I don't own Naruto, or any of the characters from the Manga or Anime.
A Price for Peace
Chapter 34 Hiding in Plain Sight
Tetsu and his team stood in the centre of the small village, the most prominent thing they could see in almost every direction was a large wall. The younger rusty haired shinobi glanced around taking in the buildings that had been recently repaired, the defensive outposts at the gate and various places on the wall. "You know this village is a little..."
"Different... I agree," Tetsu hummed as he assessed the villagers who were quite nervous as they waited for the rest of the villagers to arrive. This wasn't exactly a rare occurrence, in the past when members of the military came calling it rarely ended well for the smaller villages, he grimaced slightly as he considered the fact that for a select few that he had already given invitations to that for them this time would be no different.
The military officer was approached by a man with a large afro he gave Tetsu a respectful bow. "It's a pleasure to have a squad from the military here in our tiny village. I am... well I guess you could say I am the Mayor, my name is Cho."
"It's nice to meet you Cho-san, you have a nice village here, it if in far better condition than many in this area you must be quite proud of that," Tetsu replied, he eyed the man carefully he could already tell the man had no potential to use chakra.
"Will you be staying in the village long? We don't have much that would interest you here, unless you like fishing, the river is one of our main sources of food," Cho asked. He quietly hoped that they would not be staying for long, he knew the potential issue that could erupt if they fell on the wrong side of Naruto and Karin, he wasn't sure who would win in that encounter but guessed that it wouldn't bode well for the village.
"I will explain everything shortly, but we will be staying here for a few days, perhaps close to a week," the officer informed the Afro haired man. Suddenly a flash of yellow caught Tetsu's attention out of the corner of his eye.
He quickly turned to and his eyes widened at the back of a large group there was a spitting image of the two people that he suspected were responsible for the murders in the capital. A blond haired man with unique facial markings and a blood red haired woman with crimson eyes. Tetsu focused intently on the pair but felt next to nothing, as far as he could tell they felt like normal civilians.
"Sensei is something wrong?" The raven haired teenage girl on his team asked.
"It's nothing Kara, don't worry about it," Tetsu replied with a fake smile. Ever since he had begun suspecting that the killers were trained he had decided that it would be best to keep his students in the dark. These situations required a soft hand and he was not confident that all of his students could keep their calm and not attempt to apprehend their target themselves, he cast a rather knowing glance towards his younger brother.
"This village doesn't feel right, but maybe it's just the fact that they're not as dirty as the people from the other villages we have been to." The final member of the group replied, his eyes glinted with a dark smirk.
"That's not funny Muki-kun, just because the villages in the outer rims of the empire don't have much money doesn't mean they are any less important to the empire," Kara replied.
"I don't normally agree with the Muki but, this village is different, something messed up is going on here. They're too well off compared to the other villages." the younger burnt orange haired teen reasoned.
"There may be hope for you yet Koha," Tetsu chuckled having similar thoughts, although focused more on the two targets that he believed to be trained to use chakra.
"Hey!" Koha pouted angrily at his brothers teasing.
By this time the village centre was quite full, he was sure that anyone who was currently in the village was in earshot. "Attention everyone, I am Tetsu Kurogane, officer first class of the imperial military," Tetsu spoke loudly pulling the villages attention onto him. "You might be confused as to why my team and I are here in your village. In order to gain some insight into the lives of those that live in the outer regions of the village we have been going from village to village in this district to see how the empire might make your lives easier... for a few people there will be invited to the team placement tournament and will be staying under the care of the thirteenth guardian Gouhara-hime. I hope that you will all be welcoming during our stay."
"How do you decided who get's to go?" a light brown haired young woman asked, her blue eyes glued on the four imperial shinobi.
Tetsu shrugged at the question, "There is no real criteria for who we choose mis?"
"Rea. The real question is how do we know this isn't some trap?" The young woman asked.
Tetsu raised an eye brow it was rare that anybody would ever question them so openly. 'She has good instincts, I need to cut this situation off, I wouldn't want to let our real targets get suspicious,' he thought. "Don't worry Rea-san there is no need to worry, but if you're really so worried then you don't have to come although it would be a shame if anyone turned down a once in a lifetime chance to see the best and brightest of the next generation coming through the ranks of the military."
Rea didn't look totally convinced, but she couldn't think of any real concerns she could voice at the time. "Very well, but tell me where will you be staying while you're here? There are not many spare beds in the village," she questioned.
