Disclaimer: Digimon is a franchise owned jointly by Toei Animation and Bandai, and conceptualized by Akiyoshi Hongo. Doctor Who is a property owned by the British Broadcasting Company created by Sydney Newman. Torchwood is a science fiction property created by Russell T Davies and owned by the British Broadcasting Company. Naruto is manga series created by Masashi Kishimoto and serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump. Kino's Journey is a light novel series written by Keichi Sigsawa and is property of Media Works. The Girl Who Leapt Through Time is a novel written by Yasutaka Tsutsui. Please support the official properties.
Author's Notes: Hey there folks! Thanks for reading through the first part! I hope you liked it! For this chapter, it's advised that you be familiar with Naruto, Kino's Journey, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time. For those unfamiliar, this first story takes place between Chapter 24 and Chapter 31 of The Tamer: A Digimon Adventure. Now then, let's start the story.
Burnt Leaf Declassified
Odaiba Incident - Monsters from Another World
Case: 081999-45A-21
A Memo to the Prime Minister
Thank you for your generous donation to the third party account. Per the arrangement we are releasing these files to your office regarding our involvement in the Odaiba Incident. Please review the files at your leisure. These are for your eyes only. As a precaution, the documents have been modified to only be readable to you. Don't ask how we did this - that's classified. Should anyone else happen upon these documents, they'll instead see some compromising photos of you with some unsavory company. As an aside, I hope you enjoyed your dinner with that intern, as well as your trip to that love hotel afterwards.
The Last Hokage
Burnt Leaf IV
The woman ran as fast she could through the empty street of Shinjuku. The streets should have been busy with life but there was no one around. Worse, a thick fog had suddenly rolled in making it difficult to see where she was going. She looked back over her shoulder in a panic, needing to be sure that her pursuer wasn't there. She didn't know where her pursuer had come from but he appeared shortly after the fog dd - as if the fog meant to herald him there. Or perhaps the other way around.
He was almost handsome at first with his pale complexion and light blonde hair. She thought he could have been a foreigner - European or even an American. He must have been with how tall he was. But all that awe turned to fear when she glanced down to confirm his height, and saw his feet didn't touch the ground. That was when she ran.
No matter how far she ran, all she could find were empty streets and closed businesses. What made it worse was that the street lights started to go out. This was not the time for a black out. She couldn't afford to run in the dark so she did the next best thing. She turned into an alley and hid behind a dumpster. Her heart pounded and her breathing was loud - so loud that her pursuer could have heard her. She peeked around the dumpster to make sure no one was there and relaxed when she thought she might have finally escaped him. The street was dark now, so it was likely that he didn't see her run into the alley.
She went back behind the dumpster, only to find herself facing down the strange man. He leered at her as his thin mouth widened into a smile to reveal sharp fangs. Her screams echoed out.
…
The black SUV rolled to a stop in front of the crime scene flashing the red and blue lights atop its roof. Painted along its side was a white leaf symbol and the words 'Burnt Leaf'. Tonight would have been like any other night in Tokyo were it not for reports rolling in of multiple women collapsing of anemia. The sheer number of them was staggering, but what drew the attention of the police were the bite marks on the women's necks.
The occupants of the black vehicle stepped out into the night, met by an unseasonably brisk chill. Two women and two men. The first woman was named Kino. She was in her early twenties, a fact made clear by her young face with short unkempt black hair. She dressed in leather biker gear, complete with ankle high boots, a utility belt around her waist which had three pouches for ammo and a holster for a revolver that she kept holstered at all times. The second woman was slightly older and dressed more professionally - a white blouse over black slacks and shoes. Her hair was a lighter shade of brown and even shorter, although it was much messier. She could almost be mistaken for a man if it weren't for her bosom. Her name is Makoto Konno, the second in command of the group.
The third member was a man somewhere in his late twenties to early thirties named Shizu. He dressed in leather gear, but wore a green turtle neck sweater over it. He completed his attired with a sword tied around his back with a belt. His hair was longer than both women, and he had to brush it out of his face several times to keep from blinding himself.
The last man was the only blonde in the group, with striking blue eyes and whisker marks on his cheeks that made him stand out in this crowd of Japanese. A single scar ran down the side of his right cheek, giving him an intimidating presence. Unlike the others, his attire was more formal and outlandish- a black business suit under a white sleeveless haori with red flames patterned into the trim. The title which he preferred to be addressed by was Hokage, but they all knew his personal name as Naruto. No one thought to pry too deeply into his past, as he rarely brought it up and the answers he gave were often conflicting. He took the lead and guided the group into the crime scene, past the police line and into a dark alley in the busy Shinjuku district. One of the officers tried to stop them, but was called aside by a superior for trying.
