This journey takes us far.
Something about it's fishy.
Then again,
We are going to a fishing village.
Hopefully this is nothing but a spar.
-
Hinata woke up a few times during the night, realized Naruto was clutching her tightly in his arms, and immediately fainted.
-
Naruto awoke to sense a familiar chakra sitting on the dresser to his left, "Naruto, off to an early start I see," the voice joked, "has Danzō given you the talk yet?"
Naruto let out a little laugh before greeting the figure, "Morning Shisui. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Mission. You were supposed to learn about it last night, but you got to have a sleepover instead," Shisui jabbed.
Naruto continued to joke, "Is the legendary 'Shisui the teleporter' jealous?"
"Put some clothes on already. You're seven, quit being naked around girls your age. Weird," Shisui stuck true to his nickname as he teleported out.
Naruto picked up the gi and quickly threw it on. He grabbed everything he left in the room, re-strapping kunai pouches, clipping his mask to his waist, and heading out.
He slid the door open and heard Hinata stir in the bed. He looked back to see the girl pout, sit up, yawn, and ask, "n-Naruto-kun, why are you leaving?"
"I'm going to see an old friend," he replied. Naruto had become an expert at this type of speech. It wasn't a lie. Shisui was old compared to him, and he was, in fact, a friend. He heard Hinata let out a whine as she stretched, to which he replied, "Sorry Hinata, I'll be back here ASAP."
'Why's he gotta be so vague,' she frowned as she wondered, "Who's your- oh," she hadn't noticed that Naruto has already slipped out the door. She gave a sigh, and lie back down, 'It's only 5. Who wakes up this early? Crazy people,' she frowned, 'I'm a meanie, aren't I?'
-
Naruto looked down at his gi. He sighed, as he itched his arm, then his leg, then his shoulder, 'This thing sucks.' He didn't have any shoes either, as a consequence of transforming into a fox. He walked out, barefoot and in his gi, eyes closed waiting to be berated by his long time friend.
His exit was met by two familiar Uchiha outside of Hinata's room.
"On your way to karate practice?" Shisui teased. Although Itachi was never usually one to make the jokes, he had nothing against laughing along.
"Oh shut it before I put you in the kamui," Naruto retorted.
This time Itachi spoke up, "So you'll be sucking up a male. Seems quite fitting," Shisui gave a hearty chuckle as he and Itachi followed the now hurrying Naruto. As they set out, Shisui chided once more, "To be honest, I didn't expect you to ever be able to get with a girl. I always thought you were more into dude. Frankly, your behavior is a little unsettling," he smiled and turned to Narto who shouted:
"Kamui!"
-
Itachi briefed Naruto on what their mission was.
One of Danzō's mysterious accomplices had contacted him last night asking for his assistance. The three were to hunt down a fugitive in the land of the mist known as Katanagi Motodao, who had stolen two blades from the royal armory in kiri. Both Nuibari and Hiramekarei.
"The fact that Kiri is asking for us specifically is troubling me," Itachi spoke, "this guy must be a handful if they're calling on us."
Naruto nodded as they continued their journey to talk to Danzō, "Does Shisui know everything?" Itachi nodded.
"Speaking of which, are you going to let him out?" Itachi asked, only receiving a shrug from Naruto
Naruto and Itachi, two-thirds of the self-proclaimed 'Chinmoku,' finally arrived at the root base located directly under the hokage tower. Danzō nodded before addressing the boys, "Naru, is this your new Halloween costume?"
Naruto, in a yellow flash [wink] quickly changed into his anbu gear and reported back, "No, Danzō, this is the anbu mask that you gave me."
Danzō rolled his eyes at the boy, "Where is Shisui?"
Naruto responded by creating a swirl in front of him. Shisui flopped out onto the ground and immediately turned to face Naruto, "You little- grr, I was just joking, no need to-"
Danzō coughed, receiving the group's attention, "I'm sure you've been briefed on the mission and are aware of my concern," the three nodded in response. Danzō continued, "The person who hired you only has a general idea of where this Motodao is, so you will have to do some recon," Danzō paused and handed Shisui a scroll, "this scroll has the location of where to meet the client and the mission details, good luck, Chinmoku."
