Chapter 35
Alright we're back. There were a couple of family birthdays last week so there were a few days I wasn't working on this. Anyway, it's done now and honestly I feel the chapters better for the extra time I've had to work on it so expect more chapters to take two weeks instead of one in future.
And in other news we passed 250 Favourites, thank you all!
Relics Recovered
"You understand - don't you Aoi-kun? Understand that it's not me you need to be worried about?"
His words open Aoi's mind up to a major realisation. He'd stopped paying attention to his surroundings and he was sure the rest of his group were guilty of the same mistake. They'd broken one of the golden rules of Shinobi.
A noise behind him immediately drew his attention, it was followed by a splattering of wetness up the back of his uncovered arms. Twisting one of his arms he saw small red droplets begin to run down his arm.
With a sense of dread building in his stomach, he turned his head. He knew that sound, it was the sound of sharpened steel sliding through flesh.
As his eyes fell on the face of the man behind him, that same man coughed, there was a deep, gurgled sound to it, more drops of blood landed on his face. The eyes of Aoi's comrade were wide in shock, the light in them dimming quickly and his face was chalk white. Through his chest was a long sword pulsing with blue light.
The swords holder tilted the weapon's tip towards the ground, the now limp body slid off landing on the ground with a thud never to rise again. Aoi's eyes following the bodies descent to the ground but with the killer's identity now revealed his eyes snapped back up, he immediately recognised Naruto.
"Howdy," the blonde cheerfully yet sinisterly greeted him.
Aoi's ears registered multiple gasps of shock and concern courtesy of the three remaining nin with him. A quick look around showed they were massively outnumbered three to one. But it could always get worse, and it did.
Dorobou took a fearful step back and then another, he'd immediately recognised Kurotsuchi and Kitsuchi. He panicked, he ran. Aoi could only watch on in utter disbelief as he ran up the smooth slanted walls of the clearing, vanishing into the thin treeline beyond. "You fucking Coward!" he shouted after him.
"I'll collect our runaway," Tri said as he stood, disappearing a moment later.
Words failed Aoi, his plan, his seemingly flawless plan that he'd spent months planning out had totally collapsed around him. Now he and the remainder of his Ame group faced imminent decimation.
"You Bastard!" the squad leader screamed as he charged Naruto, weapons drawn. The man had seen red, the killing of a second member of his squad pushed him over the periphery and the vanishing of Tri left just Naruto for him to turn his ire upon. He wasn't, however, paying attention so he never saw Itachi make a move.
The Uchiha appeared slightly squatted down directly in front of him, he positioned himself perfectly to be within the man's guard. He simply couldn't react quick enough as Itachi struck out, his kunai penetrating just deep enough to nick the man's jugular vein.
The squad leaders forward momentum kept him moving forward although collapsing forward would have been more appropriate now. His hands moved to his throat in an ultimately hopeless attempt to stem the substantial blood flow, his hands quickly painted red. Aoi could only watch on as his number including him fell to just two.
"Give it up Aoi," Naruto suggested, "This ends only one of two ways and neither of them includes you escaping." He was silent as he watched the struggle cease and another body was still.
"Perhaps," he replied turning his gaze to Naruto, "But then, perhaps I can take you with me," he challenged. Aoi drew Raijin no Ken, slipping into a fighting stance the sword burst into life, a yellow blade sparking from the hilt.
Realising he was being challenged to a singles duel Naruto flicked Kuchibashi to remove any of the remaining blood droplets, wiping the rest away he re-sheathed the blade before drawing the shorter Kagizume.
"You're welcome to try Aoi," he replied as they both started manoeuvring for space. "You have to tell me though, why now? Why did Konoha wait all these years to chase down little ol' me?" Naruto snorted, "An opportunity to nurture a working relationship with Iwagakure presented itself. You simply happened to be in the way. Sorry Aoi, no special treatment for you."
"I see," he coldly muttered. "It appears I made the right decision in joining Amegakure if Konoha is willing to work with Iwa," he spat. He, like most Shinobi at the time, lost friends in the Third Great World War. "Anyway, I think that's our short chat over. And I do hope the Hokage won't be too upset when I kill his eldest son."
Naruto rolled his eyes in mirth, "Times change Aoi, keep up or get left behind. And yeah talk is cheap, time for action. You've held onto something that doesn't belong to you for far too long. It's time it was reunited with its rightful owners," Naruto snarled.
Not a second was wasted, both shot forward, their blades clashing. The yellow of Raijin no Ken fought the blue of Kagizume. It was apparent from the blue hue it gave off that Naruto was imbuing the shorter of his two swords with chakra, specifically Fūton chakra.
