Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto the anime or manga. This story is based off the world of Naruto. All rights go to Masashi Kishimoto.
Chapter 26 – Friend or Foe?
Capital of the Land of Fire, Western District
FLOP!
"GRR! What the hell!? This is so hard," the voice of Naruto complained. The rubber ball that he gripped had one large hole. The tension was released, and the ball flattened, it looked like a pathetic pancake.
Naruto scrunched the ripped rubber ball and threw it in the nearby bin. Crossing his arms over his chest, Naruto scowled with a huff and puff of his cheeks. The nearby pedestrians were wondering why the child was filled with so much rage. However, they didn't bother to find out. It wasn't worth their time or hassle.
Naruto relaxed and loosened up eventually. He calmed himself down by smelling the savoury aroma that resided on his fingertips. He made the right choice of going to Takara Ramen earlier on, if he didn't, he would have blown up because of his fury.
It was his ultimate cure and weakness. Ramen did wonders to the boy, Naruto would even consider it his personal medicine.
Naruto took out another rubber ball and gripped it hard in his right hand. Staring intently at it, he was trying to find the solution to it.
"The first step is the whole base of the jutsu. I have that down. I can control my charka as it goes in multiple directions. Now, I need to make it more powerful," he whispered through gritted teeth.
Naruto regripped the rubber ball and his eyes shifted over to it. Focusing hard, Naruto began to mould his chakra and form the base of the Rasengan.
His hand started to vibrate with the ball. Was Naruto going to achieve and complete the second stage of the Rasengan already?
FLOP!
No, he wasn't, and he wasn't going to achieve it by a longshot.
Naruto watched as the rubber ball deflated once again, just like his emotions. Forming a frown due to his disappointment, Naruto threw the ball into the bin. Resealing the pile of rubber balls, Naruto packed up his belongings and left the park across from the 'Decks' restaurant.
He then peeked his head inside and looked around for any sign of the woman. There was nothing apart from the rude manager staying behind his desk, tending to the books. Naruto growled and went back outside.
Walking a few mere steps to the centre of the road, Naruto looked up to the high clocktower that stood tall and proud in the Western District. Intricate patterns were carved in the stonework, it was truly a pleasure to appreciate the art.
Staring at the hands of the clock, Naruto read the time. "Oh damn… It's already ten to ten. I don't have that much time left. Ero-sennin will be waiting for me at that Central Guard tower place," he said. "It might be a good idea to leave now and meet up with him. I doubt Ero-sennin will have anything either."
Naruto sighed depressingly, turning his body around towards the centre of the Capital, he picked the pace, so he can meet up with Jiraiya in time.
CRASH!
A sense of déjà vu washed over Naruto as he had to take a few steps back. He crashed most of his body into something hard, but his head had hit and rebounded off something incredibly soft.
"Damnit, what is it with this city and people getting in my way!" Naruto complained while checking he had everything on him. It could have been a petty thief that he encountered.
Naruto looked loosely and saw the figure of a woman walking close to him. "Look, sorry about that lady, but I'm in a rush," he told her, moving right round the woman, then moving forward. "So, I better be going off."
The woman laughed lightly, Naruto was stopped in his tracks as his collar was held in a tight grip.
"Now oh now, you can't leave me that quickly," the woman stated. Her voice was familiar, very soothing. A voice that he liked.
However, Naruto wasn't in the best of moods. In fact, he was in a terrible mood. Not only was his wait for Niko had become a waste of time, his training for the Rasengan wasn't showing any improvement. And now of all things, he had to smash his body into someone else's.
All he wanted was to get Jiraiya and go to bed.
"I can do what I want lady! Don't order me around," Naruto declared with a soured tone, walking away from the scene.
"Oi, wait for me."
Naruto felt a hand grasp his right shoulder with quite some force. Instinct overran his body. Naruto grabbed the wrist of the holder with his left and then grabbed the top of the forearm with his right.
Feeling the structure of the arm, Naruto could tell that it was a woman with muscular arms. Not something you see in the women of the Capital, though it would be a different story if he was back in Konoha.
However, this woman's arm was still more muscular than those he has seen before, not that he felt the other Kunoichi's arms.
As Naruto watched the person flip over his head, he saw elegant free flowing white hair pass over his eyes. At that moment, his heart dropped to rock bottom.
'Oh shit!' Naruto thought with a mental shout. He knew he was going to be in a world of pain.
The woman landed on her using her amazing flexibility, she then twisted her body, so she was facing Naruto. Her eyes covered in darkness painted a scary picture.
With the flick of her wrist and arm, she disarmed Naruto's grip on her. With a quick grab, she tightly tugged Naruto's head and pulled it down.
Naruto scrunched his face in pain, but that wasn't the worst part. As soon as his face scrunched up, his nose was met with her rock-hard knee.
CRACK!
The force of it was unbelievable, and so was the pain. Naruto cringed, the action reminded him of his spars with Kotaro.
With the force putting him off-balance, Naruto stumbled backwards covering his face and nose. He felt fresh warm blood flow out of his now newly broken nostrils with his shaky right hand.
"Oh no, it's broken," Naruto whimpered. "It better heal up soon. Ow, jeez that hurt like hell!"
Naruto then felt his arms were being taken away from him. His right arm was being held in an iron-tight grip, the other twisted around so much that it could easily break if enough force was applied. Naruto's back felt the body of the woman who has locked him down.
It really was a sense of déjà vu for him today. He then felt a pair of lips come dangerously close to his left ear.
"Calm down if you don't want a broken arm, Naruto." Again, the voice was familiar. And Naruto shouldn't be surprised one bit. There was only one woman he knew who would have done something like this.
Naruto relaxed his body and dropped his shoulders. "Niko-neechan!" he cheered with a happy expression.
A groan was heard from Niko. Naruto could hear the exasperation in her voice. "Naruto, you shouldn't so happy. Your nose is broken. Come on, I guess I'll have to heal you up," she said with grief. "I didn't want to hurt you. But you flipped me over and tried to hurt me. What the hell is going on with you?"
Naruto felt Niko unhanded him. The warmth disappeared. He then wiped his nose of the fresh flowing blood. He looked around to see if that they had made a scene. As expected, everybody was watching them as they walked by with grim stares.
Without any warning, Naruto then felt he was pulled across the street to the wall of a building.
"Well, are you going to tell me?" Niko asked with seriousness, towering over Naruto with her arms crossed under her chest. The look of worry was on her face.
Naruto blushed slightly and pulled his head back a bit. He wasn't used to other people apart from his brother and Nara Yoshino worrying about him.
"Nee-chan, I really need your help," Naruto said. "You're the only person I could think of."
"What's the problem? Is it Kotaro?" Niko asked immediately with her teeth baring. "Is he in danger? Are you in danger? Just lay it on me."
Naruto shook his hand whilst covering his nose. "No Nee-chan. Nothing like that. Nii-chan is fine. I just need help with my mission. It's really important that I can get a solid lead," he answered.
Niko relieved her tension with a loud sigh and nodded slowly. "I understand… Come on, we're getting noticed out here. And I can't stand looking at your bloodied face anymore knowing I was the one who did it. Let's go," she ordered as she turned heel and walked ahead.
Naruto followed suit, leaning his head back to slow down the flow of blood. "Sorry Nee-chan," he said with a struggle. "I didn't know it was you. I thought you were a thief for like a second."
Niko's response was a snort. "I don't steal from children Naruto. Especially cute ones like yourself," she said with a voice too sweet.
"Stop it Nee-chan. You'll probably make my bleeding worse."