"Well that is a good question, we will attempt to get to know some members of the village before we decide that aspect, I'm confident that you and the people of this fine village will be inviting to us. If not, we each carry a field tent, so we will be comfortable regardless," Tetsu answered.
In the crowd Naruto and Karin remained calm, actively suppressing their chakra. "What do you think?" Naruto asked turning his attention to Karin.
"Well it seems legitimate enough, the only problem I can see here is that neither of us will be able to train for a few days,"Karin answered calmly. " But if that mean's you can't go sneaking out every night almost killing yourself," She added feeling a little better.
Naruto knew she was right, he had been going out at night to burn off some steam and his frustrations about his growing feelings for the kunoichi standing beside him. "Yeah you're probably right." Slowly the large crowd began to disperse, and Naruto decided that it would probably be for the best if he returned to his house as well. "Come on Karin-chan, we never got to grab that bite to eat."
Karin nodded and readily grabbed the blonds arm in her own. "Sounds like a plan to me."
Tetsu watched the pair leave out of the side of his eyes. He didn't want to let them know that he was onto them, the princess was quite clear that she wanted to be the one to kill the ones responsible for the deaths of the gang members in the southern capital.
Several hours passed, with Tetsu and his team heading to various homes, talking to the locals and learning more about their lives. During that time he had found rooms for all his students among the villagers one student per household but he had neglected to ask for a room for himself since that time.
Naruto was for lack of a better word, bored, he couldn't train, they had enough meat for a week so he didn't need to hunt, in the end he decided to relax on the couch and read one of the books Karin had borrowed from Cho's library, needless to say this was not his favourite past time, he just had too much energy, still it passed the time and helped take his mind of the red haired kunoichi that was resting beside him, her head in his lap and with a book of her own.
A knock on the door broke the pair from their revelry, the blond slowly getting to his feet. "I'll check it out who it is," he sighed stretching slightly.
Karin nodded with a frown, she already knew who it was and was displeased that she had lost her pillow for the unwelcome distraction. "Alright, play nice," she said giving the blond a hint.
There was another knock before Naruto eventually opened the door to see Tetsu standing there alone. "Oh hello... it was uh, Tetsu right?" Naruto asked with a small smile.
"Yes that's right, I've been going around the homes to get to know the villagers a little better, I was wondering if I might come in... um sorry I didn't catch your name?" Tetsu replied.
"Naruto Uzumaki, and yeah I guess you can come in," the blond replied. "Hey Karin, the officer from the Imperial army is here," he said loudly enough to announce the arrival even though he knew that she was already well aware of the fact.
Tetsu could tell as soon as he entered the house that this was a new building compared to the rest of the village, there was no signs of age at all, there were brand new tiles on the floor at the entrance were they would take off their shoes and the floor boards were unworn and unmarked. "This is a new home," He said deciding that there was no point in hiding it as it was so very obvious.
Naruto nodded, "Yeah I built it myself, I guess you could say that's my job around here, among other things."
"Well if that's the case you have done a fine job, this is a home worthy of one of the inner districts, only the quality of some of the finishing products differ," Tetsu complimented honestly.
"I can only work with what I have, I cut the trees down for the wood myself, but theres not all that much that I can get in the ways of paint, tiles and other construction materials in an area like this," Naruto answered as he lead Tetsu into the lounge room where Karin was waiting for them. "Karin-chan this is Tetsu, from the military, he want's to get to know us a little better."
If the kunoichi was worried at all she didn't show it, smiling at the new arrival and offering him a low bow, her time with Orochimaru had taught her how to sneak under the radar of someone who considered themselves to be superior. "It's nice to meet you Tetsu-san," she said respectfully.
"Just Tetsu is fine Karin, you have a very well mannered and beautiful wife Naruto," Tetsu replied.
"Thank you, but she's not my wife," Naruto said with an embarrassed blush.
It was now Tetsu's turn to be embarrassed. "Oh I do apologise, I just thought seeing as you were living together that you were..."
"It's alright, we are a couple... but we're not married," Karin replied kindly. Even though she didn't trust the reason why the officer was here, she didn't mind the fact he they were in the village so much. 'If Naruto-kun can't train for the next week I might be able to get him to tell me why he has been so distant lately.'
"Still I am sorry for jumping to conclusions. It was rude of me so please forgive me," Tetsu replied.
"It's alright, now you wanted to ask us some questions or something?" Naruto asked taking a seat beside Karin.
"Yes I probably should start, it's just a few general questions about your life here in the village that the empire can use to hopefully improve the lifestyle of the people," Tetsu informed them.