Danzō secretly fan-girled over the name.
He thought it was so cool that his students had deserved the right to be feared by a name alone.
These three weren't regular anbu, therefore they didn't have regular codenames (mostly). Naruto was 'Inari', Shisui was 'Don'nani,' (no matter) both in reference to his laid back nature and ability to seemingly appear from nowhere, and Itachi was 'Loser,' because he didn't want a nickname.
They didn't call Itachi by that nickname much. They preferred the name 'Weasel' instead of a broken arm.
The three set out into the rising sun, leaping from tree branches on their way to the hidden mist.
-
They were meeting up with Riko Momoi, a noble of the hidden mist tasked with the security of the seven mist blades. She came to the hidden leaf in a last ditch effort to deal with the rogue swordsman, after he swiftly took care of 2 tracker-nins while roaming the countryside.
"2 trackers, eh?" Shisui said while shaking his head, "This guy's gonna be fun!"
Naruto fist pumped and nodded, about to say something when Itachi spoke up.
"Stop," He stated calmly. The two others stopped as they too picked up a foreign chakra signature. They actually picked up 3, "They're... behind us," the three turned around, the chakra seemingly fading as they did so. Another bunch was picked up in the opposite direction.
"Let's... keep moving," Itachi spoke. The chakra and it's sudden disappearance freaked him out a bit. Naruto and Shisui felt the same way. They nodded to each other before heading off in the direction of the mist recent signatures. Itachi activated his Sharingan, ready for the fight ahead.
Itachi and Shisui both awakened their mangekyō in the same battle, one which had them facing against their own family.
~~flashback~~
The Uchiha coup had finally come to fruition, and with a heavy heart Danzō knew what had to be done. He needed to send his best anbu, Itachi and Shisui, both Uchihas, with the group dispatched to defend the village. Not only did he need to send them in order to quell the rebellion, he knew that there was another possible advantage: the mangekyō Sharingan.
Unluckily, the two boys, Itachi aged 13, and Shisui aged 16, both clashed blades with their respective fathers.
Bathed in their families own blood, Shisui found Itachi and brought him into a brotherly embrace.
"We're all that's left." Shisui's voice was shaky, and they were both obviously distraught. However, they never thought about the non-combatants, who were safe below the Uchiha compound. That day both the boys' awakened the mangekyō and were mostly ostracized from their own clan.
That was two years ago, when they first met the blonde boy who was the only reason they did not preemptively strike the Uchiha. The only reason the two were still alive and in the village: Naruto Uzumaki.
~~Present Day~~
The boys leapt to a final branch overlooking a clearing. There was a log cabin and a man chopping up firewood outside. The man was using a large axe attached by rope to a hammer. Chinmoku nodded to each other.
Naruto placed some sort of marker on the tree before nodding to the others, and signaling them to stay put. Inari then set off in the direction of Riko's location.
He arrived and reported the sighting of the helmet splitter to the woman. Riko nodded with slight disdain, "Just as we had sent for you, the same man stole another of the blades."
Naruto nodded, "Then I believe we have located Motodao. I will be off."
"Wait," Momoi spoke, causing Naruto to look up, "Inari-sama huh. Didn't know you'd be so young."
"Uh, I should-"
"Just please be safe. He is very dangerous."
"Of course. There will be no more blood on your hands. Er, besides his head I guess."
Riko nodded and forced out a smile as Naruto teleported. She sighed when the boy disappeared, "Well he's not the smoothest," she poured herself some liquor, and took a sip, "Well, I guess he is a child." She paused in thought for a moment. She chuckled, shook her head, and took another sip, "What an... interesting childhood that must've been."
That about summed it up.
Naruto appeared at his mark on the tree and nodded at his two teammates. This was the guy.
Naruto sent out a fox, a common deception tactic that worked surprisingly well. Because of the fox's reputation, many strong soldiers were distracted by th-
The fox barely escaped a quickly incoming hammer swing.
"I don't give a shit about a fox god," the man shouted, now facing where the boys where, "Gods don't exist here."