"Is that so? I thought you were good at healing your wounds now Naruto," Niko said with a small smile, her voice never changing.
Naruto frowned and the happy smile that he had left. "Where did you get that idea from, Nee-chan?"
Naruto then heard the loud humming of Niko.
"I remember Kotaro and I were talking, and he had a small bandage around his wrist. I asked him what it was, he then said something like 'Ah it's nothing to worry about. Just something I picked up during my contract. It'll heal quickly, it's in my blood,' or something along those lines. Contract meaning him finishing up on killing someone," she said with a stone-cold voice.
Naruto felt a wave of awkwardness hit him. How was he supposed to reply to that?
"I didn't know you and Nii-chan knew each other so well. I thought you just talked to him at the exams because he was the only person there you knew."
"Not at all. I'd like to think that we're close friends. It certainly feels that way. But you know, sometimes he doesn't really express how he really feels. And whenever he comes here, he's always on a mission," Niko complained as she walked, combing through her hair with her fingers. The long locks bounced with every step.
"Nee-chan, Kotaro-nii doesn't kill because he enjoys it. He-"
Naruto was interrupted by Niko's loud laugh, he then was the suddenly hugged from her. It was comforting, it truly was.
"Naruto… Do you think I'm stupid?"
Naruto shook his head after he wiped his nose. The blood stopped pouring, yet his upper lip and chin were covered in his dried blood.
"No! Obviously not! You'd be stupid to think that."
Niko paused for a second before chuckling to herself. An unintentional oxymoron got the best of her. She then walked ahead once more to lead the way.
"I know what you, Kotaro, and your village really are. You're a shinobi. Your village takes on requests, which are categorised into missions. I can ask your village to clean my house, or to guard one of my establishments, or even to kill someone for me. It would be very easy for me to do so.
And I don't care if Kotaro kills for a living. That is the life he chose for himself. Sure, he loves to fight, battle the strong, smell the blood in the air. He's tenacious in his fights so I hear. And he loves the challenge. Only time when he is scared is when he in a situation where he has zero control and someone he cherishes is in danger. He's honest about it and that's why I enjoy his company.
Very few people are truly honest…
And you have chosen your own life to live for. It would be sad if you weren't willing to take the necessary steps in becoming Hokage."
Naruto's lips frowned. "I don't want to kill just to achieve my dreams," he admitted. "Taking a life, that kind of decision… it's horrible."
"But you've done it before," Niko lamented as she stopped outside a tall building covered in red neon lights. "Reflecting on your past will only help you learn as long as you don't let them weigh you down to the ground. If your kills are justified, then you are making the correct decision for your future."
"Is it justified? Or is that just a cover for our evil?" Naruto asked as he looked at the bloodied palm of his hand.
"You're the idiot here!" Niko hissed quickly, making Naruto look up to her with surprise. "Let's take an example. Konoha was being invaded by multiple enemies. You killed Oto ninja. If you didn't, they would have killed the citizens of Konoha and destroyed the village. Did you do the right thing or not?"
"Well I-"
"In my eyes you did. If you didn't aid in the battle, Konoha could have been wiped off the map for eternity. And that would bring down the curtains on your dream," Niko finished. "We'll talk more as we go in. Just don't take it all in. You're too young for a place like this."
"A place like this?" Naruto repeated in confusion.
Naruto saw as a large guard stepped out of the way from the doorway. He followed her so not to get lost.
As he entered the building, Naruto became deathly quiet as he looked from side to side. This was something no child should see until he has become a man. Naruto was in a brothel. And a fancy one at that.
Attractive women from all around were showing themselves off to wealthy men for cold hard cash. Some were providing services in the private quarters. It was graphic to say the least.
Naruto, knowing what love is and having an older brother that wanted him to have good knowledge of human anatomy, understood that men and women would perform certain sexual acts to each other when the time was right.
To be a spectator of someone else's sexual pleasure wasn't pleasant at all, so Naruto made sure his eyes were always looking at the ends of Niko's hair and of the naked women displaying the art that is of the human body.
It was a difficult task to not stare. Naruto was a young man after all.
"Naruto? Did you know that the Western District was the original part of the city before the other districts formed? The Capital is one of the oldest locations in the world, and because of that, it has gone through many battles. It has risen and fallen many times," Niko said with an enlightened voice.
"And?" Naruto asked with a curious tone.
"The city we're in now is built on the city of the old. The sewer system and the old city that used to be here is all part on an underground system. If you haven't noticed, the Western District is raised higher up from all the other districts. And the 'Core' watches over everything still."
"What does that all mean?"
Niko laughed while walking to the back of the brothel. She then opened a locked door that was hidden beneath a wall banner of colourful patterns.
Unlocking and going through the door, the brothel section of the building was gone. Niko was walking down many corridors after locking it up again. As he should, Naruto was following her every footstep. He had no clue on where he was being led to, but he trusted the woman in front of him.
The corridors were confusing, the walls were covered by mirrors, so Naruto saw both of their reflections all around.
He wondered what the deal with all these mirrors was. Was it to distract you? What if it was for intruders who ventured to this section without permission, so they can lose themselves and get stuck?
Naruto knew that only Niko knew. He didn't bother to ask for the reason, he was sure it was done for her own protection.
Left, straight, right, right, left and straight again. It seemed to go on forever.
Naruto saw that he and Niko stood at a dead end, they were close together. Niko then looked to the wall and inspected it.
Naruto took the time now to take in the new details of the woman. It seemed she never liked to keep the same appearance.
During the Chūnin exams where she was a spectator, she wore a battle dress, and a nice one at that. Naruto appreciated the fact that she showed his support for him by wearing an orange ribbon around her knot for her ponytail. It made her look sophisticated and cool at the same time in his eyes.
Now she had her hair loose, her two white bangs framed her elegant face beautifully. Her strands of white hair reached to her lower back. Her outfit reminded him of the outfit that she wore when they met for the first time.
Only difference that Naruto could see that her outfit now covered more skin. Last time, she wore just a halter style top that revealed her shoulders and arms. Now, both areas were covered in a blue cardigan, which was with wavy golden streaks.
Seems that this woman took her sense of fashion and style seriously.
From his point of view, Naruto assumed that the cardigan was made from silk. It was clearly an expensive piece of clothing.
Naruto turned around to look moved so he could have a better look at what the woman was doing. His eyes widened once he saw that she was putting in a number code on the mirrored wall. There were nine different dials, where you move the numbers of zero to nine. A dull metal skull face was present within the wall, resting above the dials. The skull's empty eyes made Naruto uneasy.
She moved the dials to form her code. Satisfied, she then pulled on the eye sockets of the skull face, forcing it to move out of the wall. With a surprising amount of strength, she turned the metal until the skull face was upside down. Finally, she ended it her actions by pushing it back into the wall.
An ordinary man that one find on the streets would have struggled to pull out the skull. Naruto wondered how much physical strength this woman had.
Naruto felt vibrations in the ground and looked around. He could hear the movement of gears, something was happening, but he had no idea what.
"What the hell is going on ttebayo!?" Naruto asked, confusion was present in his voice and facial expressions.
"I'm showing you a piece of history," Niko said as she stepped back, pushing Naruto back along with her.
"Ok…"
The mirrored wall with the dull metal skull unhinged and moved away from the two, it then turned counter-clockwise on a hinge to reveal a spiral staircase that was descending.
Without caution, Niko climbed down the stairs. Naruto, not wanting to be rude, followed her once more.
Absorbing his surroundings, he saw that the stonework was old. Naruto was no architect, but even he knew that the brick used around him must be from the time when the city began to prosper.