"Stay out of their way when they show up," he was told, "If they want the case, let them have it. They're usually just taking headaches off our hands anyway."
The rest of the police stepped back to let them have a look at the body - a young woman in a red dress lying on the ground. Unlike the other victims who were still alive and being cared for at the hospital, this was the first reported case where the victim had died by the time police arrived. Naruto kneeled down beside the woman to examine her neck while the others fanned out to carry out their duties. Naruto put on a pair of rubber gloves and moved her head to the side to reveal two puncture wounds on the side of her neck like a bite mark. He sighed, "Same as the others. Bite marks to the neck and palor from blood loss. This looks like a vampire attack. Kino, how are we looking on the energy readings?"
"Usual stuff," Kino said, waving around a device that emitted beeps and colored lights, "Abnormal changes in the electromagnetic spectrum all over this place. There's even gamma radiation, some microwave radiation and plenty of long-wave. Yeah, we probably should quarantine this place off."
"We've been monitoring those readings all day. They all dissipated after a short time. It'll probably be fine," Shizu noted, taking pictures of the crime scene with a camera. Makoto added, "I hate to be the skeptical one, but are we really suspecting vampires here?"
"You and I both know that there's a talking motorcycle in the garage. We also responded to a call of giant monsters fighting in the city earlier. Are you really going to doubt vampires?" Naruto asked. He looked over his shoulder at her and said, "Talk to the first responder and get as much detail as you can."
Makoto hurried off to talk to the officers and get what information she could. Kino watched her and added, "I'm with her on this. Vampires aren't real. Besides, shouldn't we focus on the call from earlier? We still need to find a giant bug and a mammoth."
"No one's going to miss a giant monster walking around," Naruto scoffed, "And believe me. Vampires are real so you better hope we can kill it. There's one up in Mahora City that's contained there because we couldn't kill her. Bitch was a pain in the ass then some hot shot comes along and seals her away."
"That's bullshit," Kino remarked loudly, "Vampires."
Naruto looked over his shoulder to be sure none of the police overheard her remarks and put a finger to his lips warningly. Makoto got the message and nodded. Naruto joked, "I'd keep a crucifix handy if I were you. Or garlic, both work. Shizu, have you canvassed the scene yet?"
"Almost, just need a few more pictures," Shizu said, still taking photos. While he worked, Naruto swabbed the area around the bite and put samples in a plastic bag for safe keeping. Then he took some blood with a syringe - or at least, he took what was left. The syringe filled mostly with air and what little blood was left had coagulated. It would make testing difficult, but they could hopefully use whatever trace amount of blood was left to figure out who or what sucked her clean. Once Shizu finished taking his pictures, they returned to the SUV and waited for Makoto to finish talking.
They left when she finished, making sure to tuck the notes she took into her coat. While he drove along, Shizu mulled over a few ideas in his head and asked "Do you think it was The Trickster? I mean, we have readings for a transition between worlds."
Naruto shook his head, "Doubtful. This isn't the Trickster's MO."
"There's a dead woman back there," Shizu said. Naruto reminded him, "And who knows how many passed out from anemia around the city. The Trickster tends to focus on one or two people. Not a large number of them. His approach is more focused, deliberate. And it's always playful. He messes with people, but he doesn't leave them dead in the street. This is a vampire."
"Maybe he's bored and mixing things up a little?" Kino offered up, "I'd get bored of the same thing after a while."
"Two hundred years and no signs of stopping," Naruto answered back, "It's a vampire."
"Okay, assuming it is a vampire, why don't we just wait until sunrise?" Makoto said from the back, "The sun will take care of it, no problem."
"Not all vampires get killed by sunlight," Naruto replied firmly as they continued down the road, "What did you learn from the police?"
"One of the employees at a nearby bar was taking out the garbage when he heard a scream," Makoto explained, "He went to look and found the woman. He saw the attacker, but it was too foggy to make out any useful details. Tall, blonde, male, dressed funny."
"I didn't see any fog," Kino noted, "And that description sounds like our boss."
"Maybe I'm the attacker," Naruto smirked, pointing out his less than normal clothes.
"We've had weird weather patterns all day. Think it's related?" Shizu asked, disappointing Naruto by not returning the flirtation. He looked back at Shizu and shrugged, "No idea. It'll be interesting to find out."