The two boys looked at "the fox god" with scowls. You couldn't tell through the masks, but Naruto knew what his elders were thinking, and just shrugged in response. They still had the advantage, however, because the man didn't know how many were hiding.
"So you've heard of me then, eh?" Naruto replied, leaping from the bushes, "You've been causing a ruckus around here," Naruto was about to continue when the man interjected.
"All I've been doing is living here. I have only fought in self defense." The man stated, "I claimed the blades as my own, fair and square. It's tradition for a blade to be claimed by the winner of a one-on-one duel." He added.
"Really? You stole them though."
"Nobody was using them," he shook his head, "Tch- just letting them sit there and rust."
"Sure, I can see how that's frustrating. Isn't there a way to get them, you know, legally?"
Motodao rolled his eyes, "There's a reason no one uses the blades. If you don't take my approach, there's so much red tape to swim through," he sighed, "It just hurts so much to see these prized relics go to waste," he froze, "Why am I talking to you?"
"Psh, I have no idea," Naruto shrugged, "I mean, I don't mind. Beats having to kill you."
"Talking a big game there, eh? You're half as big as me. Period."
"Then you would be willing to fight me? Since the cards are in your favor," Naruto offered, drawing his tanto, "A fair duel for the blade. Just blades, no tricks."
"Fighting's played out," he muttered as he walked to the door, "Kinda just wanna be left alone."
"Well, I didn't walk all the way here to just leave you alone. You know how this works."
The man gave a big sigh, "Yeah, yeah: you've come to bring justice to the evildoer," he said flatly, "Am I really the bad guy though?"
"In my eyes yes. You killed for no reason than to get some swords."
Motodao glared of his shoulder, "They are blades. Don't call them swords. It's so inelegant. And I'm sure the great Inari-sama has killed before."
"Sure I have. But I did so for a reason," Naruto convinces himself, "and you know, you've got some real affection for those swords, eh?" Motodao growled, "I can tell you're getting aroused just thinking about them," Shisui stifled a laugh.
"No. Shut up."
"Y'know, if you would just swallow your pride, you might realize that those swords aren't that-" Motodao swung the hammer down, causing a shockwave towards Naruto. He leapt out of the way, and Shisui and Itachi were forced to move and give up their location.
"Well I certainly don't mind a little 3 on 3, what do you all think?" Motodao shouted. Two figures leapt atop the roof of the cabin.
"A weasel, a fox, and an owl walk into a bar..." Naruto announced as he tossed a kunai at the figure holding nuibari.
The figure easily blocked it, laughing at the fox boy.
Naruto, in turn, gave a smirk under his mask. In a flash, he was right where the kunai was. He tossed his tanto, handle first, at his opponent. Naruto's sword thunked off of the mans head, causing him to drop the sewing needle. Naruto caught the blade as it's wielder slid slowly down the roof. Naruto grabbed the back of his shirt, and hoisted him over his shoulder.
"That's what you get for underestimating your opponent," Shisui retorted with a sly smile under his mask, "As you said, these are one on one duels for the blades," Shisui continued, facing the broad man with the axe. The man brought down the axe, the hammer following not too far behind, where Shisui was. Don'nani, the legendary teleporter, did just that and body-flickered two feet to his left chucking two kunai at the man's legs.
Shisui was surprised when both landed, causing the man to screech in pain, 'didn't this guy take out two hunter-nins? Why is he so... bad? There's almost no defense.' Shisui was confused, he thought the man would be putting up more of a fight. But as he was thinking this, the man, from his hunched over position, used the hammer to knock the blade at Shisui with near lightning speed, severing the rope that connected the two.
"This'll teach you something about underestimating your opponent!"
•
Itachi and the other swordsman clashed blades. The weasel leaped back when he noticed chakra emanating from the tip of the blade.
Hiramekarei can mold the users chakra into any form of weapon. The wielder had been slowly forming their chakra into a senbon like needle that approached Itachi through his own tanto. As he slid back from his opponent, Itachi noticed a mist hunter-nin mask strapped to the mans waist.
"Chakra release!" Itachi's opponent shouted as he broke his blades apart.
Itachi stood motionless as he exploded into a swarm of crows. Shisui caught the man as he fell. In that split second where the former hunter was distracted, Shisui popped in behind him, and swiftly knocked him out.