Naruto went on ahead; the spiral staircase became a hallway. He suddenly turned around and watched a wall raise up, sealing the entrance. His beating heart really disliked all of this.
To him, it reminded him the story of Kotaro's adventure in the ancient ruins of the Land of Stone and his own exploration inside the Hokage Mountain. Places where one could easily get trapped.
There were small lanterns on the walls that were lit up by bright blue flames. The heat output of them were unreal.
The flames truly caught his interest. They were no mere ordinary flame, Naruto could instantly tell by the look of them. He wondered what kind of substance Niko used to make it like that.
Naruto, she's really, really strong. Don't worry about her.
The words of Kotaro reminded Naruto that the woman he was dealing with was as tough as nails. Maybe this was her power, blue fire? It seemed strange. If Niko could use chakra, then it would make more sense, but Naruto knew Fire Ninjutsu produced red and orange flames, not blue.
Naruto shook his head and placed it far back in his mind. He'll ask questions about it later, right now he needed to find out about Tsunade and her location. Of course, he didn't like being left in the dark, but he hated the idea of him being rude. Thus, he kept his mouth shut.
The hallway eventually stopped and in front of Naruto's eyes was another staircase, but it looked smaller than the previous one. Niko wasn't anywhere around so the young ninja kept his right foot forward and ploughed on ahead. It didn't take him long to jog down the rest of steps.
Naruto entered a room, there were no windows at all, ensuring maximum security. Around the large room there were many bookshelves filled with manuscripts, scrolls and thick books.
On the walls, there were maps of the whole Mainland, both continents were included. The Eastern Continent and the Western Continent. A large piece of land split in two.
Between the two continents was a large and wide mountain range that created a natural border from the top to the bottom. Because of its nature, they were named the Snake Fold mountains.
There is a great myth surrounding the mountain range that a mystical location called the Ryūchi Cave is deep within one of the mountains. A place that could grant you unimaginable power. Many did not believe it even exists.
None ever ventured to find out if it was true, the lands that the cave was rumoured to be at was surrounded by the highest mountains in the range. And beyond the mountain walls, there were many great snake predators waiting to turn you into their afternoon snake.
The Eastern Continent is where the Lands of Earth, Fire, Lightning, Water and Wind lay. The minor countries than surround and sit beside these major powerhouses added to it. There was a great balance and order in that half of the Mainland.
Beyond the Lands of Earth and Wind, and past the Snake fold mountains laid the Western Continent. It was ravaged by the constant wars between the many small nations. Only a mere handful of minor ninja hidden villages reside there. None of them were famous compared to the five great ninja hidden villages in the East. They had little influence in the flow of the world.
In the Western Continent, there were a lot more countries, yet these countries were all small, holding armies large enough to only hold their own ground. Death, poverty, famine, drought, natural disasters, the West had it all.
Naruto never heard much news when it came to the other side. Iruka only taught his class the names and general location of the countries that make up the West. The politics between the two sides have never been stable.
It would be fair to say that the Eastern Continent ignores the West, for the facts that it is wealthier, stronger and the lack of constant war makes it peaceful.
There was only three things he only really remembered about the lands in the West. One, the samurai were much more prominent in terms of military might for most countries. Two, there was a city with no laws, a hub for anything and everything. It was known as the 'Free City of Opportunities'. And finally, deep in the lands, there are horsemen of great power. An ancient clan that have the potential to conquer their neighbours.
But for now, most of that were only rumours to Naruto. If it didn't affect him or anyone he cared about, he didn't show any interest to the subject.
Naruto shifted his eyes away from the map and looked to where Niko was, she was going through a thick book.
Naruto walked over to her desk, he was curious. "What'cha doing Nee-chan?" he asked.
Niko ignored him and wrote on a piece of paper, she took her time and made sure to write everything neatly.
Naruto respected her privacy and didn't peep over the letter to see who it was for or what the contents said.
Naruto paced around the room until she was done, no point making her rush things. He certainly did not want her to dislike or hate him for any reason.
There was nothing that particularly caught his eye in this room, the fact that a lot of things were in boxes most likely contributed to that fact. He did want to go and search through them, yet he probably would've gotten murdered if he tried to do it while she was here.
"Naruto, here now," Niko ordered sternly. Flicking her fingers towards her to make the boy move with more pace.
Naruto turned around straight away and walked over to her again. He watched her lick an envelope shut as he walked over. He looked to the desk and saw another letter.
"What's up?"
Niko made sure the envelope was crisp and there were no creases on the paper. She flattened it out with her hands. She then grabbed a wet rag and threw onto Naruto's face.
Naruto quickly scrubbed his face clean and looked at the woman with a fresh face.
"So, I'm all for helping you out. But you must do something for me in return, can you handle it?" she asked, holding the envelope close to her face.
Naruto nodded with a smile. "Yeah, I can do it. What do you need me to do?" he asked.
Niko gave him the envelope and took the rag from him, throwing it onto a sink in the corner. She then rested her hands on her hips. Her weight shifted to her left hip. "I need that to go to Kotaro. It must be in perfect condition when it reaches him. Tell him it's important information for him… and a bit for Konoha."
Naruto looked at the envelop and then to Niko with narrowed eyes. "I'll do it. But! I have a few questions. Why don't you use a messenger or a messenger hawk? And what about the other letter," he asked.
Niko sighed heavily and shook her head. "Naruto, you're related to Kotaro. If I give it to a messenger, he might die on the job, or sell me out. I don't have a messenger hawk or messenger of my own that I can trust. My last one got shot down. The ones you can use here aren't trained to the very max. And if they got shot down on the job, that information will be released. This letter is very important. I know if I give it to you, I have no reason whatsoever to worry."
Naruto nodded with the answer as he was satisfied with the reasoning. "And the other letter?" he asked. "Is that one for Nii-chan as well?"
Niko shook her head and waved her hands. "No, don't worry about that one. It's just something I'm trying to figure out. The man is a stubborn prick, but I can't go to him arms blazing. It would only end up in one of dying of us and the other mortally wounded. I may have to face him sooner than I would like though, and it's never pleasant with that mask of his," she said with a creepy smile. It did not fit the tone of the conversation.
"Nee-chan… What do you do?" Naruto asked.
He thought she was just a businesswoman with a lot of property. But more and more he spends time with her, the more he notices that she appears to know a lot of the world, and the politics of it all.
And the blue flames from before, what kind of power was that? It only added to the long list of questions that needed to be answered. This woman was too damn mysterious in his opinion.
Niko slumped her shoulders and sat on her chair. Staring at Naruto with her dark blue eyes, she laughed lightly.
"Naruto, I'm a woman of many talents. Just call me an open-minded businesswoman who likes to put in the work. Now, what is it that you want?" she asked. "I will help you to the best of my abilities since you are doing this for me."
Breathing deeply, Naruto calmed down. "I need your help. The day we first met, we went to your restaurant and had chowder. It was nice."
Niko nodded with a smile. "I remember, you're just as interesting as the first time we met," she said. "Go on."
Naruto nodded. "At the end of the meal. Your mean manager came over, and you said something about the Legendary Sucker. I need to find that woman," he told her. "Do you know where she could have gone? Any idea?"
Niko hummed as she went to her mind to muse. "Her? What did she do to you? Hopefully nothing bad."
Naruto shook his head. "No, I've never met her. But I need to find her. It's for a mission."
Niko pulled back her head with a "Oh," and started to go through her large book in front of her. She pulled back four pages and then started to read down the list.