"Well they can start by doing something about their so called tax collectors," Naruto said calmly.
"Yes, well the empire is still young, we do not have the resources to police every district, I am aware that in these outer areas those that have been hired to do that job are not always the most... reliable," Tetsu replied honestly.
"They take everything from the villages, not just the taxes they are supposed to pay, the people in these villages are little more than slaves," Naruto continued a little too forcefully for Karin's liking.
"It's not his fault Naruto-kun," she said softly.
Tetsu was taken aback the look in Naruto's eyes was not that of an amateur that had just killed in the capital out of necessity, nor were they eyes of a psychopath that knew and enjoyed the art of killing. He had seen both many times before, but what he saw in Naruto's eyes made his blood run cold, unbreakable will and more importantly power. Even though Naruto was hiding his chakra Tetsu hadn't felt so intimidated since the first time he had met Gouhara as a fresh recruit into her black ops division.
"No his right," Tetsu admitted softly. "I have been to many villages in this area now, this is one of the last on my list, and every town I go to is the same. They're run down to the point that the buildings are falling apart, the people are under fed and poor relying on hunting their own food, and they end up working just to pay the gangs. I know that it's not right, but I can't do anything about it."
"But you're with the military right, surely you could tell someone what's going on?" Karin suggested.
"I will, but if I am being honest the chances of their being any real change are minimal," the officer admitted. Tetsu felt broken just under Naruto's stare and he hated himself for that fact. He took a deep breath to help find his composure again and once he felt calm he continued. "The military simply do not have the resources, as I have said the empire is still a little under one hundred years old we don't have the man power yet to protect all the people.
"But you have the man power to rule over everyone?" Naruto asked, he knew he was pushing things a little here, from what he had seen of the empire so far they were not worthy of ruling anything.
"Unfortunately from the royal families point of view, dominion is what what matters most. As long as potential uprising can be crushed they do not matter how the people live their lives, that is why the gangs get away with so much." Tetsu replied, he silently cursed himself as he realised that he once more spoke his true feelings on the state of the empire to the young blond. 'How is he doing that!?'
"I'm sorry, I may have been a little harsh, our problems are not because of you. For someone in a military their orders are absolute and those that break the rules are trash," Naruto said calmly, paraphrasing his old sensei. He decided not to add the last part of the first lesson that Kakashi had taught him, it didn't really apply in this case.
"You speak as though you have some experience, but surely that can't be the case," Tetsu replied, probing a little bit to see if he could find out more about the blond.
Naruto shook his head and began thinking up an excuse "No not at all... I uh, just l-like to read. Yeah there was this book I read once about a ninja who never gave up and kept fighting for what he believed in even though everyone told him it was hopeless. I really looked up to that character and wanted to be just like him." This was perfectly true, Jiraiya's first book had inspired him to look for a way to find peace for the world.
"Sounds like an interesting read," Tetsu hummed. After this the line of questioning turned more straight forward, he asked them what they did for fun in the village, their jobs, age, all very standard questions that gave very little away, especially considering that they both lied about most of the answers.
"You seem to know how life works for our small villages Tetsu, is there anything else you need?" Karin asked after about an half an hour of these questions.
"I guess there isn't anything else that I need... oh actually wait, I do need a place to stay. I have found some rooms for my students but so far I haven't been able to find a place for myself. Would I be imposing if I asked to stay here?" the rusty haired man asked.
Naruto and Karin cast sideways glances at each other and Naruto was about to apollogise telling him there were no free rooms, when Karin cut him off. "You can stay in my room. You don't mind sharing for a few nights right Naruto-kun?"
"I uh, I guess not," the blond reluctantly agreed. 'Shit, now what am I supposed to do!?'
'Act like you're actually in a relationship?' Kurama suggested with a short laugh.
'Oh who asked you."
'I believe that you did, it was just a second ago,' Naruto couldn't see it but he knew that the fox was smirking in his mind.
"Then it's settled you will stay here with us, just let me clear some of my stuff out and it will be all set. Would you like to see the room now?" Karin asked.
Tetsu shook his head. "No thank you, there will be time for that later. Besides there are still a few houses I have yet to visit, but I enjoyed meeting you both. I am sure we will get along fine during my stay and thank you for inviting me into your home, I will be back in a few hours."
Naruto sighed when he heard the door shut, he couldn't help but get the impression that the man had been searching for something even if his questions were quite straight forward. "Phew I'm glad that's over, I hate exams."
