to see if they can help with the grieving."
"That will be done. Now what about these two?" She questioned, throwing the files of the two arrested Konoha shinobi on the desk. He responded with a full report, and it was quickly decided that Tsunade would make an announcement to all of Konohagakure's shinobi about the atrocious acts of the two men, and they would be thrown in a maximum security prison for the rest of their lives. Hopefully this action would deter this kind of thing in the future.
After more conversation and detail sharing the other two Ninja left the room, and Naruto asked his Hokage if there would be anything else.
"No Naruto… that is all. Please, return home to your wife."
"Yes ma'am." He said, turning and stepping through the door. Before he closed it however; she spoke to him.
"Naruto."
"Yeah?"
"It's really not your fault kiddo."
"Sure as hell feels like it Granny." He responded with a sad and bitter tone.
Anyone notice the foreshadowing from last chapter about the events at the farmhouse? And just who has met with the Raikage? It's probably fuckin obvious though. I'm shit at mystery.
Anyway, sorry if this is a little short too. I can't give a solid estimate of my next update, because I'm currently having trouble with this fic. Don't worry it won't get abandoned, but it might take me a bit longer to put out chapters for a while.
Also. I've been thinking on other fic ideas too. I fully intend to write a NarutoxFemSasuke eventually. A) because I have a few ideas and B) because I feel there's not enough of them.
My other fic idea, well bare with me here. How do you feel about a NarutoxFemKiba story? Eh, guess I'll test the waters sometime. Anyway thanks for stopping by, and I hope to see you next time. Darling in the Fox out!