Naruto watched her go over entries made by her with their dates on them. Her fingers stopped on one entry and she started to mouth over the words.
Naruto focused on the entry and saw that his name was written in it. His eyes widened as he made the realisation, she was reading over the events of her day on when they first met.
"There we go," Niko said with a smile. "It seems that she left through Warden's Gate like you did in the Northern district. She then went North West into the Himeji region with a woman with short black hair and a small animal."
"She can't be going to that destroyed town like I did," Naruto moaned with crossed arms. "The Himeji region… There's only one place there that is worth visiting. Tanzaku Gai. Damnit, it's going to take a while to get there."
Niko laughed to herself before getting out of her chair. "Tanzaku Gai huh? It's a nice place. You should check out the castle, it's one of the biggest in the Land of Fire. And it's a gambling haven. She will most likely be going there like you said. Her gambling habits knows no bounds," she said.
Naruto smiled, he felt good that he got some good info. "Alright, I should go and see Ero-sennin and tell him the good news," he said. "I'm already late. He's probably waiting for me ttebayo. I shouldn't keep him any longer."
Niko laughed harder after she heard the nickname. "That's real funny Naruto. You say that name with some affection, but I can't tell it's a sign of closeness or an insult," she said. She then walked over to another book shelf, pulling on a book. The bookshelf then hitched and moved from the wall, revealing a secret passage. "Here Naruto, let me show you my exit."
The Next Morning, A Countryside Road
'Where… am I? Where's Naruto? Last night… I was having so much fun. Oh shit, my head is so sore. How much did I drink last night? Clearly too much, but I only had like three drinks. Seems like I'm not the only drinking too much of late. Is that the sound of a horse pulling a cart? What the hell happened?'
His eyes opened wide. All he saw was wood in front of them. His body ached as he slept on the hard-shaking hickory wood floor. He pulled himself up and looked out of a flap. They were outside, far from the Capital as it couldn't be seen from the eye.
"You're finally up Ero-sennin. I was getting a bit sick of seeing you sleeping like a baby," the voice of Naruto said with a cheeky tone.
Jiraiya's face soured, he then spat out some built up saliva in his mouth. He then felt the incredible dryness that came afterwards. It seemed that he forgot to drink his fill of water before he fell asleep.
"Naruto, where are we?" Jiraiya asked. "I don't even remember seeing you last night. Why are we on a horse and cart? I thought we would be in a hotel."
Naruto gave Jiraiya his canteen of water, which the latter took gladly, and then threw his rubber ball in the air before catching it.
"We're on our way into the Himeji region. I decided myself since you were basically dead that our destination would be Tanzaku Gai. I got a good lead that Senju Tsunade could be there," Naruto told him. "So, it's no harm that we're going to pay the city a visit. If they're not there, we'll go on a touristy trip and check out those castles. Have some fun, ya know, something that a master and student should do."
Jiraiya focused his eyes onto Naruto, watching him attempt the second stage of the Rasengan once more.
"What makes you so confident? You have no doubt whatsoever in your voice or words?" Jiraiya asked.
Naruto smiled at the man. "Oh? What makes you ask that Ero-sennin? I'm just good at being a ninja. I should be a Chūnin already."
FLOP!
"Goddamnit!" Naruto cursed. "I swear I will get this right soon. That's like the sixth ball that died already today."
Jiraiya laughed lightly before breathing in some quick air. His head started to rise in pain. He rubbed it soothingly in a circular motion.
Finally remembering he had Naruto's water canteen, Jiraiya took off the cap and jugged down the cool, fresh water. It was revitalising.
Jiraiya wiped his mouth clean and released a contented sigh. He looked back to Naruto who was playing with a new rubber ball. The kid was having more fun with the ball than he was with him. Jiraiya shook his head and heavily sighed this time, not with relief but grief.
"Balls can't die, kid. Anyway Naruto, please tell me exactly why we're going to Tanzaku Gai of all places?" he asked.
Naruto stuck up one finger at the man. "First, Tanzaku Gai is known for their casinos and fair games." He then stuck up his second finger. "Second, I heard that the Legendary Sucker left through the Warden's Gate in the Northern District and headed North-West, along with a woman with short black hair and a small animal."
Jiraiya nodded and rested his chin on the back of his hand. "It must be Shizune that the information is referring to. I don't know about the small animal… You don't think one of them had a child, do you?"
Naruto threw the rubber ball into Jiraiya's face. It bounced right off his nose and came back to Naruto. Jiraiya was not amused one bit.
"I never knew either of them Ero-sennin, only you know them," Naruto said while putting his hands behind his head. "But if one of them had a child, you would think the father would be with them on their travels. Or, you know, they settle down in some place. So, no… I don't think they had a child."
Jiraiya hummed in agreement. "You're right. And anyway, Tsunade would never have a child."
"Why not?" Naruto asked.
Jiraiya waved Naruto off and looked to the back of the cart. "I'll tell you later tonight when I feel better. It's a long, sad story. But I have another question for you. How did you find me?"
Naruto started to giggle, making Jiraiya worried. He couldn't remember anything that happened apart from entering the Northern district. Then it all went down the drain.
"I was looking for you. It was well past ten o'clock by this point. I think it was around Midnight. So, I went to the Northern District and tried to search you out. And let me tell ya, I was fuming. Like steam was coming out of my ears. I was struggling to find anything to do with you, so I summoned Gamakichi to help me out. He was a great help," Naruto told.
Jiraiya narrowed his eyes on Naruto. "You summoned that little squirt?"
Naruto nodded with a grin. "Sure did. And he helped me find you. He helped lead me to a certain club. One filled with men and women. I was shocked to see my sensei in this place. Ero-sennin, you were at a strip club."
Jiraiya flinched once he saw the sudden cold stare from Naruto. He then scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.
"Those types of clubs are great places to gather information. You should know that since a lot of varying customers go in there," Jiraiya said, defending himself.
Naruto's stare did not falter. "Do you remember what happened to you last night? The madam told me that someone slipped something like a white powder into your special drinks. Then stole some of your cash once you fell over. They had to leave you in the corner since you were in the way of potential customers."
Jiraiya's expression turned for the worse and he formed a frown. "So, I got no action last night… Wait, how did you even get inside?"
Naruto cracked his knuckles, one at a time. "I had to do a lot of convincing. It helps that I can choose my words wisely. If I wasn't around-"
"I get it," Jiraiya said, interrupting Naruto. "You are still underage to enter those places. What did it take to get in? An errand or a bribe?" he asked.
"Neither," Naruto answered simply. "I just asked, and they led me to you. The women there were nice to me. Almost as if they have heard of me before. Some were a bit rude and played with my cheeks, my poor whiskers," he said, rubbing his face with care.
Jiraiya rubbed his eyes and looked at Naruto again. He saw on the side of Naruto's throat, there were lip-prints in red lipstick. He gnashed his teeth and clenched his fist.
"This isn't fair," he complained with a yell. "I go in, pay the admissions. Some thief screwed up my drink while I was already intoxicated from the sexy babes. And I got nothing. You go in, drag me out and get a kiss from one of them, this is just not fair!"
Naruto searched around his throat and neck, rubbing the skin frantically. "What! I thought I got rid of them all!" he said after finding the prints in question. He cleaned them off quickly.
Jiraiya growled and his eyes turned dark. "There was more than one… I don't want to speak of this anymore. I can't believe I was done like that. But, it's not all bad. I knew I was missing a small pouch when I woke up. It was on my hip. There was nothing inside apart from a few coins. I'll survive."