Karin giggled at his assessment of the situation. "It wasn't an exam, it's not like we were getting graded."
"It sure felt like I was, still he has nothing on Ibiki," Naruto said with a shudder at the thought of the scarred interrogator. His thoughts soon turned to the new living arrangement for the next week. "Did you have agree to have him stay here? I know the easiest way to avoid suspicion is to be cooperative, but..."
"But nothing, him staying here doesn't change anything, unless," Karin's voice grew a little unsteady as she drifted off, mumbling the last part.
"Unless what?" he questioned, honestly a little worried.
"Unless... you don't want want to share a bed with me. I can sleep on the floor if you insist, but if thats the case at least tell me why?" She said her eyes beginning to tear up. "Why were you willing to sleep so close before and now you barely look at me? I just want to know, because if there is something I do to help you then I want too. Is it so wrong to want to be near you, to be able to hold the person I love close while I'm asleep? Naruto-kun plea-"
Karin was cut off as Naruto leaned across placing his lips softly against her own. Oh how he missed this sensation, how such a simple act made his heart race and his skin tingle. "Did you mean that?" he asked, pulling back to look in her eyes. "Do you really love me?"
Karin nodded, she was pouting slightly due to the end of the short kiss. "Of course I do. Naruto-kun, I most definitely love you, more than anything," she declared, hoping that he could see the honesty in her face as she gazed imploringly into the young mans azure blue eyes.
Naruto nodded and claimed her lips once more, growling possessively as she let out a small mewl of pleasure. Naruto had switched his mind off, to hell with the consequences he had already decided that Karin was the one months ago, his hesitation had given way and he was now on auto pilot, as his right hand slowly traveled up the curves of her hip, slipping under her cotton shirt and over her smooth lightly toned stomach and up onto her soft breast.
Karin was in a similar state of mind as she had begun undoing the buttons of Naruto's shirt so she could trace her fingers down his well defined abs, she moaned as she felt him lightly flick his fingers over her thinly covered nipple, and was well aware of the heat now radiating between her legs.
Their tongues slid over one another in a continuing struggle for dominance being played out like a ballet as their movements often perfectly mirrored each other as they swirled. Drunk on their lust, the two teens were in their own private world, nobody else existed to them but their partner. Then in an instant, both of their worlds were unceremoniously shattered.
"Yo Naruto, do you have a minute?" a most unwelcome call came from the door.
"Ugh It's Tenji," Naruto said gazing towards the door. He and the middle aged man had become quite good friends over the past few months. Tenji and Cho would often help Naruto with the village repairs, when he was not out hunting, even that had been happening less often because of Naruto, he could hunt and catch a weeks worth of food for the village in an afternoon.
"Ignore him, we're busy," Karin replied, her eyes filled with lust, she emphasised the point by quickly sealing a kiss, lightly biting his lower lip to draw his attention back to her.
"Come on Naruto, I know your in there! Don't make me break in," Tenji called out once more.
"Ah sorry Karin-chan, I better go see what he wants," Naruto said reluctantly. As he stood up he discovered a second problem he would have to deal with, a rather noticeable bulge in his pants. "Ah shit what am I supposed to do with this?" he softly cursed beneath his breath.
Karin blushed but she was still feeling quite bold as well as annoyed at being interrupted. "Well I have some thoughts on that." she smirked.
"Not now, I can't think about that. It will just make things worse, how am I supposed to answer the door like this?" he asked.
Karin was less than sympathetic at the situation. "Then send him away and come back to me, without opening the door,"
"Okay that's it I'm coming in there and dragging you out if I have to!" Tenji called showing his growing impatience
"Okay okay hold up I'm coming," The blond finally called back as he slowly left the room.
"I wanted to hear that phrase, but the context is all wrong," Karin huffed crossing her arms.
'Great, I need to think of something other than Karin-chan,' the blond thought as he slowly approached the door. Danger was averted at the last second when he pictured the unbreakable Genjutsu of youth that occurred whenever Gai and his favourite pupil expressing their 'Youth', hugged.
Naruto opened the door to see the middle aged man waiting, he had his long black hair pulled back with a white head band and as always the large scar on his arm was visible. Naruto had asked him why he didn't cover it up once before but Tenji just laughed saying that the ladies loved battle scars.
"It's about time man," Tenji replied inviting himself in.
"Not that I mind you dropping by, but why are you here Tenji?" the blond asked closing the door behind him.