Back on the ground, Motodao sat in awe as the crows completely enveloped him, flapping, cawing, and pecking at him. When the swarming subsided, he looked up to see the man in the weasel mask standing around 10 feet from him. Motodao stood up and the weasel figure disappeared.
He looked around to see that he was in a school yard, one very similar to those back in the hidden mist. He was surrounded by hundreds and hundreds of children around the age of thirteen. The children charged him, and he was unable to move as each one tortured the man for the next 2 days.
From an outside view however, Itachi landed in front of the man after the axe flew by, he just stood there for a moment, and the man dropped to the floor. Itachi walked over to the man, and stuck his tanto into the mans heart. The three friends all stood there for a second, all shedding their masks.
"Did you have to do that?" Naruto asked.
"They will certainly be executed. Why risk them making a mess on the way there."
Naruto sighed as he put his mask on, and gestured the others to him, "Come on."
The three appeared in front of Riko's residence with the three bodies and blades. Naruto knocked, "Could you give me a moment, please?" Came from inside.
"Of course. Take your time," Shisui responded. He placed his captive down, and the other two followed. Turns out, standing while carrying a body is much harder than standing without carrying a body. Fun fact!
As one of the men began to open their eyes, Itachi swiftly struck him in the neck.
"I was gonna do that," Naruto whined.
Riko opened the door, "Sorry to keep you waiting. Are they still alive?"
"The trackers are. Motodao is not," Itachi responded.
"Very well- wait. The trackers?"
"Turncoats," Shisui stepped up, "Motodao never killed them. They just flipped sides."
Riko gritted her teeth, "I see. You can leave them here along with the blades."
A few guards came to the front, and Shisui and Itachi transferred their targets and blades to them.
Naruto looked at Nuibari, "Can I... keep it?"
"Sorry? Keep it?"
Shisui and Itachi were getting concerned, "Let's not-"
"Yeah like... can I have it?"
There was a small silence, "Well, I'd classify what you've done for us a heroic deed for our village," the guards nodded, "But you aren't a citizen of the hidden mist."
"Can't you make me one?"
Riko and her guards stammered a bit. They glanced at each other, "There's a whole process and-"
"We're just going to go," Shisui pointed to the door, then grabbed at Naruto's shirt.
He wiggled away, "I mean, no one's using them right? Why can't I just-"
"Ah, I'm in time I see," a woman flanked by two guards entered the room, "I extend my most humble of thanks to you," she gave a slight bow towards the leaf anbu, who kneeled in response.
"Lady Mizukage," Riko bowed as well, "We have a... situation here."
"Oh? What does that entail?" Riko leaned in and whispered in the Mizukage makes ear, "Ah... that's rather interesting," she looked up in thought for a moment, "I believe that's a good idea."
"Really?"
"Of course: a swordsman of the mist doesn't necessarily have to be from the hidden mist. It's just a title given to someone worthy of one of the blades," Naruto beamed under his mask.
"And you think... he is worthy?"
Mei laughed, "You're questioning whether someone who is called a god is worthy of the blade or not?" She took the blade in her hands.
"But do you really think this is a good idea? Politically speaking, that is," Riko stepped forward.
"Go on."
"As your head advisor, I'm supposed to make sure your decisions will allow you to remain in office," she looked to Naruto, "And I think that giving away one of our most precious artifacts to a foreigner could cause unrest in the public."
"I see," The Mizukage nodded, "Well, in exchange for the Nuibari, Inari, would you be willing to provide protection for the people of the land of water."
Naruto thought for a moment, "What will that require of me?" He didn't want to sound lazy, but as is, he already had a pretty full plate.
"I understand you have your own obligations, but all I ask is that if I call upon you for aid, you help," she held the handle of Nuibari out, "It's true that you don't have to be a citizen of the mist to earn this blade. But if you accept it, you will have to become part of the land of water in some way," she paused, and glanced up, "And I would also like to know your true identity."
"Inari, I don't think that's a good idea," Shisui spoke up, noticing that Naruto was already reaching out for Nuibari.