Naruto grimaced at the words. "That's not good enough Ero-sennin. When a common thief can swindle their way to steal your money, that's a real low," he said, scowling at the man. "I don't want you to get drunk anymore. You're too much trouble then and I swear you weight twice as much as usual."
Jiraiya laughed, ignoring the insult and stood up once the cart stopped its shaking. "So, how long have we've been on this thing?" he asked.
Naruto looked to the man with a small smile. "We've been travelling since the crack of dawn. It's been around eight hours since we left. Now it's around three o'clock. We're stopping in the small village up ahead, Ōtama. Hopefully they'll have an inn where we can stay despite its small size," he said.
Jiraiya sat on one of the benches in the cart and stared at Naruto with curious eyes. "Now master planner, if there isn't one, what will we do?" he asked.
Naruto leaned back and rested on the wood. Rolling his neck, he then smiled at Jiraiya, rubbing his hands with excitement.
"Then we'll camp!" Naruto said. "We can do a proper campfire and have a nice meal under the stars. Only reason an inn sounds better is because I didn't sleep on a proper bed last night. But sure, that's life, right?"
Jiraiya nodded in agreement. "How long will it take do you think for us to go from Ōtama village to Tanzaku Gai? We can go at a reasonable pace or we can run hard, your choice," he asked.
Naruto breathed in and out. Wrinkling his nose as he thought of their next move. He was getting sick of the heat within the wooden cart. He would prefer to feel the cold air that you embrace once you fly through the woods at high speeds.
Naruto leaned forward to Jiraiya with his hands covering his mouth. "We'll run. After a good rest, we can leave Ōtama village and run hard. We could be there in two days, arriving around evening or by night depending on Highwaymen or other things," he said. "You mightn't know what could happen."
Jiraiya got off his seat quickly and looked out through the back flap of the cart. There was nothing out of the ordinary.
"Hm, you don't think we're being followed, do you?" Jiraiya asked.
Naruto crossed his arms and looked up. "The only ones who could be following us would be someone we met in the Capital or Konoha. The other villages have no intel on our mission to get the old hag. It's not impossible, so we should be careful of the future," he said.
Jiraiya turned his head with squinted eyes and smirked at Naruto.
Naruto growled before speaking. "What?" he asked.
Jiraiya waved it off and went back to his seat. "You're acting really mature, that's all. Speaking of times, the Hostage team should be getting close to the Land of Tall Grass. It should be two or three days before they get to Kannabi bridge. Hopefully the team will get the peace treaty," he said with a sigh.
Naruto shifted his eye back to Jiraiya. He was worried. "Do you think they'll be able to? Those Iwa ninja just seem like the type that don't want to listen. Their personalities are as hard as their rocks," he joked.
Jiraiya chuckled and leaned back. "Yeah I do actually," he admitted. "As blunt and cold your brother can be, he has great skills with that tongue of his," he said.
Naruto instantly soured and frowned at Jiraiya. "For goodness sake Ero-sennin. Can you not talk about Nii-chan in that way!?"
Jiraiya giggled to himself over what he said and wrote it down straight away in his notepad. "That will be used later," he whispered.
Jiraiya looked up and saw the furrowed brows of Naruto staring down at him.
"That's not what I meant. He has a good track record of talking with officials and high ranked personal. We just have to believe in him," Jiraiya said. "He's a good host when it comes to guests. At the start of our friendship, your brother treated me like I was absolute trash. I'm glad it's not as bad as it used to be. I sure did appreciate your house's spare room."
"Why did he treat you like that?" Naruto asked.
Jiraiya shrugged his shoulders. "Maybe he was worried I might steal you away from him. That I'll make you love me more than him," he said. "Siblings can get jealous too."
Naruto shook his head. "I doubt that was the reason, but I don't care anymore. Here, you rest, and I'll keep practising on the Rasengan. We need to be fresh for tomorrow morning," he declared with authority.
Jiraiya cracked a smile and crossed his arms once more. "Spoken like a true Chūnin."
Close Borders of the Lands of Earth and Fire
Foothills of Mount Yari of the Hida Mountain Range
Something was wrong, and it had been for some time.
"Woah! Slow down guys. It's getting late. Let's make this location our camp and we'll fly again tomorrow."
Kotaro turned around while holding onto Kurotsuchi tightly, he saw Genma, Raidō and Iwashi stop close to him with their own hostages.
Genma chewed on his senbon needle, his eyes narrowed onto Kotaro. "What's gotten into you? You've been acting strangely since our break a few hours ago," he asked. "We can still run for an hour then set up camp."
Kotaro shook his head and his eyes shifted over to Genma. "Or we can just wake up an hour earlier then. Kannabi bridge isn't far away anymore, we're close to the border of the Land of Tall Grass. Guys, put down your hostages in any ditch you see under a tree and make sure they stay there. Then meet up back here," he ordered.
All three of them nodded and jumped in separate directions. Kotaro grabbed onto Kurotsuchi tightly and went down to the forest floor.
"What's wrong?" Kurotsuchi asked him. "You don't seem like your confident self anymore."
Kotaro lightly laughed, but there was no glee or flitter in his voice. "I'm so happy that my hostage is worried about me," he said. "I'll say it when we find your new spot."
Kotaro pulled her off him and placed her in the undermount of an oak tree. He made sure her bindings were tight, he even made sure that she was as comfortable as she could possibly be.
"I want to make sure you and your comrades are safe. As well as my own. I think we have a tracking squad on our heels. That's why after four hours of travelling after the break, I upped the speed of the group and changed the directions often to throw them off track, but they seemed to stick to us like glue," he said. "If it's an Iwa squad, they would have already made their move on us by now. Kumo doesn't know about the hostage exchange. Suna is far too weak to do anything. Kiri are our new best friends, Mei would never issue a mission like this."
Kurotsuchi listened intently. "That means it only leaves a bare few options," she said. "A minor village going against the might of Konoha or Iwa is insane to even think about," she said afterwards with a yawn.
Kotaro stood up and smiled at the girl. "Yeah I was thinking along the same lines. This version of you is way nicer to talk to Kurotsuchi-chan. You're proud, but you can also listen and communicate to others such as myself," he said. He then turned around and gave the young woman a wink. "Don't worry Pebble-chan, I'll be gone for only a second."
As Kotaro jumped away, he could hear the unladylike grunts from Kurotsuchi. He was also surprised on how loud her under the breath cursing was. He could hear them with no problem whatsoever.
Kotaro landed on the large tree branch that he jumped off previously. He met up with Genma and Raidō. Iwashi came very soon after.
"Good, we're all here," Kotaro said.
Genma took out his senbon needle and replaced it with a new one. He had a jar on his side filled with the wooden pointy sticks.
"Why did you stop so early? You usually make us run until one hour has passed after the sunset," Genma said. "Is there something wrong?"
"I'm surprised you haven't felt it Genma," Raidō said. "Ever since Kotaro-san started to run faster and in different directions, I noticed that we had pursuers on us. From what I think, I think it's two squads. A total of eight pursuers," he said.
Genma looked at Raidō with narrowed eyes. "Why didn't either of you two say anything?" he asked. "From Iwashi's face, he was also out of the loop."
Kotaro sighed heavily and turned his way to Genma. "Because we have no idea who we're dealing with. However, since they are still on our tail after taking a small detour, we can confirm that we are, or even the hostages are their targets," he said. "We can't let the hostages get a single scratch. This peace treaty and the recovery of Uchiha Sasuke are our top priorities."
"You got something to say Iwashi?" Raidō asked him. "You've been thinking a lot. Come on and let us know what it is, time is money."