"I wanted to talk about the new arrivals," the dark haired man replied entering the lounge room, he noticed Karin glaring at him as he entered. "Woah Karin-chan, I come in peace," he joked trying to entice a smile out of the red head.
She wanted to yell at him, tell him, but all that would accomplish would be telling the rather carefree and loud mouthed man exactly what they had been doing. "You woke me from a rather enjoyable dream, you ruined everything."
"Oh sorry about that, I didn't know you were asleep," Tenji replied apologetically.
Karin huffed in response clearly not yet ready to forgive the man who in her mind had ruined a golden opportunity. "What do you want?" she asked a cooly
The black haired man nodded as took a seat, a slight frown on his face. "It's about that squad from the military that just arrived."
"What about them," Karin asked.
"The man in charge is really famous, he's one of the strongest officers in the military they call him Tetsu the Iron Blood," The dark haired man explained.
Karin didn't sound all that impressed, sure he was strong but so was Naruto, she had also improved exponentially in the last few months. "Fascinating, but why did you need to come over here to tell us that?"
Tenji's voice quietened to almost a whisper, as if he was afraid they had people that were trying to listen in. "Well remember when you first arrived and we had that... incident in the capital?"
"Yeah what about it?" Naruto asked.
"Well one of the squadrons that was in the city from the military was being lead by Tetsu. It's a bit of a stretch but Rea thinks they are here looking for the people responsible for the deaths of those thugs... or to be blunt you Naruto," the older man said.
"I don't know, Tetsu didn't ask us any questions like that when he was here earlier," Karin replied.
Naruto nodded his agreement. "Yeah it was mostly just asking what we did in the village, that sort of thing."
Tenji sighed as if he was relaxing slightly. "Yeah I got the same, but I just thought I would give you the heads up. Also I wouldn't go using any of those powers of yours while they're in the village, I can't say for certain but I doubt the empire will look to kindly on someone that is actually able to defend themselves."
"Don't worry we came to the same conclusion awhile ago," Naruto replied. He wasn't happy that Tenji had arrived so unannounced, or to be more precise yelling his arrival and declaring that he would be coming in regardless of Naruto opening the door or not. But he was happy that the man had come to warn them regardless.
"Alright, oh and Naruto we gotta go, it's our turn to feed the pigs you captured, No point in having them for farming if they go and die on us," Tenji said standing up from his seat.
"Huh, oh man I forgot all about that, too much has happened today," Naruto admitted casing a longing eye over the red head who looked even less pleased now.
"Naruto was going to help me with something, can you possibly get someone else to help you?" Karin asked. She thought for a moment of asking Naruto to just send a clone, but that would mean using chakra, which was not a good idea at the moment.
"Ah sorry Karin-chan, they're not tame yet so the normal villagers could get hurt, besides it's a two man job, what ever it is I'm sure Naruto can help you afterwards," Tenji answered. "Oh yeah before I forget, the bar's on tonight you two coming?"
"Aren't you getting a little sick of trying to get me drunk? In all this time I have never been more than slightly buzzed," Naruto replied.
"There in lies the challenge my friend," The dark haired man said wrapping an arm around the blonds shoulder. "If you had no reaction at all we would probably stopped trying, but now we know it's just a question of quantity and potency, we can't just give up, what would future generations say?" He added.
"Probably nothing because records aren't kept for alcoholics," Naruto deadpanned.
The dark haired man laughed and gave the young blond a pat on the back. "Oh where's your adventurous spirit boy, think of the bragging rights, to be able to say that I was the first man to get the great Naruto Uzumaki drunk of his face."
"Not to push the semantics here, but wouldn't the bartender be the one that got me drunk?" Naruto questioned.
"No, that's not how we are remembering this," Tenji ordered while leading Naruto out of the room.
"But it hasn't even happened yet, how can we remember something that may not even happen?" The blond reasoned, he was slightly confused by the older mans joking, but he enjoyed Tenji's company none the less and was always willing to play along with his games.
"That's defeatist talk right there," Tenji laughed as they exited the house, Naruto closing the door behind them. "So you coming?" he asked suddenly a little more serious but still in a light hearted tone.
"Yeah alright, someone has to keep an eye on you." Naruto smiled as they slowly walked down the street to where he had built a pen to keep the until recently wild boars they were trying to farm.
On the way to the outskirts of the village they ran into Tetsu who was just exiting another home. "Oh Naruto, Tenji, I'm surprised to see you both, your homes are on the other side of the village," the officer said honestly.
"Well it's a small village," Naruto pointed out.