"Do you think that the monsters from earlier are related too?" Makoto looked at them all. Naruto shrugged again, "In this line of work, anything is possible. Let's just focus on the vampire for the time being."
They returned to their headquarters hidden in plain sight as a ramen shop near the Cup Noodles Museum in Yokohama. The facility itself was located ten stories beneath the ramen shop - a large circular room with eight doors, each leading to a different area of the base. One led up to the ramen shop, another to the garage where they parked their SUV, another to the holding cells that were occupied by all manner of terrible creatures that were too valuable to kill but too dangerous to left free. One door led to a massive storage warehouse filled to the brim with crates full of items acquired over the years of operation.
One door led towards a medical bay although it was treated more as a laboratory and morgue instead of a medical bay because few operatives ever survived their ailments. One thing all the operatives came to understand was the short life expectancy from working here. Another door went to a multipurpose training room packed with dummies for target practice and martial arts training. The second to last led to a massive power generator that used the motion of the waves to generate electricity for the facility. The abundance of energy was stored in back up batteries designed to hold enough power to keep the facility operating for ten days in the event of a power failure. Additionally, extra power was used to keep the Cup Noodle Museum operational at all times. The final door went to Naruto's office, a room that he never let the others in while he carried out his duties.
The central hub room had three desks with a different name plate on each. Kino's was stacked with papers in general disarray, many still waiting to be read aside a pile of empty of reports waiting to be written. Across from her desk was Shizu's which was more neatly organized and even had a computer set up for quick access to information he needed. Between their desks was Makoto's, which was slightly cleaner than Kino's but also less used as she preferred to be in the warehouse going over the archive data. There was a fourth desk opposite of Makoto that was home to a computer connected to twelve monitors, all of them monitoring different channels of communication - police radio, emergency services systems, walkie talkies, phone lines, military comms, and more.
Each of the four operatives went back to their respective roles once they were back at base. Shizu went out to mind the ramen shop used as a front - these were peak hours and they needed to take advantage of the number of businessmen looking for a place to eat if they wanted to keep up appearances. Makoto disappeared into the medical bay to begin processing and archiving everything they had. Kino's role was to work the comms table nearby and monitor local traffic for anything out of the ordinary. Tonight, she would prefer to sneak over to the restaurant for a free meal and was about to until Naruto grabbed her by the collar of her shirt.
He knew her well enough to know she was going to pull this kind of stunt. Makoto and Shizu were convinced it was because she snuck away because she liked Shizu. Naruto knew it was because she loved to stuff her face with free food.
"You're not going anywhere Kino," Naruto told her, "You and I have to start going through the reports from earlier today, see if we can find a link between the attacks."
"Can it wait until I get some food?"
"You sneak up there whenever Shizu is running the restaurant. I was going to ignore it but if you're interpersonal relationship is going to present a work issue then I'm going to hand cuff you to your desk," he said, teasing her over the rumor that she was crushing on her coworker. Of course it wasn't true, but neither Shizu nor Makoto were aware of it. That didn't make it any less fun to tease her about it. She replied, "You know I don't actually like him, right?"
"Present evidence suggests otherwise," he retorted with a half smile. Before she could reply, they heard a loud beeping coming from Naruto's room. The two went inside nervously, Kino especially as she was the first one to be inside his office. Inside, they found a neatly kept desk surrounded by file cabinets packed so full that some didn't close properly. There were pictures on the walls above the cabinets - faded images of various people smiling into a camera. One was a faded picture of soldiers standing at attention, another had men in business suits and kimono standing together outside a club, and another more recent photo of what looked like a young couple. Every single photo had someone resembling Naruto in them and it more than likely was Naruto given that he neither aged nor could die. Mounted over the door were two labeled - the red one had a blade sharpened like teeth with the name 'Kitsune' hanging over it. The white one was pristine and had the name 'Kusanagi' over it.
Sitting on Naruto's desk was the source of the noise - a small device that vibrated violently with each beep. Naruto swallowed a lump in his throat as he knew what the device was and what it meant when it made that noise. He picked it up and examined the screen to see a map of the city. There were eight red dots scattered across the city. Of them, only two were moving freely across the city while the other six remained in their present location. Kino had seen this device before but had never known it to do what it was doing now. She asked, "That's never happened before, has it?"
He smiled, "No, it hasn't. Never mind this case. Something bigger just came up Kino. Get your motorcycle out and start tracking these signals."
"It's a motorrad and his name is Hermes," Kino retorted. Naruto handed the device to her, "Be careful with that - it's the only one we have. Get to work."