"Rest assured, his identity will remain a secret to everyone but myself... that is, if he chooses to honor his end of the bargain."
There was a long pause, 'Can we just go home already?' Itachi thought to himself.
"Alright," Naruto started to take his mask off.
"Nonononono," Mei grabbed his arm, "Follow me. You're not giving your identity to everyone in the room, no. Just me," she walked out of the room.
Naruto glanced around the room, Itachi and Shisui just gestured for him to hurry up. He darted off towards were Mei. He followed her into a side room, and shut the door behind him.
Itachi and Shisui stood in the open room, the guards all staring at them, "Soo uh," Shisui spoke up, "You guys... Uhh," he rubbed his neck and glanced around the room in panic, "Weather?"
"Is there a bathroom? I would like to throw up," Itachi asked. One of the guards gave a quiet laugh, and motioned over his shoulder, and Itachi started off towards the bathroom.
-
Mei sat on a cushion in the ground, another cushion sat a few feet in front of the first. Mei motioned to the seat, and Naruto knelt down.
Naruto was not the best when it came to people coming onto him. Even so, it didn't take a genius to notice Mei's attempts at seduction. She scooted closer to Naruto, and placed an hand in his arm, "So, Inari," she bent forward a little, "Would you be able to provide protection?"
She leaned forward more, and blushed a little, "I'm seven."
She straightened and laughed, placing her hand on her chest, "So the legends of the trickster god are true then. But be serious, would you be able make me hidden mist?"
"You mean protect the hidden mist?"
"Sure, yeah that's what I said," she squinted at him and shrugged, "No need to repeat me." There was a long silence, "I was thinking you can have the blade in exchange for my hand in marriage. Thoughts?"
...
"I'm... seven years old."
"Please, can you take this seriously. Don't make a mockery of my proposal."
"No, I mean," Naruto shed his mask, "I am a seven year old child."
"Wait... so you're not actually... a god?" Naruto shook his head. Mei slumped, "Rats. The perfect opportunity, just gone like that."
"You really shouldn't be giving up precious heirlooms for a husband. That's kinda corrupt-ttebayo."
"Well I'm already embarrassed. You don't have to shame me more," she sighed, and picked up the blade, "Right, anyway... think of this as a treaty between our lands. We wish to be rid of the title of 'bloody mist'," she shivered in disgust, "If we need help, I'll expect your village to be there, and vice versa."
"Alright," Naruto blurted eagerly, "Deal!" He held his hand out.
"What's your name?"
"Naruto Uzumaki. It's nice to make a new friend-ttebayo."
-
Shisui and Itachi both glared at Naruto as he spun his new toy around on the way back home. Naruto noticed and spoke, "Are you guys jealous that you didn't get cool swords?" Itachi replied by saying that Naruto looked like an idiot, and Shisui replied by trying to lecture Naruto about the consequences of his actions.
Itachi cut in, "Both of you cheated in the duel," the other two looked at him and tilted their heads, "Naruto said no ninjutsu, yet he used the flying thunder god and you body flickered."
Naruto scoffed, "No, I just said no tricks," there was silence for a second, "And besides, you used genjutsu!"
"You never said anything about genjutsu."
"Didn't say anything about ninjutsu either, dattebayo."
"Dattebayo," Shisui said mockingly.
After a long, awkward silence, Naruto looked back up and segued by chuckling, "Shisui are you mad about something?""
Shisui scoffed, "Yeah right. Me? Mad?"
"Psssh, of course you are. And I know why," the two others looked at him, waiting for a response, "You're eighteen and can't even talk to a girl, meanwhile I-" Shisui cut the branch Naruto was about to jump on causing him to yelp and plummet to the floor.
———
Holy moly that was another long one! Just like Naruto's *Ding Dong* oops, someone's at the door, be right back laughs awkwardly. No I didn't just say 'laughs awkwardly' out loud. You're being weird.
Anyway, that was my first ever fight scene, and I thought it went pretty well. It might have been a little too easy, but hey Naruto is op in this one. I think to limit his use of the flying thunder god, I'm going to say that he can only use it once per battle because he uses up so much chakra doing it. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and have/had a nice day :)
Jerry out!