Aoi noticed the weapon was giving off chakra, he spotted the small wind blades rolling off Naruto's weapon. He jumped back immediately, 'Damn it, Fūton chakra makes this difficult.' Fūton chakra most effectively countered the Raiton used to form the blade of his sword, it would help keep Aoi at a distance making it harder to electrocute him.
This spelt trouble for Aoi, his combat style revolved around electrocuting his opponents until they could no longer fight back at which point he'd kill them.
"You were the one who challenged me Aoi. Tradition dictates that you attack first, at least that's what I was taught," Naruto taunted. But it didn't work, Aoi remained unmoved as he instead glared at him. "Well alright then, if you concede your right to attack first I'll begin mine," he said moving to an offensive stance.
Naruto flickered as he made his move. A display of speed that a fully rested Aoi would have been able to handle but right now he was far from rested. He barely got his weapon up to block the first strike, a diagonal upwards slash. He was forced to concede ground to keep Naruto away as the strikes kept coming.
He estimated his weapon to be several inches longer but it didn't seem to a bit of difference.
A second fast flurry of attacks quickly followed the first, this time ending with a short forward thrust aimed at his intestines. It was a strike that Aoi barely dodged. He was making chakra trails with Raijin no Ken but it didn't seem to matter, Naruto simply worked around them using speed and attack sequences Aoi had never encountered before.
Despite using such a well-renowned weapon Aoi had never actually received proper swordsmen training and right now it was glaringly obvious when juxtapositioned against Naruto who received tuition from multiple master swordsmen/ women.
A third rapid and fluid flurry and Aoi received his first wound, a cut on his right leg just below the knee. "Damn," he grunted as blood began seeping from the wound, trickling down his leg. 'But how? I know the actual blade didn't touch me.'
Naruto spotted the slight look of confusion on his face, "Fūton chakra is very malleable," he said. Aoi looked closely at the wound, the cut was absolutely clean, no skin was shredded at all. 'So the chakra is what cut me, he's able to increase the length of the blade.'
A fourth flurry followed. And while Aoi was able to escape any new injuries he had a new problem to add to his still-growing list.
His blade was beginning to crack, the repeated blows of it striking against Kagizume was pushing its endurance to the limit. He'd used almost all his remaining chakra to power the weapon, he didn't have enough to do so a second time.
Aoi tried desperately to weave his way through Naruto's attacks but it was so difficult to read his movements, one moment you'd be blocking a downward slash then ducking under a spinning back kick the next. Naruto's form was flawless as he lashed out with a side slash which Aoi blocked; that was a mistake. The blade – shattered.
Yellow fragments discharged what little chakra they had left as they evaporated into nothing. There was no change of expression on Naruto's face. It was only now that Aoi accepted that he was outclassed but that didn't mean he was done just yet.
Placing the hilt back on his belt he jumped back to gain some distance before pulling the umbrella over his shoulder out and casting it into the sky, a deft twist of the wrist applying a rapid spinning motion.
"Everyone get back!" Kitsuchi shouted as he recognised the calling card of Amegakure, the Senbon Shower. Naruto, however, was well within the kill zone. The umbrella reached as high as it was going to, the moment it began to descend it snapped open and began spraying hundreds upon hundreds of Senbon in every direction.
"Naruto!" Hana yelled out in worry as the blonde didn't budge. Instead, he reversed the grip on his tantō in his right hand and flashed through seals one-handed. Slamming his left hand into the ground palm first he shouted, "Doton: Doryūheki." The ground around him erupted in a perfect circle quickly forming a protective sphere over him as the first wave of Senbons struck the surface.
Naruto trained his ears for the slightest sound that might signal a danger to him especially given Raiton's effectiveness against Doton but all he heard was the light 'Tsch' of Senbons striking his mud wall.
'How am I going to get out of here safely?' was his next question, he'd only awkwardly realised he'd cornered himself as the sphere enclosed around him.
"Naruto, you can come out," he heard after the sound of striking Senbon ended. He recognised Itachi's voice, regardless he was wary as he lowered the barrier, tensed ready to strike in an instant.
Quickly taking in his surroundings there were hundreds, maybe thousands of Senbon scattered in a hollow circle perhaps fifteen meters wide.
All the other Iwa and Konoha Shinobi had backed away in time and were unharmed, the final Ame shinobi, however, was not so fortunate.
They were utterly exhausted and with no one to help them escape the killing zone they were riddled with the several inch long metal implements. Naruto couldn't help but wince at the sight, they better resembled a mutated hedgehog.
He had assumed Itachi had called him out because he was keeping an eye on Aoi. But it wasn't that, it was because Aoi had fallen to his knees, the colour had drained from his face leaving it a sickly white.