"I think I should bring Shizu with me on this," Kino suggested but was shot down right away. Naruto stated, "Keep it in your pants, Kino. This is a standard reconnaissance mission. Stay in radio contact and we'll be fine."
"What about the rest of the team?" she asked impatiently, desperately wishing that he would drop that line of discussion. Naruto pointed to the items they'd recovered from the crime scene, "They'll be working. I'll have Shizu join you once we can close down the ramen shop. Just make sure you two love birds keep a lid on things and focus on the assignment."
"We're not love birds," Kino frowned, pulling away to head for the garage. Naruto called after her before she left, "Tell him that."
The garage was a large unit full of different makes of vehicles for when they moved around the city. Most were covered a fine layer of dust from disuse. Their main transport was the black SUV with police lights, with the leaf logo imprinted along the side and was the cleanest of the vehicles if only because it had the most use. Other vehicles included a yellow buggy, a green sedan, a bright orange sports car that Naruto refused to let anyone near. One side of the garage was lowered into water to act as a dock for a speed boat. The only vehicle Kino concerned herself with was an old Brough Superior. Kino patted it once she was nearby and greeted, "Wake up Hermes. We have work."
A boy's voice came from the motorcycle that sounded startled, "Huh? Oh, Kino. Are we finally leaving this place?"
"Not yet Hermes. We have another job," Kino told the bike as she mounted it. Hermes was her motorcycle, or motorrad as she often insisted. The two had known each other since she was a little girl - before she ever came to work for Burnt Leaf. She never talked about life before she came except with Shizu who knew her previously. Even then, neither ever willingly shared their past so how she came into possession of a talking motorcycle was a mystery to the other operatives. The engine roared to life as she kicked it into gear and Hermes complained, "Take it easy on me Kino. I just woke up."
"We're in a rush Hermes. There's free food that I'm missing out on because of this," Kino revved the throttle and steered the bike out towards the far wall. She shifted into a higher gear and continued straight for it as if to collide. Hermes sighed, "I always hate this part."
Neither screamed as they passed straight through the wall and emerged out into an empty street a few blocks away. There were many secrets in Burnt Leaf - one of them was how the entrance into the garage of their headquarters worked. Naruto was the only one who had any idea and he refused to tell them on the grounds that the information was classified above their clearance levels - which was another matter that only Naruto understood. There were many secrets in Burnt Leaf, both to those who worked within the organization and the few outsiders who were vaguely aware they existed.
"So where are we going?" Hermes asked. Kino checked the device's screen to make sure she was traveling in the correct direction, "West into Nakano."
"Nakano? Isn't that area residential?" Hermes asked. Kino revved the engine and rode her motorrad further along the road onto a highway, "It's a district that's practically like one of the countries we used to visit. They have apartments, shopping, schools, and entertainment. Why?"
"Just curious," Hermes said, his engine roaring as the bike swerved past cars, "I haven't been out in a while. It's good to get some exercise every now and then."
They followed one of the moving signals because it looked like it was moving around a second stationary signal. She followed it straight into a street lined with apartment complexes. Judging by the device before her, the stationary signal had settled inside a nearby building while the moving one was about to run past in front of her. She glanced up ahead of her but couldn't make out anything through the people walking back to their respective homes, "It should be right in front of us, now."
There was nothing out of the ordinary before her and she began to wonder if the device had led her wrong. It shouldn't have, as the device said that whatever she was looking for should have been moving around the area. But there was nothing out of place, no one moving frantically around them. She glanced in the direction of the building and saw only people returning home after another long day at work. Nothing stood out at her, "Do you see anything Hermes?"
"I saw a walking talking dinosaur if that's what you mean," Hermes replied. Kino blinked and took another look around, "Where? I didn't see one."
"It was talking to this kid, and they were chasing a cat! You didn't see it?" Hermes asked curiously. Kino patted the motorrad's fuel tank, "Hermes, now isn't the time to be making bad jokes."
"I'm serious! It walked right in front of us!"
"I think your time asleep has messed with your head," Kino looked back down at the device in her hand and saw that the other moving signal was now converging on them. She looked up and saw only the approach of the fog upon them. Recalling the report from the police, she revved her engine and put the device away. She needed her hand free so that she could keep it on her gun. It was entirely possible that the fog was just a coincidence and she refused to begin entertaining the possibility of being attacked by a vampire. All the same, she felt more at ease having the gun ready than not.