"That's true, but you seemed to be in a hurry I hope my teams arrival hasn't inconvenienced you at all?" Tetsu asked.
Tenji shook his head in denial. "Oh no, not at all it's an honour to have members of the imperial army stay in our tiny village. It's nothing major, just our turn to feed the pig's and Naruto forgot so we're running a little late."
"I see, most of the other villages we have been to did not have farms, I guess it's the advantage of having walls to keep out unwanted trespassers," Tetsu said analysing the thick village walls.
"Yeah we had been working on them in secret for years, just so we could erect them in a short period of time," Tenji lied convincingly as he discovered that Tetsu had obviously decided to join them as they fed the boars.
They talked a little more, with the officer seemingly interested about every little detail of their lives, while he didn't help Naruto and Tenji as they entered the pig pen, he did however ask Naruto how he had caught them and why he chose pigs. There was nothing in the blonds answers that would have revealed himself or Karin in anyway to be able to use chakra. "You are certainly a man of many talents Naruto," Tetsu complimented as he finished filling the troth and exited the pen a few minutes later.
"Well like I said before, I like to read, there's a lot you can learn from books." There was a lot you can learn from years of experience as a leaf shinobi as well but Tetsu didn't need to know that. "Alright looks like we're done here. I guess I'll see you tonight Tenji."
"Is there something happening tonight? Oh you mean the little get together the village has once a week, several of the other villagers told me about it. Do you mind if I join you?" Tetsu asked politely.
"Uh sure if you want, it's mostly just us sitting around drinking though," Tenji said calmly.
Tetsu smiled at the chance this presented. "Then what better environment for my team and I to get to know people than where they are most relaxed. Naruto, are you heading back to your home now?"
Naruto nodded already walking back in the direction of his home. "Yeah, my work is done for the day now."
Tetsu smiled and quickly caught up with the younger man. "Then allow me to accompany you, that way I will not be returning unannounced."
End Chapter!
I needed to fix a few things in this chapter, so to my loyal readers that pointed out the mistakes I had made with the names... thank you. I think I got them all but in case I missed a few I'm sorry.
Forgot to mention this earlier but a big thank you to everyone for helping this story to get so close to one thousand reviews, I know it's not a popular pairing, (Probably why I like it.) so that makes the reviews that much better, I make sure to read them all.
Don't be afraid to criticise something you don't like or make suggestions on what you want to see happen, I will take everything you say into consideration and even if I don't necessarily agree I will listen to what you have to say. Constructive Criticism is the best thing to help a writer or any artist improve, not flames, they serve no real purpose but to discourage someone.
Anyway as far as this chapter was concerned. There were some nearly moments here, Tetsu can pretty much tell that Naruto is the one he has looking for, but still wants to be 100% sure even if he doesn't need to be. He is putting on an very polite act to try and put him at ease and Naruto is a very trusting person anyway, even if he is being a little more careful this time.
Some of you are probably hating me for breaking off the little Naruto x Karin scene where I did, well you probably wont have to wait much longer, they have just about resolved their difficulties. So there will probably be a Lemon in the coming chapters just a heads up for those people who like to complain about that sort of thing, you will have your chance soon.
Things will move a lot faster after this arc, but short time skips will be common, but for those of you who have followed my other fan fics they are long and I try not to drag the individual plot arcs out for too long.
Spoiler Alert!
Okay, so we know Kishimoto no longer cares when he starts using the exact same panels two weeks in a row... I mean there wasn't even a gap, he essentially waited a week to show us three extra panels where they were eventually able to find Sasuke. The first half of the chapter was basically just a shot by shot recap of the last week from a different camera angle lol.
Sasukes ability to instantly teleport where he likes as long as he can see it, pisses me off. Yet another new ability handed to Sasuke, one that competes with the Hirashin no less, seems like anything people find remotely interesting in the cannon he ends up relating it to an Uchiha in some way.
In the end the great plan of separating Naruto and Sasuke only accomplished dragging out the story an extra three chapters, without any real plot, and adding only some loose Sasuke Sakura fanboy material.
By this stage am I the only one getting the rather unwelcome feeling that it is going to end with Naruto talking Kaguya down rather than anything else? Naruto's stupid therapy jutsu is just ridiculous, was stupid enough that Obito suddenly became "Good" and don't get me started on Sasuke, in my opinion it will only be a truly satisfying ending if Sasuke dies. (That may be just me raging against the over used Uchiha fan boyism in the cannon of late. Might change if the story turns back to focus more on the main character but I have my doubts that it will.)