Naruto recognised the symptoms, the unfocused eyes, pale skin, difficulty standing; Aoi was beginning to suffer from chakra exhaustion. Their 'fight' if you wanted to call it that was over, it had been utterly one-sided.
Naruto cautiously approached Aoi who's head hung low as he stared at the ground. Everyone knew Aoi was about to die, "Any final words Aoi-san?" Naruto asked. The man in question who hadn't expected anything other to be quickly killed off raised in his head in surprise.
"Well if you'll humour me, I guess there's a few," he answered following a small chuckle. "I don't regret my actions, I don't regret stealing the Raijin no Ken, I don't regret manipulating another Konoha Shinobi in the process, I don't regret betraying Konoha and I don't regret joining Amegakure.
"I've felt more at home in Ame no Kuni than I ever did in Hi no Kuni. I feel a greater connection to Pein-sama than I ever did your father. But despite that, I have a final request."
"Which is?" Naruto asked with a raised eyebrow. Aoi looked him dead in the eyes, "Will you be my Kaishakunin?"
Naruto was stunned and it wasn't just him, practically all of them were taken aback. "The temerity of such a request," Kitsuchi growled at him, utterly disgusted. Aoi just grinned back cockily, "I know, but I'm going to die anyway so what harm is there in asking."
"You are accepting of your inescapable demise?" Itachi asked him, "I am," he calmly if wearily answered. Itachi and Naruto looked at one another, Itachi shrugged, "The choice is yours, Naruto."
The blonde was silent, he finally answered nearly a minute later. "I will Aoi-san." He knelt down and placed Kagizume on the ground in front of Aoi before stepping off to his side and drawing Kuchibashi. Despite the opportunity to do so, attacking Naruto with his own sword didn't even enter Aoi's mind.
"Don't suppose anyone has any Sake do they?" Aoi chuckled as he picked up the elongated tantō, "No, I thought not," he added with an over the top sigh after no one responded. Naruto gripped Kuchibashi tightly in both hands and lifted it up high above Aoi in line with his neck.
"This is more than you deserve Aoi-san."
"I know," Aoi replied as he levelled the point of the blade at his stomach. "Then may the afterlife find a more fitting punishment for the crimes you have committed in this life," Naruto toned.
"I'm ready. As soon as I stab myself if you please. And, well met Naruto."
On his final word, he plunged the weapon into the left side of his abdomen, quickly drawing the blade to the right through his entire abdomen, blood gushing out. "Well meet," Naruto replied as his much heavier sword fell. The razor sharp edge cut through skin, flesh, bone and ligament.
The single strong, swift strike killed Aoi instantly. The pain in his abdomen was agonising but then nothing. His body slumped forward as blood poured out onto the ground.
As the Kaishakunin Naruto had successfully performed the Dakikubi as was expected of him. He had only partially decapitated Aoi, his head was still attached to the rest of his body by a thin band of flesh at the front of his neck.
The act of Seppuku was extremely rare amongst Shinobi, it was a ceremony instead associated with Samurai, it was why they'd all been taken aback when Aoi had requested it. In the world of Samurai Seppuku was a way to restore honour upon oneself or one's family but Shinobi cared little for honour; after all what was honour to a dead man?
Truthfully Naruto was just relieved to have performed it successfully, the Dakikubi was a difficult strike to pull off. The Kaishakunin got nothing out of it if they performed the Dakikubi successfully, but to fail and decapitate them completely would be considered a disgrace.
"Well struck Naruto," Itachi quietly said patting him on the shoulder. Together they both rolled Aoi onto his back, Naruto pulled Kagizume from his abdomen while Itachi removed the Raijin no Ken from his belt. Itachi placed a sealing scroll on Aoi's body and instructed them all the await Tri's return, it was his responsibility to ensure evidence was available to prove Aoi's death.
Aoi's choice of ritual suicide had left a sombre air over them all. "This one's still alive," one of the Iwa nin called out. Kitsuchi was soon by their side, the last surviving Ame nin was indeed still breathing, it was shallow and laboured. "Make it quick," Kitsuchi quietly instructed them.
They nodded their head in understanding. Rolling the Ame nin over he placed one of his hands over their eyes as Kitsuchi and Suzushii held them down, with kunai in hand he cut their throat.
A few seconds later their weakening struggles ceased.
-(*)-
It would be nearly ten minutes until Tri returned, the body of Dorobou slung over his right shoulder, the Iwa Tsue in his left hand.
He first walked up to Kurotsuchi, "Ma'am, I believe this is the property of Iwagakure," he formally said extending his left arm out in front of him offering her Iwa Tsue. "I thank you for returning it," she formally replied lifting her hands up underneath the staff to accept it. Tri gave her a curt nod before putting Dorobou's body on the ground next to Aoi's.