The fog thickened so that everything beyond a few feet became obscured by blanket of white, which made her uneasy. Then she heard a scream coming from down the street and she throttled the engine. She had gone a full block when she could clearly make out a figure collapse off the sidewalk and onto the street. She pulled on the breaks and swerved to go around the figure as it fell right into her path. It was difficult to make out what it was until the fog cleared to reveal a pale young woman passed out on the side of the street. On her neck were two puncture wounds in the shape of a bite mark.
Kino retrieved the device again and saw the two signals were still either moving around aimlessly or waiting inside the nearby building. But the new signal was moving away from the area and into another district. She reported into the communication center, "Naruto, it's Kino. I tracked one of the signals to another attack. Same as all the others, a young woman with bite marks. I'm going after it."
"Copy that, Kino. Remember, the mission is recon. Track it but don't get too close," Naruto's voice said back to her over the radio, "Don't engage. I'll have Shizu meet up with you right away."
"Tell him to hurry," Kino said, taking another look at the device, "Whatever it is, it's moving fast and it's bringing the fog with it."
"I'll get on it."
Naruto ran upstairs to get Shizu and instructed the man to close down the ramen shop early. A few patrons were disgruntled at being kicked out so soon but Shizu promised them free ramen on the house the next day if they came back. Shizu departed after everything was closed down, taking an orange buggy that he'd had for a long time.
Naruto returned to his office and did a double take to make sure no one else was around. It seemed Makoto was taking her time in the laboratory, which left him free to review the book. He'd checked the book countless times over his lifetime - an exceptionally long period that he'd lost count of but his best guess was somewhere north of five hundred years. And he'd had the book for most of it, being given to him by the same person who gave him the device.
The same person who urged him to form Burnt Leaf. As he was instructed should he ever get lost, he need simply open the book and it would tell him how things were supposed to be but this was not a guarantee of what would be. As a result, he had gone out of his way to make sure that only he knew about this book. No one else. He opened it to a bookmarked page and watched a formerly blank page come to life with ink. The bookmark was there from the last time he'd looked at it.
He read through its contents intently, trying to absorb as much of it as he could.
It spoke of monsters from another world who would ravage Tokyo and the sixteen who would stop it - eight children and eight monsters. It also emphasized that one of the eight would end the fighting by helping to destroy the leader of the monstrous army from another world. This child would be hunted by the leader, for the leader knew this child would be their end. It wasn't hard to piece it together all together. The eight red dots that appeared on the device were most likely the locations of the eight children. The attacks were likely related to the leader of this other worldly army. He closed the book and considered how much of this would be safe to tell the team.
This book was already a well kept secret for a reason - it contained so much knowledge and it could never be allowed to fall into the wrong hands. As he'd seen over the years, virtually everyone counted as the wrong hands. Despite what Kino had asked, Naruto had indeed seen the device go off before. Whenever it did, that meant it was safe to view contents of the book. Any other time the contents were viewed, someone would use the information to their benefit at the cost of others. This made Burnt Leaf's job really messy with clean up. After some deliberation, he'd decided. They could know about the vampire, and they could know they had to protect kids. Everything else had to be kept secret. He contacted Kino on the communications right away, "Kino, it's Naruto. Are you there?"
"I'm here. Still in pursuit," she said back over the radio.
"It's Shizu. I'm on my way to her. What's going on?" Shizu's voice came over their comms. Naruto adjusted his head piece, "Stay on the target, follow but do not engage and do not interfere. Is that understood?"
"You're joking right?" her voice was flat.
"Target is high priority asset and can't be touched," Naruto explained, "You're cleared to defend yourself if you have to, but you can't kill the target."
"Right, because I remembered to bring my stakes and holy water," Kino remarked sarcastically. There was a muffled voice on her end of the line that sounded like a little boy and Naruto asked, "Did the motorcycle just insult me?"
"He just wanted you to know that he loves the sound of your voice," Kino's tone became flat and unreadable. Naruto snorted, "Shizu, hurry to her location and back her up. And one more thing. If the target goes after a child, then you're cleared to engage."
"And the women he's going after?" Shizu asked.
"Low priority. Let it happen," Naruto's voice was firm but lacked confidence. Things had to happen a certain way and the best way for Burnt Leaf to ensure this was to stay undetected. Out of sight, out of mind, as the saying went. He waited as the comms were silent but eventually heard Kino and Shizu reply.
"Acknowledged."
"Confirmed."
"Keep us posted team," Naruto said.