Iwashi flinched slightly, but then quickly focused on the conversation. "I was narrowing down of the list of potential villages that could be on us. There's very little to actually choose from," he said while scratching his facial hair. "I can only think of three villages that could be doing this despite one choice being completely ridiculous," he said further.
"Three?" Genma said. "It could be Iwagakure since it's their ninja. Or even Kusagakure, but it would be a declaration of war on two of the great ninja villages. What's the last one?" he asked at the end.
"Konoha itself," Kotaro said, entering the conversation. "Suna is too weak, Kumo wouldn't know of this mission and Kiri would never issue a mission like this. That leaves Konoha," he said.
"You can't be serious?" Genma stuttered out. "We're Konoha ninja, getting a peace treaty and saving one of our own. Why would they send out two squads after us?" he asked again.
"Think about it. If this mission failed, it would only draw more unrest between the two villages. The failure would also cause Uchiha Sasuke to stay in Iwa hands, making our ninja and citizens uneasy, even though they wouldn't even know Sasuke personally. And in all disasters, there are people who benefit from these misfortunes," Kotaro said. "One comes to mind in particular."
Genma looked up to the late evening sky and chewed hard on his senbon needle. Clearing his mind and letting it think of all the possibilities, it clicked for him.
"You don't think Danzō and ROOT is behind this?" Genma asked. "It would only harm Konoha."
"That is exactly what he wants though," Kotaro said. "He's a man with a vision. The more beaten down the clay is, the easier it will be for him to form the Konoha he wants. If we fail or die, the links between the Sandaime and Yondaime Hokage will go away, making it easier for him to go into power. But this is all speculation."
"But it makes sense," Raidō said. "Danzō was never popular, but if there are no other choices and things go from bad to worse, the extremist that he is would become a more… desirable choice for the people. They would trust him to change Konoha, so another disaster wouldn't happen."
"What would happen to Konoha? The Sandaime was the light while he was the darkness," Iwashi said. "It was a strong balance"
"And now that the light has vanished, the darkness wants it all," Genma said. "I want Konoha to have stability, but I can't see a happy future with him at the helm."
"Then what should we do?" Raidō asked the team.
"We don't have much time, our increase in speed gave some distance between them and us, but they're catching up and our actions most likely put them on alert. I can assume that they are around fifteen kilometres away from us at this current moment. I have a plan, but I don't know if it will work out," Kotaro said.
All three shifted their focus to their leader in an instant.
"Tell us, it's better than no plan," Genma said, digging his hands deeper into his pockets.
Kotaro nodded whilst crossing his arms. "This whole squad knows the Shadow Clone Jutsu. We will use this to make them set up camp and for them to act as our doubles. Then we will go into two pairs in opposite directions and try to reach the behinds of the two squads. An ambush attack, as well as a pincer movement," he said. "If they're not an enemy, we'll question them."
"How did we not notice them before?" Raidō asked. "We're all Jōnin here, and capable at sensing chakra."
"Walk while the dogs sleep," Genma said. "They've been on our trail for a while then. The must have caught most of their ground when we rested at nights. It's the only possibility."
Kotaro agreed with a hum. "Yeah, I don't think there's any other way for them to be this close. We already gave them the benefit of the doubt. If we didn't have to go to Kannabi Bridge with the hostages, we could have done this a lot earlier," he told them. "We don't have much time. Genma and I will go this way to the East. Iwashi and Raidō will go to the West. Try to arch around so we can see them from behind. We don't need to go too far as they will be catching up to us now."
"Sounds good," Genma said. "Alright guys bring out your clones. We need to move out as soon as possible."
All of them formed the Cross hand seal, four puffs of smoke appeared around them. All were identical clones to the caster. Already knowing the plan, the clone squad moved back towards the camp site.
The four men nodded to each other and then vanished from their spots, two going east and two going west.
Kotaro and Genma moved through the forest with pace. They then started to turn to the right, making their path one of a large arc. They soon decreased their speed to stop the opportunity of their followers from noticing them.
They stopped their arcing and decided to cut back into their original path. They wanted to get close enough to the followers, they needed to identify them.
Kotaro and Genma moved in closer, they both saw a glimpse of a white cloak. They slowed down and watched the group of four individuals in front of them.
The four cloaked figures stopped and moved themselves behind the trunk of the trees they were on.
Kotaro and Genma did the same action with their own tree. Genma was on the branch just above Kotaro's head. They needed to form a quick plan.
From the shape of their body structures, the four cloaked figures in front of them were men. The tell-tale signs were the broad shoulders and their height. From their angle, Genma and Kotaro could assume that these men were all tall in stature.
"What should we do?" Kotaro asked Genma. "If they're not enemies and we attack them, that would be really bad."
Genma played with the senbon in his mouth, moving it between his teeth. It always made his mind clear.
"I'll go in and talk, you stay behind and support me if things go badly," Genma said.
Kotaro nodded in agreement. "Good. What will you do if they attack straight away?" he asked.
"No words, but action," were Genma final words before he made himself known to the four in front of him.
The four cloaked figures turned around and all of them readied their tantō blades. From the distance, Kotaro saw that the tantō blades had no tip, it was a flat top. The weapons were strange, they were something unique.
"You four," Genma said. "We don't like it when people are following us. Identify yourselves. Now," he said loudly.
The four cloaked figures looked at each other, yet none of them uttered a word.
Genma clicked his tongue, his eyes narrowed onto the four cloaked figures. Their silence was getting onto his nerves.
"If you don't identify yourselves right now, I won't hold back and find out myself," Genma said to them in his most serious voice.
The four cloaked readied their tantō blades. "Plan Alpha has failed. Start Plan Delta," said one of the cloaked figures.
The four cloaked figures lifted their heads, all four of them were wearing porcelain masks, like those who were in the Konoha ANBU.
Genma could feel the quick change in the air, the tension has vanished, and the sensation of a fight had come.
Seeing that the enemies were about to attack, Genma launched the first move. He spat out his senbon with a high velocity while weaving through hand seals.
Ending with the hand seal of Tiger, his senbon multiplied into multiple copies of itself. Having manipulated the Multiple Shadow Shuriken Technique, Genma now had a hundred deadly senbon projectiles aimed at the cloaked figures in front of him.
The cloaked figures jumped from their spots, all in different directions. Genma saw the one to his right strayed off from the pack, it seemed that his senbon duplicates prevented him to go with his team.
After refilling his mouth with a senbon, Genma readied his kunai from his holster. Crouching down to the bark of the branch, he then launched forward and grabbed onto the stray, bringing both him and the enemy towards the ground.
In the motions, Genma had tried to stab the cloaked figure in his first move, but it was countered by a block from the cloaked figure's tantō. The war of who will win would have to be decided on the ground.
The two were in close quarters, neither gave the other any space to do any alternate actions. They're heads were budding, Genma could feel the porcelain texture rub off his skin. He didn't like the feeling one bit!
"Back wide open," Genma heard the monotone whisper from behind him. Like the voice said, his back was open, if he tried to disengage with his current foe, he would surly get killed.
Genma focused on the man he was currently fighting, there was no reason to worry.
SMASH!
Genma turned his head while holding tight to his current foe to see the other cloaked figure fly into a tree nearby. It must have been a mighty punch or kick to make the cloaked figure fly off that far.
In the corner of his eye, he saw Kotaro come into his vision with his sword drawn out. Only one, the one with the red hilt.