"I see no injuries, Tri, how did he die?" Itachi asked him. "Funnily enough I didn't do anything, he was so panicked he wasn't paying attention. He tripped on something and fell down a small but steep ravine, I think he broke his neck on the way down. How did Aoi meet his end?"
"He committed Seppuku."
"He did?" Tri asked with wide eyes. Kneeling down he looked at Aoi's near totally severed neck. "Well damn, he actually did. I must admit I'm surprised."
"We all were but Naruto agreed to aid him in ending his own life."
Naruto was still quiet, he hadn't said a word since ending Aoi's life. But with Tri's return, he could ask him a question that had been on his mind. "Who was he referring to," he muttered.
"You say something, Naruto?" Tri asked. "It's something Aoi said, he referred to his leader as Pein-sama but I've never heard the name before." The two Sharingan wielding Shinobi looked at one another, both shrugged their shoulders. "I've never heard the name either."
"Really? Any chance you'd be able to find out?"
Tri looked unsure, "Doubtful Naruto, Ame is a really difficult place to get intelligence from. As far as I'm aware Hanzo the Salamander is still in charge there. You could ask Jiraiya I guess but don't get your hopes up."
"Gah," Naruto said defeated. "Why does it bother you so?" He took a breath, "I don't know, there's just something about that name that unsettles me."
"It's not just that either. Look around us, where the hell are we."
He was right, the clearing they were in was not naturally shaped. The floor was smoothed stone, the walls too were smoothed stone and slanted outwards at a steep angle of about 65°. "You're right," Tri replied, "This place is.. manmade but what for."
All the surfaces were bare, devoid of any detail. "It looks like it's been here a while whatever it is," Tri added kneeling down to rub his hand against the floor. "But it's a mystery that will have to wait for another day. We'd best be making our exit, things to do, events to attend and the like."
"Events? All you ever do is work missions and stare at your wall."
"You're one to talk!" Tri retorted indignantly.
"While you are correct Tri, Itachi is also correct," Naruto stepped in trying to mediate. "But now you've peaked my curiosity, what event?"
"Never you mind!" he defensively replied. Naruto narrowed his eyes and grinned.
"You know Itachi, correct me if I'm wrong but the only event coming up in Konoha is the Natsu (Summer) Festival right?"
"Yes, that's the only one for several months." Naruto pointed an accusing finger at Tri, "You've never attended a Natsu Festival in your life. You have to wear a Kimono or Yukata for them and you detest wearing either."
Now Tri was starting to look uncomfortable, "Come on, own up. Who are you going with? There's no way you'd go on your own," Naruto questioned. The rest of the Shinobi present just watched as one brother interrogated the other.
"I-I."
"Yes…?" Naruto goaded. "I…"
"Will you just answer already so we can leave," the blonde complained.
"I'm taking Sakura-san alright!" he loudly blurted at him. His answer surprised Naruto and Itachi both into silence. "Her birthday was last month but I missed it thanks to a mission so this is my way of an apology all right - there are you happy now?" His tone of voice carried a serious challenge to it, if either of them said another word he was liable to punch them.
An awkward silence fell over everyone, fortunately, a new problem on the horizon would draw their attention. "We have a problem people," Sukauto said in alarm. "What's the matter?" Kurotsuchi asked spinning around. "I can sense a large group of Shinobi approaching from the North-west."
"Well then boys and girls, tidy up and leave no evidence because we're leaving," Kitsuchi immediately ordered, no one argued. "Which direction are we going in?" Shinsuke shouted to anybody listening. "South, make for Kaze no Kuni. I'd rather risk their desert patrols than staying here or going through Ame," Itachi shouted back.
Many of the others looked at one another as they began piling the bodies together, "Agreed," they collectively murmured.
In short order, all the corpses were dragged into a pile and any weapons and equipment disposed of.
"Did you use one of your experimental explosive tags?" Itachi asked to which Tri nodded. "Well, you'll be delighted to learn it worked, a perfect sphere shaped hole in the ground with nothing but a small pile of ash at the bottom."
"Good to know," he replied emotionlessly before sucking in air and releasing a stream of flame onto the corpses.
The seal in question was a combination of an explosive tag and elemental chakra, Shakuton in this instance. It would detonate as any explosive tag would but instead of an explosion it would release the chakra stored within. The effects would vary dependant on the chakra stored.
"Sukauto-san, how long?"
"About five minutes, maybe six Kitsuchi-sama."
"Then we'd better be making our exit," he declared. Tri threw a pair of tags onto the corpses, each attached to a kunai. The fire igniting them both immediately, two red-hot spheres consumed the bodies in an instant and in a matter of seconds, the bodies were no more.