Hours passed as Shizu and Kino maintained their pursuit of the attacker around city. As the night went on, the attacks became more aggressive as the number of women fallen ill they encountered. It went on to include abductions as people began to disappear into the fog. Every time, the story was the same. They'd pursue the target into the fog but would be unable to intervene in any meaningful way until the darkness overtook the target. When the morning came and sunlight rose over the city, the target stopped moving. It was only by chance that they found an open sewer cover when the fog cleared.
As unlikely as it was, it seemed their target had taken shelter down there as the sun rose.
Kino called it into Naruto who told them to wait at the site until reinforcements. They had to maintain a low profile, which was harder to do as more people filled the street to begin their work day. To Kino's annoyance, motorcycles carried a certain reputation in this country - a negative connotation associated with the various biker gangs who often drove around the city causing trouble for people. She wished she could shoot them and save herself some trouble, but that would only cause further problems in this marvel of a country.
"Too bad we can't just leave like we normally would," Hermes commented. Kino tapped his front wheel with her foot, "Shush. Motorrads don't talk in this world."
"It's not like we can leave the country any way," Shizu admitted, "It's far too large. We could drive all day and never get to the border. Besides, we won't get far without a passport."
Kino nodded her agreement. In this world, countries were not self contained townships and cities who'd walled themselves off from each other. Rather, they were vast in size and heavily guarded their own borders. To go from one country to another legally required a passport, otherwise the local authority would deport you. Unfortunately for both Shizu and Kino, they needed citizenship with a country just to get a passport - something Naruto frequently denied them so that they would stay with Burnt Leaf. It wasn't the ideal job for either for them or how they thought they would get roped into, but at least they could make a living.
A white utility van pulled up at the end of the alley, marked with the logo of city's sewage department. Kino patted her motorcycle, "Get some sleep. We'll be back later."
"Okay, good luck you two," Hermes wished them well. Kino and Shizu approached the van as a group of workers in blue uniforms and hard hats stepped out. One of them, a middle aged man with graying hair and a five o'clock shadow approached Kino with a duffel, "Hurry and get changed you two."
"I still don't get why you need our help Naruto," Kino said to the man, "You can make copies of yourself and change your outward appearance at will. Having us around seems like a waste of our time and yours. So why are we doing this?"
"Mutual exchange of needs and services," the middle aged man said playfully, "You need money and I'm incredibly lazy. Besides, this job gets lonely when all I have to talk to is myself. Not to mention, you two won't get far if you try to run off anyway. Plus, you're a good shot and Shizu actually knows what he's doing when it comes to his sword. And yes, I mean that both ways."
Shizu averted his face to hide his embarrassed expression. He and Kino went into the van and made a point of not looking at each other while they changed into their combat uniforms - blue jumpsuits with green kevlar body armor - flak vests, elbow and knee pads, and black combat boots and fingerless gloves with metal plates that ran over the knuckles. The attire was heavy and made it difficult to move but it would protect them from whatever they were up against. Of course, it was also sweaty in the heavy gear which they had to wear under the blue public works uniform with the bright orange vest. They stepped back out after changing, being sure to wear their yellow hard hats when they saw Naruto being talked to by a police officer, "Yeah, I'd heard about that. We've been getting calls all night about people's toilets flooding back up."
"You don't say?" Naruto replied, "I'm only a public servant, I wouldn't know about that. I did hear the boss say something about a busy night."
"Yeah, this one couple's house got flooded in two inches of black sewage," the officer commented, "Anyway, I'll let you guys get back to it. And be sure to give your supervisor a call!"
"Will do!" Naruto bowed while the officer took his leave. Kino and Shizu stared at Naruto when he came back to them, "Ready?"
"What was that about?" Shizu asked. Naruto handed them a pair of duffel bags with their equipment inside while he answered, "Wanted to make sure we remembered to call our super about the parking permits. Apparently, there have been calls around the city all night with sewage problems."
"What are you thinking?" Kino asked when he saw the smug grin on his face.
"I'm thinking we never found the giant monsters from yesterday. They might be in the sewers."
Shizu and Kino shouldered the bags while two of Naruto's clones went about sectioning off the area - one looked like a recent high school graduate and the other took the appearance of an older woman. They set up traffic cones and started signaling to the ever growing number of cars to make room for them to work.
Naruto climbed down first, followed by Kino then Shizu. They were greeted by the pungent smell of waste and decay that made them want to leave right away. Unfortunately for all of them, they would have to go further in to pursue whatever they were after.