Genma watched as Kotaro waited for the cloaked figure to come to him with his tantō. He noticed that Kotaro's guard was quite high as he wielded his deadly sword with both his hands. The point was aiming downwards towards the enemy's chest.
The figure swung his tantō around, Kotaro dodged the slashes with sidesteps, his movements correlated with arcs and curves.
The cloaked figure swung his tantō in a downwards slash. Genma watched as Kotaro raised his blade and made it horizontal, blocking the attack. He then saw Kotaro shifting his body's angle, his right foot back moved back in a skid.
Kotaro's shoulder pushed the cloaked figure away from him, it was a small distance away from him. Genma then watched Kotaro spin on the spot, creating momentum and slashing the figure in an upward diagonal motion. From the left to the right.
The blade slashed through the cloaked figure easily, there was very little resistance. Blood sprayed across the forest floor, it was quite the spectacle.
Having not finished, Kotaro spun around once more and swung his blade low. The sword went straight through the cloaked figure's legs. The limbs fell off and the rest of the body went to the ground.
The cloaked figure was arching upwards, grunting in pain, anybody else would have already died or would be screaming their lungs out.
Genma's eyes felt that his enemy was distracted from the other's peril. Taking the opportunity, Genma spat out his senbon needle into the cloaked figure's eyehole. The senbon went straight through without a hitch. An easy insertion.
The cloaked figure pulled and stepped away from Genma. He grunted in heavy pain, he was making loud noises as he trashed around the area. It was surprising that he wasn't any louder than he was now. The sounds were comparable to the sound of receiving a punch to the gut, not a projectile into the eye.
Genma took out two more kunai and threw all threw with pace into the cloaked figure's chest. Two of the kunai struck and were embedded into the man's shoulders. The last was in the man's heart.
In his last dying moments, the cloaked figure formed the Ram hand seal and then lost all control of his body. His body collapsed to the floor. That wasn't the strange thing however, the strange thing was that his body started to ignite in green flames.
"This is the Body Elimination Technique, only the ANBU or Jōnin would know that technique. With the masks, these guys are the ANBU for some village," Genma muttered, still on the lookout for the two other enemies.
Shifting his eyes to where Kotaro was, he looked at Kotaro staring down to the enemy he had just slain burning in blue fire. It was the same Body Elimination Technique, only difference was just that the colour of the flame was blue not green.
Genma saw Kotaro jump towards him. The two then put their backs to each other, watching out in every direction. Genma took a new senbon and chewed it into his mouth. It was a clear addiction at this point.
"Did you see anything?" Genma asked. "This whole thing is strange."
Kotaro hummed loudly and sheathed his sword Ruby. He then took out a kunai and flicked it around his index finger, there was anticipation in his eyes.
"I ripped off the cloak before he set himself on fire. The man was wearing shinobi fitted trousers and a shinobi shirt. But he also had a black jacket with red strips… I think, I didn't get a good look at it honestly," Kotaro admitted. "But, it's definitely an ANBU unit. Those masks, that technique."
"That's what I thought as well," Genma said as he walked to the spot of the now burnt corpse of Kotaro's victim. "They didn't act like an Iwa ANBU squad. From my experience, they're usually more ninjutsu heavy with collaboration Earth ninjutsu move."
Kotaro hummed with a nod. "That brings back memories of my fight with Kitsuchi's fight. They were very good at using different jutsu together," he said.
Kotaro's eyes shifted back to Genma who stopped talking.
"Genma, you alright bud?" Kotaro asked as he slowly walked his way to him. "We have to find those other two before they get to Raidō and Iwashi."
Genma was as still as a mouse. Kotaro was getting worried. It suddenly grew tenfold when Genma decided to run in a random direction.
"Torune, hit me now!" Genma shouted in a neutral tone.
'What the fuck is a Torune?' Kotaro thought as he ran after Genma. He already started to weave through hand seals. He needed something to push Genma or this "Torune" away without killing the former.
A new figure popped out of the bushes, with his hands ready to feel up Genma. In the evening sun, Kotaro could see that the hands were purple, and they were no special coloured gloves. It was his skin!
Kotaro had no clue what the hell it was, but there was no way in hell he was going to let Genma get touched by those dastardly purple hands.
He had to save his friend, his hands flowed through the hand seals.
'Water Release: Water Wall,' Kotaro thought as water gushed out of his mouth and created a high and thick wall of water.
By quickly forming the Bird hand seal and then pulling back his left arm, Kotaro began to push the water out further and further.
Letting it hit the new figure, Kotaro pushed the man away from Genma with the water wall. He stopped the jutsu and hit Genma's face with a chakra-enhanced slap.
Genma snapped out of whatever he was stuck in. His eyes were wide, he then gritted his teeth. The pulsing sensation of a slap to the face was not unique to Genma, but he didn't like the fact that Kotaro was the one to give it to him this time around.
"What the hell!?" Genma lashed out.
Kotaro furrowed his brows and stared down Genma. "What the hell!? What the hell were you doing more like!? Were ya trying to kill yourself!?" he said.
Genma rubbed his head, Kotaro only noticed there how groggy his facial features looked.
"I don't know what happened. I just couldn't see, hear or feel anything. Almost as if my soul was ripped out of my body." Genma eyes were wide open. He tried to calm himself down quickly, all while massaging his face. "Before that, I felt something push into the back of my head, and it pushed really hard. Like it was trying to really dig its way into my brain."
Kotaro analysed the words said and looked around. "I felt the exact same thing when Inoichi did that to me the first time I came to Konoha. That narrows down our list of suspects," he whispered. "And those purple hands, what the fuck were they?"
"Purple hands? I've never heard or seen thembefore," Genma told Kotaro with tensed shoulders. "Here, we should find the other two before it's too late."
Kotaro nodded in agreement and took out one of his swords with his right hand, his left hand then formed into a claw, hovering over the sword, embedding it with his wind chakra. "Couldn't have said it better myself."
Kotaro looked around, there was no obvious sign of them, yet he sensed that they haven't moved since his attack on the man with purple hands.
"Looks like I have to use it all around us, keep your head down if you want to keep it Genma!" Kotaro warned as he spun on the spot, swing his sword in a three hundred and sixty degree rotation.
Genma ducked to the ground as fast as he could. He then felt the sharp wind go over his head, it was deadly quick.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
The trees all around Genma and Kotaro started to collapse onto the forest floor, many them have been cut. Now, Genma and Kotaro could spot out their new friends that were hiding from them.
Kotaro could see two cloaked figures rise from their crouched positions. They're were cuts all over their cloaks, no doubt from his deadly attack that spread across the forest area. They were both holding tightly onto their tip less tantō blades.
Despite their appearance, they appeared unharmed. It was a true shame to the pair.
Genma stepped forward, his kunai was still ready for any danger. He had a question to ask.
"You're ROOT, aren't you?"
Kotaro came up close to where Genma was standing, his sword Ruby, was resting on his shoulder. Like Genma, he was ready for any danger.
"Danzō should have known better to send out only eight against this team of ninja." Kotaro's eyes were full of hunger, his lips formed a small smile. "What does he plan on getting? Hoping that we die, and the hostages are taken away?"
The two men didn't say a word. They were silent. It seemed that the rumours that Kotaro had heard were true. When in ROOT, you are only a tool. You have no feelings. You have no past. You have no future. There is only the mission.
BANG!
Behind Genma and Kotaro's ears, they heard what sounded like a flare go off. Kotaro turned his head while Genma kept his eyes on the two ROOT operatives in front of them.
In the evening sky, there was a blue flare blazing brightly, signalling something. The two Konoha Jōnin had no idea what the hell it meant.