Most looked on in silence, impressed by the power of the tags as Tri quickly sealed away the bodies of Dorobou and Aoi, throwing Dorobou's to Kurotsuchi. "Let's move people," Kitsuchi barked.
-(*)-
"Tri-san," Kurotsuchi said moving next to him as they ran. "Kurotsuchi-san," he replied, he still seemed a little moody. "What happened to your summons? You seem unconcerned that they've seemingly vanished into thin air."
"It's what they do. Part of our agreement was that they'd retain a great deal of autonomy. So while they do as I ask - the moment they're done, they're gone."
"Back to whatever it was you had them doing before?"
"Indeed," he bluntly spoke. She could tell there was no way she'd get an answer to any question pertaining to that.
They'd been on the move for nearly an hour, steadily heading southwards towards the Kaze no Kuni border. "So," she awkwardly said.
"So," he awkwardly replied.
"Why don't you like festivals?" she suddenly asked. He gave a resignated sigh but nevertheless answered, "I don't like crowds, amongst other things."
"Amongst other things?"
"Yeah... Naruto wasn't kidding when he said I didn't like wearing Kimonos or Yukatas. I loathe both - they're just so unwieldy and made with far more material than is necessary," he griped, something she gave an amused chuckle at.
"Oh don't give me that look," she chided him after noticing the scowl he was giving her. "You need to be able to put the kunai down every now and then, you'll burn out otherwise – or snap, whichever comes first. It's better than staring at your wall – whatever Itachi meant by that. What did he mean by that?"
"A while back I found a Fūinjutsu design that has since utterly stumped me. Since finding it I've had an enlarged copy stuck to one of my bedroom walls. For all the hours I've spent on it I've not been able to decipher anything about it"
"Nothing at all?"
"Not a thing."
"Aren't your parents both really good with Fūinjutsu?"
"They are, both are better than me but even they can't figure anything out."
"Perhaps it'll come to you in time," she tried to sound supportive even if she was clutching at straws. "I can hope."
"It's not natural, Itachi."
"Why? Because Kurotsuchi-san is able to actually get answers to questions she asks?"
"Exactly, it's not natural."
"No, Naruto, it is. He just knows that answering questions from you is likely to see you poke fun at him so he doesn't answer them," Itachi explained, both of them looking over their shoulders at the two conversing Shinobi behind them.
"I can sense an abnormality of some sort up ahead," Sukauto said to Kitsuchi. Naruto and Itachi weren't really paying attention.
"Besides, you know him well enough to have learnt his mannerisms by now. You know how defensive he can get. In some ways he's the antithesis of you, you love mingling at parties, festivals and the like, he doesn't. So come the Natsu Festival, you will leave him and Sakura-san well alone."
"Oh come on Itach…"
"No, zip it!" the Uchiha grunted. "If I hear you've been poking your nose in then I'll be using you for shuriken practice." Naruto shuddered, he knew Itachi wasn't kidding. "Fine," he relented, not fancying being turned into a target post.
Naruto was about to say something else when time seemed to slow for them all. They were in the midst of jumping atop a small flat-topped outcrop of rock.
On top of the rocky plateau directly across from them were a roughly similar number of unknowns. Each group spotted the other, each group's eyes sought out the others Hitai-ate's. Each quickly found them, Konoha and Iwa stared down Ishi and vice-versa. In an instant, all hell broke loose.
Itachi and Naruto, who had taken point when they'd departed were the first to react. Itachi plunging two kunai into the chest of an Ishi Kunoichi who never had the chance to raise her own weapons to defend herself. Naruto was only a moment behind, blocking another's attempt to strike at Itachi.
Battle was quickly joined, the engagement quickly spreading out to cover a far larger area, the Shinobi all finding themselves split into smaller groups.
Naruto and Kurotsuchi were one such smaller group, both unsure of quite how they ended up separated from everyone else. Arrayed against them were three Ishi nin. No words were exchanged, only the sounds of clashing metal and the pained exclamations of the wounded and dying filled the air.
Naruto ducked under a kunai backslash, immediately responding with a fierce punch to the gut, his fist striking deep into his opponent's abdomen. They stumbled back, their head dropping a little as the air was knocked out of them. Naruto followed up with a vicious knee to the jaw, the Ishi nin's head snapped back violently, their teeth crashing together with an echoing crack.
He knew his opponent was only dazed but the other two working together against Kurotsuchi was a more pressing concern, bringing his eyes around to the three of them he knew he couldn't reach her in time.
As the blonde was dealing with the third, Kurotsuchi, a kunai in her right hand was defensively weaving through the attacks thrown her way, but they were all coming from just one opponent. She'd lost track of the second as they tried to get around behind her.