Once they were safely out of sight, they unzipped the bags to get out their gear. For Kino, it was her personal sniper rifle - an Arisaka Type 99 bolt action sniper rifle which she affectionately called 'The Flute'. Shizu retrieved his own personal weapon, a razor sharp katana that he was unable to openly carry around, and a set of hand knives. For Naruto, he had a belt of kunai and a pouch full of shuriken. Each of them also had a holster with a specialized handgun that they carried. Neither Shizu nor Kino knew where the guns came from or what their specifications were. They only knew it had near unlimited ammo and could hurt virtually anything. Finally, they had their equipment from the investigation earlier that let them trace radiation and a map of the city's sewage system for each of them so that they could find their way if they were ever lost.
Once they'd finished gearing up, Naruto asked, "Where's the signal?"
Kino reexamined the device and pointed off into the dark tunnels, "It's coming from that direction."
"Okay, I'm on point," Naruto said, "Kino in the middle, Shizu cover the rear."
"I'd rather take rear if you don't mind," Kino said hastily, regretting her choice when Naruto replied, "If Shizu's into that, what do I care?"
"It really is just all sex with you, isn't it?" Shizu pointed out disapprovingly. Naruto winked, "You love it, I know. Kino, guide us there safe."
Naruto turned on the flash light on his helmet and went ahead of them. Kino and Shizu did the same and followed suit in formation. They perused the sewers in silence for a long time, following after the target which appeared to stop moving on the device's screen. They could hear the sound of street level traffic above them; cars whizzing past on their way to offices, and people busily walking to and from work. A few times, they narrowly avoided a spray of water and sewage as someone above flushed a toilet or turned on a sink.
They continued along through the sewers, trying to navigate their way towards whatever was creating the signal. Along the way, they noticed six of the other signals had now gathered together and were traveling towards what looked like Odaiba. Eventually, Naruto's voice came in on the radio, "Team, it's getting kind of lonely back at base. What's going on over there?"
Kino groaned, "You couldn't even bother to show up to your own mission?"
"What? I'm busy," the Naruto with them replied while Shizu answered into the radio, "We're clear. Still searching. The sewers are a maze."
"Keep us posted," Naruto's voice said back over the radio, "And make sure your comms work. Chatter around the city is screwy today. Lots of dead air and static for some reason."
As he said those words, their radiation detectors all buzzed to life and Shizu said, "You'll like this Naruto. We're getting a lot of readings down here."
"Copy that. We're getting it here at base too. Stay frosty and keep your safeties on. Copy?" Naruto's voice said back.
"Copy," Kino answered with a click of her tongue. She made a point of showing the present Naruto that her safety was not on and pressed ahead of him, "I just want to find this thing and get out of here. I'm hungry, tired, and more than annoyed that I'm still on this assignment."
"We get this vampire and we can go home," Naruto replied. As soon as he said those words, the entire sewer rumbled and the sound of crashing came by over head, "The fuck was that?"
"Naruto, what's going on up there?" Shizu asked into the radio, "Earthquake?"
"Earthquake? I don't know what you're talking about. The police scanner is going nuts though. Never heard a dispatcher sound so spooked. Well, not since the Kobe Earthquake," Naruto said back, "Keep moving. I'll keep you updated."
"The whole sewer just shook! If this is an earthquake, we need to get out of here!" Kino said into the radio. Naruto's voice said again, "Like I said, I have no idea what you're talking about. There's no shaking over here. Continue with the mission. All other Narutos, report in. What's going on out there?"
"I don't know," a woman's voice answered, "We're still here by the sewer lid we opened. Fog's thick but that's all. Hang on a second."
The radio went silent and Naruto asked, "Guys?"
"Well, people are running past us for whatever that's worth," the woman's voice said, "And…um…the ground is shaking."
"So there is an earthquake," Kino frowned. Naruto raised a finger to shush her and spoke into the radio, "Buildings shaking?"
"Negative, but…holy shit that is a big dinosaur," the woman said, "It's big…fuck it, we're getting the guns out."
"Did she say dinosaur?" Shizu asked. As soon as he said those words, the Naruto with them flinched and shivered, "Well. That sucks."
"What happened?" Kino asked the man as he took off his helmet and wiped the sweat off his brow, "Two of my copies up there just got killed. I can add 'eaten by dinosaur' and 'stepped on by dinosaur' to the list of ways I've died."
"They died? Wait! Hermes! Is he alright?" Kino asked the Naruto copy. The copy shook his head worriedly, "I don't know. It happened too fast. You kept him in the alley so I think we should be okay."
"I'm going back to check," Kino turned to leave but stopped when she heard the pull of a gun's hammer. Naruto said from behind, "No. We continue the mission."