"Oh fuck!" Genma was taken by surprise. By grabbing Kotaro with his quick thinking reflexes, he saved them both by jumping into the trees.
Kotaro turned around and landed on a branch, watching what happened to down at the Forest Floor.
There was now a purple and grey mist in air around where the four were standing. Kotaro could have a good guess at what it was. Poisonous gas bombs.
Underneath the deadly cloud, there were shiny dots. The ROOT operatives laid caltrops all around so Genma and Kotaro couldn't give them chase.
"This is not good," Kotaro hissed. "If we go after them, our hostages will be in danger. If we don't, it'll cause problems in the future."
"Yeah, and Raidō would say 'time is money'. We better regroup, we can't decide anything until we get all the available details," Genma ranted with a venomous bite.
Kotaro nodded in agreement. Sighing heavily, he wiped away any tiredness that was on his face and breathed deep to get his blood pumping hard. "Let's move over to them now. I'll try and pinpoint their locations with my sensing. You stay on my rear Genma. Let's fly!"
Kotaro didn't waste time and jumped from his branch, moving towards the west. He could feel that Genma was following his every step, following him in his slipstream.
The pair travelled fast and travelled hard.
"Kotaro, sense on what's happening ahead. I feel something strange!"
Kotaro felt the sensation of chakra up ahead as well, further in the pair's direction. He steadied himself and began to feel out the chakras around him.
"I found them. It's Raidō and Iwashi. But there's something wrong," Kotaro told him. "One of them is distressed, weakened."
Genma grunted his dissatisfaction from the bad piece of news. "One of them got injured. It was always a danger. Which one do you think it is?"
Kotaro focused hard as he ran forward. Trying his best to determine who, Kotaro slowed down to help his sensing.
"From the feel of things. I think it's Iwashi. Shit, I hope it's not too bad," Kotaro said. "Let's get there as soon as possible now! They're not far now."
"Understood," Genma replied. He didn't want to fluff up his words. The situation just got even more intense.
The two Konoha Jōnin blitzed through the forest, it didn't take them too much time to reach their comrades' location. The sight was not pretty.
Three dead bodies, two of them were covered in red flames and the third was covered in a smoky brown flame. The brown flame was strange, it was like the colour of the flame you see when it's burning off the bark of a tree.
The scene that took the colour away from Genma and Kotaro's faces was that of Raidō applying pressure on a wound that Iwashi received to his gut. It was nasty, blood soaked his ninja attire.
Kotaro snapped out of his stupor and ran over to the two, he needed to help, and he needed to do it fast!
"Raidō, get away from Iwashi. Tell me what happened, now!" Kotaro shouted as he took out a medical scroll.
The man opened it and then laid it on the floor. The whole stretch of scroll paper had different seal markings, indicating the different pieces of equipment used in Kotaro's emergency kit.
"Shit! Kotaro, is there anything we can do to help?" Genma desperately asked whilst worrying. To see a comrade bleeding, losing his life, it was a difficult thing to watch.
"No, I only need one person. Raidō will assist me, Genma you go and check up on the hostages," Kotaro said as he checked up on Iwashi. "Iwashi's shadow clone is definitely gone so there's only three of them there. Go now," he said.
Genma nodded with a fiercely serious expression his face. He then vanished towards the camp, showing off his speed.
"What do I have to do Kotaro?" Raidō asked, he was ready to help.
"All I need you to do is wait for now." Kotaro's words were quick as he took off Iwashi's flak jacket and threw it into the nearby bush. He then grabbed a short and sharp knife and cut away Iwashi's black shinobi shirt.
Right now, the redhead had no respect for his surroundings.
Kotaro used his knife to cut all around Iwashi's abdomen, showing off the mid-riff. There was a large stab wound close to the liver. It didn't look good.
"Raidō, apply pressure over the wound. I need to get my equipment ready," Kotaro ordered as he pulsed chakra over the multiple seals.
With the equipment appearing quickly, Kotaro quickly took a needle that had plastic tubing around and leading off it and then inserted into Iwashi's vein that resided on his arm. "Now, let's get the O negative blood bag."
Raidō did what he was asked. A thought popped into his head. "That's why you asked for our blood types during the first day!"
Kotaro hummed as he took some medical gauze. "We need to clean up the wound. We'll clean it down with water and then I'll apply this medical cream around the wound."
"What's the medical cream for?" Raidō asked. "Will it save Iwashi!?"
Kotaro shook his head as he applied the cream. "No, it's not going to save him. It's just going to help me. It helps seal up the wound by encouraging the platelets in the blood to clot up."
"That doesn't sound good," Raidō said under his breath.
Kotaro grunted before clapping his hands together. "Trust the medical expert of the group would ya!? We don't want Iwashi dying or getting an infection!"
Kotaro then spreads out his palms, flowing the medical chakra into Iwashi's large wound. Taking his time, he slowly stitched the wound together. It was a wide cut which made things difficult. He was just glad Iwashi only suffered the one.
Raidō was helping by cleaning up the mess, he watched Kotaro work with focus. After the initial treatment. Kotaro began wiping up around the wound with an anti-bacterial wipe, making sure that there was a lesser risk of Iwashi receiving an infection later.
The wound was mostly gone, a small scar line remained after the incident. It was too large for it not to receive any scar tissue.
There was ruffling heard from the trees. Company was about to appear. The sound of feet landing to the ground made its noise.
"How is he?" the voice of Genma asked. "He didn't…"
"He made it!" Raidō cheered with a smile. "We saved him."
Kotaro nodded with a smile and rested on his rear. "Yeah, Raidō was a huge help. How is the status of the camp?"
Genma looked at Kotaro with a wry smile. "Yeah, they're all ok. The girl hostage though, she was wondering if you died," he told the group.
"And what did you say?" Kotaro asked. "Hopefully no."
"Nah, I said she had a fifty-fifty chance of seeing you again," Genma answered with a laugh.
Kotaro snorted and finished off the cleaning of his supplies. He looked at Iwashi who was unconscious. The blood bag was still replenishing him, the man lost a serious amount of blood.
"I'm glad that you're taking the situation lightly. We nearly lost a man and there was a huge risk of our hostages getting taken away. Genma, Raidō, can you bring Iwashi back to camp please? Tomorrow morning, we need to have a plan. We can't have this happening to us again. Next time, one of us might actually die. But now... I need a moment to myself."
"Plan? What if they come again in while everyone is resting?" Raidō questioned.
Kotaro slumped his shoulders, his eyes turned cold as they stared at Raidō and Genma.
"Take care of the hostages, go back to the camp. Rest up and stay on alert. After my break, I'll hunt them down. We need evidence."
Genma and Raidō nodded a yes before going and grabbing the limp body of Iwashi. Picking him up, they moved towards the camp at a slow pace to make sure his newly recovered wound wouldn't open again.
Kotaro slumped against a nearby tree and looked up to the evening sky. He could already see the moon, a crescent moon.
CAW!
Kotaro looked to the trees and saw a large flock of crows leave the crowns. He didn't know what to make of the scene.
Gazing to where the crows flew, they were flying towards the moon. The last of the sunlight painted a pretty picture of the sky. There was another bird flying high in the sky. To him, it looked like an eagle, looking for its next prey.
Kotaro shook his head and looked to his blood-soaked hands. The blood of a comrade that nearly died because of his command. Clenching his hands into fists, Kotaro wanted to pay the bastards back.
'Naruto. I hope you're doing fine on your path. Hopefully we can walk the same one soon. All in good time though, all in good time.'
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