They waited a few brief moments, waiting for an opening to strike. They spotted it and rushed forward. Held horizontally in front of them was a long, narrow blade with a serrated edge ready to plunge into Kurotsuchi's back. Further defensive actions turned her around slightly, it brought the one she'd lost and their sword into view, she didn't have enough time to dodge or block.
She closed her eyes and awaited the impending agony of the blade drilling into her flesh.
*Shlick*
She recognised the sound of sharpened metal penetrating flesh and bone, but she felt nothing. Opening her eyes she gasped. The one poised to strike her down had stopped moving, the tip of their blade not two feet from her. But a second sword was now buried to the hilt in their skull, it had gone in through the back of their head and emerged through their left eye, it was a gruesome sight.
She knew they were already dead, the sole remaining eye was glazed over and dimming, there wasn't a single drop of blood as they crumpled to the ground. She wasn't the only one stunned into immobility, her second opponent still remained but not for long. They had no time to react as Naruto appeared in front of them, Kuchibashi in hand as he literally cleaved them in two with his chakra imbued sword.
'He threw his sword,' she mentally said to herself. "You ok?" he asked stepping in front of her so her eyes would focus on him. "Uh yeah," she managed to quietly say. "Thank goodne…" Naruto was cut off as Kurotsuchi's hand, the one wielding the kunai moved.
He could actually fell the minimal airwave the kunai gave off as it streaked past within centimetres of his ear. He spun as he heard a pained grunt behind him, he spun in time to see the third Ishi nin, the one he'd kneed fall to the ground, the kunai embedded deep enough in his chest to penetrate the heart.
He silently berated himself for forgetting but he's seen the imminent threat to Kurotsuchi and reacted to that instinctively.
"And that makes us even today," she said taking a few steps towards him. She wasn't quite sure why given the situation she currently found herself in but the words 'Don't be afraid to force the issue' reverberated in her mind. She decided to heed the words advice. Quickly looking around to see if anyone else was within eyeshot she leaned up on her top-toes and quickly kissed him on the cheek.
"Thank you," she said before rushing off to help the others. Naruto on the other hand just stood there dumbly, utterly amazed by what had just happened. He couldn't prevent his hand from lifting up to his face, lightly running over where her lips had met his skin, "Wow," he whispered.
"Hurry up you dummy. We ain't finished yet!" he heard her shout back. That was sufficient to snap him out of his reverie, "Oh right, yeah," he giggled to himself. He knelt down and carefully withdrew Kagizume from the Ishi nin's skull, after which he shot off after her.
He quickly caught her and both were surprised by just how far they'd ended up from the others. The impromptu battle was over by the time they returned, and the battle site truly looked the part. There were pools and splatters of red blood all over the place, an arm was missing the rest of its body, corpses littered the outcrop of stone.
But that wasn't what pulled the attention of the two of them. Instead, their eyes and ears were drawn towards Tri who was rather voraciously berating Itachi.
"What on earth were you thinking?" he angrily demanded of the Uchiha.
"Tri, what's wrong?" Naruto tentatively asked. An angry Tri had to be handled with caution. "What's wrong? I'll tell you what's wrong!"
-(*)-
A few minutes earlier
They'd lost track of Naruto, Kurotsuchi and many of the others, only Shinsuke and one of the Iwa Kunoichi remained with himself and Tri, they were still on the rocky outcrop they'd made contact on. They'd thought there was only 12 to 15 Ishi nin but that was quickly put to rest as another Ishi team revealed themselves.
The four of them were now found themselves against seven Ishi nin. The fight against them, however, wouldn't prove to be their greatest concern, that would choose to reveal itself at the worst possible moment.
Itachi with his tantō in hand was harrying a Kunoichi hard, with a kunai in each of her hands she struggled to parry, block or dodge Itachi's rapid strikes with the short bladed weapon. Then he choked back a cough, 'Oh no, not now,' he pleaded in alarm.
He kept up his offensive picking up the pace, now trying to force a kill. And by forcing the issue his strikes became sloppy, another choked cough provided his opponent with an opportunity and went on the offensive herself forcing him back.
Another cough, much more powerful than those before dropped him to one knee.
Tri a few feet away using his Sharingan saw in slow-motion Itachi's attacks go from fluid to awkward to awful in mere moments. When he dropped to one knee he knew he had to react or he'd be carrying him home in a scroll.
The Kunoichi stood over Itachi, a grin on her face as she raised a kunai ready to strike him down, she didn't understand why her quarry had dropped to one knee but then she didn't really care. Her arm fell, closing in on Itachi's head, the Uchiha's cough now debilitating as he was wracked by them one after another. Her arm descended further, closer and closer until it passed Itachi's head altogether.
It kept going until it hit the floor. The Kunoichi was confused, her confusion suppressed her pain receptors for a few moments, then it hit her all at once. She dropped to her knees screaming in pain clutching at the shoulder where her right arm used to be. "I'm sorry my dear but I need this one alive," was spoken to her but she paid no heed, her pain soon came to an end.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Tri harshly questioned as Itachi managed to bring the hoarse coughing fit under control. "Look out!" Itachi heard although he didn't know who'd said it. By the time he was able to speak again Tri was no longer standing over him, he'd had to get back into the fray as he'd momentarily left Shinsuke and the Iwa Kunoichi against five Ishi nin.
Itachi managed to pull himself back to his feet, he was breathing hoarsely as he did, it felt like he swallowed a handful of Genma-sensei's senbon. He'd covered his mouth with a hand when it had started and now he pulled it back, he winced at the droplets of red staining his palm.
With his breath returned he also returned to the fray catching one completely off-guard by shunshining behind him. Itachi's tantō was angled upwards, the weapon first penetrating their lower back and quickly reaching a lung. They would drown in his own blood.
With the four of them back in action, they were able to soon overcome the disadvantage of numbers and soon slew the final Ishi nin, credit where it was due – none of them ran. But that wasn't before they suffered an injury.
With the fight over Shinsuke dropped to the floor, he'd received a mean looking cut on his left-hand side, part of his shirt covered in blood. The Iwa Kunoichi who'd been with them immediately began tending to him as some of the others returned.
"Shinsuke-san, what happened?" Itachi asked him, he figured now that he'd been the one to shout out earlier. "The lady here," he started, pointing to the petite Kunoichi seeing to his wound, "was busy with two of them, she blocked and repelled one but lost track - I think - of the second. So in my infinite wisdom instead of taking them out, I pushed her out of the way and got kunai'd in her place."
"And while very selfless of you, it was very stupid. Now stop talking so I can heal this," the young woman said. "Far from your smartest decision Shinsuke-san but a commendable one."
"See, I thought so to… AH!" he suddenly yelped. "I told you to be quiet now shush," she chastised him. He gave her a face more akin to that of a scolded dog but he did keep his mouth shut this time.
Then Tri's shouting started.
"Itachi, you'd better start explaining," Tri demanded.
-(*)-
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. So let me get this straight. You've had this intermittent illness for over a year!?" stated a perplexed Naruto having listened to Tri explain the situation. "And you never once went to see Tsunade-sama about it? Have you completely lost your mind?"
By the time Tri had explained the situation, everybody else had returned. Astoundingly Shinsuke's wound proved to be the most serious, everyone else barring a few scrapes and bruises was fine. They all watched on as two members of the Prodigal Three lambasted the third.
Itachi's verbal dressing down continued as Kitsuchi turned to Sukauto. "What the hell happened? How did you not sense nearly twenty Ishi Shinobi?"
"I-I'm at a loss Kitsuchi-sama. I genuinely can't explain it, I could only sense increased chakra levels in the area but nothing specific, it could have been us for all I knew."
"Have you ever encountered anything like this or read of any phenomena that might explain it?" Sukauto shook his head glumly, "I've never come across anything like it."
"Is it still present now or has it vanished?" a listening in Suzushii asked. Again Sukauto shook his head, "No it's gone now. I'm unsure as to exactly when it ceased but it was present just before we engaged the Ishi nin."
"Did anybody see anything out of the ordinary that might have been responsible or played a part?" Kitsuchi asked more in hope than anything else. He groaned as they all shook their heads, "This mission just keeps getting more bizarre," he bemoaned.
"So if Itachi has a major problem how do we proceed?" Hana asked the two brothers who'd seemed to have finished shouting at the Uchiha clan heir. "The plan doesn't change, we go south into Kaze no Kuni then east back to Hi no Kuni. The only difference will be us dropping Itachi off in Konoha while we return to Iwa."
Tri picked up where Naruto left off, "More specifically we'll be dropping Itachi in the lobby of Konoha hospital. And out of respect for you Itachi I won't be assuming command of your team on medical grounds even though I'm well within my right to do so until we've got you back to Konoha." Itachi sullenly nodded
Naruto knelt down next to Shinsuke and the Iwa medic. "Will he be alright to move?" he asked her as she finished tying a bandage around the wound. "As long as you don't push him too hard he'll be alright. I've sealed and mostly healed the wound but anything too strenuous may open the wound again." He gave her his thanks as he slowly pulled Shinsuke to his feet.
"My thanks mi' lady," Shinsuke flirtatiously thanked the short young woman.
-(*)-
A few Days later
"The finer details will be provided in my full report Tsuchikage-sama," Kurotsuchi finished. She was stood before her grandfather in his office. Her team was stood behind her while the Konoha Shinobi stood off to the side.
"Thank you Kurotsuchi-chan," he replied as he stood from his chair. He made his way in front of his desk, floating a few inches off the ground the whole way.
"While my granddaughter alluded to the reasons briefly, I wanted to ask you exactly why your two members down?"
"Uchiha Itachi was discovered to have an underlying health concern that he'd neglected to have investigated by medical professionals so we dumped him in Konoha hospital on our way back here."
"Oh, I can't imagine that pleased Tsunade-hime very much."
"That is an understatement. We dropped him off in her office and after quickly bringing her up to speed she demanded we leave them, she looked pretty upset at the time. Not even revealing we'd recovered the Raijin no Ken seemed to help much." Ōnoki allowed himself a brief laugh.
As for the second one, Shinsuke-san was wounded in the engagement with the Ishi-nin – my thanks to the quick and effective work of your medic," he added inclining his head respectfully in her direction. "But we felt it best to leave him to properly recover rather than have him travel with us." The elderly Kage nodded in understanding and with his questions answered returned to his desk.
The assembled Shinobi collectively discussed a few more things, including how Sukauto couldn't sense the Ishi squads, frustratingly not even Ōnoki could provide any answers. Ōnoki had also never heard the name Pein before either. But before long it was time for them to depart.
The Tsuchikage had specifically chosen to personally see them off in full view of the citizens of Iwagakure.
He wasn't ignorant to the fact that the people of his village would probably never let go of the animosity towards Minato, he'd probably never fully forgive him either but he didn't hate the man anymore. But that didn't mean he had to hate Minato's descendants, what would be the point?
And it wasn't just him who sought better relations with Konoha and by extension Hi no Kuni. Over the past two or so years he'd been politically pressured to seek ways of improving those relations from the only person Ōnoki was answerable to - the Daimyō of Tsuchi no Kuni. The founding of a firm friendship with the relatively young Daimyō of Hi no Kuni was the cause.
The short old man stepped – well hovered forward. He extended out his hand, Tri extended his own and in full view of a growing crowd shook hands.
"My thanks to your team and your village for aiding in the retrieval of the Iwa Tsue," Ōnoki loudly declared.
"And my thanks to your team and your village for aiding in the retrieval of the Raijin no Ken," Tri loudly replied.
Both had spoken loudly enough for everybody watching on to hear, Ōnoki knew news of this would have spread across the village by the end of the day. Tri had recognised Ōnoki's actions, his time with the Jūnishi had taught him some of the finer points of politics, he knew when someone was making a statement.
After Tri Ōnoki shook hands with Naruto, Hana and Suzushii, bidding them all a safe journey home, Kitsuchi and Kurotsuchi did the same, in fact, all the Iwa shinobi they'd done the mission with did. But now it meant more for some of them, now they were now saying goodbye to comrades and dare they say it, friends?
With everyone paying attention to Kitsuchi and Kurotsuchi shaking hands with the sons of the Yondaime Hokage, no one saw the short Kunoichi medic slip a letter into Suzushii's pouch addressed to Shinsuke mere moments before they turned to leave.
A quick look to his right as the Konoha squad shrank into the distance made Ōnoki snort in amusement. "Oh don't look so downcast granddaughter. I expect you'll be seeing them again before long. She turned her head to stare at him, "I slipped Naruto a letter for his father. I expect it shan't be long until we nail down the date for the next diplomatic exchange."
-(*)-
"I wasn't expecting them to see us off like that," Hana said, a little surprise still evident in her voice, she wasn't the only one. "It was a rather pleasant surprise that can only be seen as positive," Suzushii added.
"Positive certainly, even if it was deliberate," Naruto pointed out. "What do you mean Naruto?" Hana asked. "The handshakes in full view, the official and carefully worded statements loud enough for all to hear, the presence of all three members of the Tsuchikage family. They were making a statement – no a declaration.
"'The relations between Iwagakure and Konohagakure will continue to improve. Get used to it'."
"That – actually makes a lot of sense," Suzushii noted. "The good news doesn't end there either," Naruto joyously said. This time the two Chūnin didn't have a clue, "Why?" Hana finally asked after seeing he wasn't going to tell them without being prompted. "This mission - the moment we ran into the Ishi nin became classified."
"Yes... And?"
"Tri, if you would," Naruto smirked, the Uzumaki rolling his eyes. "As Naruto said this mission is now classified, in Konoha classified missions are automatically raised to an S-Rank mission rating."
"Which means?" Naruto butted in. "Which means you'll be getting paid for completing an S-Rank mission. Your 100,000 Ryo payment will be bumped up to around a million."
"Yay!" Naruto cheered.
End Chapter