She looked back at him and saw that Shizu had drawn his sword but was now pointing it straight at Naruto. Kino slowly put her hands up and said, "There are dinosaurs running around up there! I think that takes priority! And I'm going back to get my motorrad."
"We continue the mission as planned Kino," Naruto replied, "We find whatever is making that signal."
"Or what?"
"I'll shoot you where you stand."
"Then shoot me," Kino said, staring intently into his eyes as the Naruto copy kept the gun trained on her. His finger played with the trigger and Shizu warned, "If you shoot her, I'll kill you."
The middle aged man's eyes darted to Shizu, "I'd like to see you try Shizu. You're not the only one who's good with a sword."
Tension followed between the three of them as they stood there in that sewer. Another shake reminded them of the chaos above and the real Naruto came on the radio, "Knock it off guys. We're on the same side here. No one's killing anyone."
"They're disobeying orders," Naruto's copy told the original. The original's voice said back, "It's happened before. They never get too far on their own. Continue the mission."
As soon as he said those word, a rotten blue hand emerged from the Naruto copy's chest and impaled him. The Naruto copy's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he vanished in a puff of smoke to reveal his attacker. A pale bed sheet ghost with razor sharp teeth coming the mouth hole and little white points of light in its eye holes. Shizu took a swing with his katana and sliced clean through the ghost without harming it at all. The ghost laughed, "What did you think that would work?"
"No, but how about this?" Kino's hand was fluid, moving in a single swift motion for her holster to draw the gun. It wasn't even level yet when she pulled the trigger, but she'd practiced this motion enough to line up a shot from the hip. A burst of light shot forward from the specialized gun and it hit the ghost square where its chest would have been. It yelped before turning bursting into a cloud of dust with a scream.
They looked at where their attacker had been floating for a moment, before Kino commented, "Vampires, dinosaurs, now ghosts. What's next? Werewolves? Angels? How about pixies?"
"Team, it's Naruto. What just happened down there?" Naruto's voice came over the radio, "Team? Kino!? SHIZU!"
"It's Shizu. We're okay. We just took out a ghost," he said into his comms, "What the hell is going on with today?"
"No idea," Naruto answered. He was obviously lying. He always lied, but at least he went out of his way to keep them alive, "I have Makoto on standby in case we need to use her 'time leap' ability. I also have a few a clones out there trying to run damage control."
"Uh, hey," another man's voice came on the comms, "I'm not sure if it still matters. But we're still alive here. We put Kino's motorcycle…motorrad in the back of the van and we're on our way back to base."
"Is Hermes okay?" Kino called into the comms piece. The other Naruto on the other end answered, "Yeah. He's complaining about the dinosaur chasing us…get out of the way! Get out of the way!"
"What's going on up there?" Kino shouted into the head piece until Naruto informed her, "Don't worry about them. My clones will take care of Hermes and get him back to base safely. Continue the mission. Find the source of the signal and take out anything that gets in your way. Deadly force authorized."
"Even on the vampire?" Shizu asked.
"Yes. Take it out if you see it," Naruto said, "Keep me posted."
"Understood," Shizu said. He left his sword out and looked at Kino who still didn't look quite ready to continue, "Kino?"
"Yeah?" she broke out of her stupor. Shizu pointed at the device in her had, "We still need to find the signal."
"Right," she nodded and took a glance at the device. She sighed and drew both guns from their holster. She continued forward and said, "This way."
Naruto massaged his off his clones had just been killed, giving him a first hand view of just how bad the situation was. He could already foresee the phone calls and the paperwork he'd have to fill out. He hated bureaucracy and always had. On cue, the phone on his desk rang and his headache became a lot worse - the phone could make a call to any number in the country but only one number could call it back. Only one person would even be able to connect to it - the emperor. He sighed and mentally prepared to be yelled at before picking up, "Imperial Majesty."
"Hokage. What the hell is going on out there?" an elderly voice asked, "Tell me your organization is doing something about all this."
"Your Imperial Majesty, we're handling it," Naruto answered, "We're following the situation closely and working on getting things back under control. For now, I'd recommend leaving the city."
"I refuse to leave while the citizens of Japan are still inside the city. Besides, I wouldn't be able to if I wanted to. Your phone is the only one that seems to be working," the emperor said. Naruto took pause when he heard those words, "Imperial Majesty, I can send an agent to your palace and have you escorted to safety Or, if you'd prefer, I can have an agent on stand by at the palace to protect you."
"Hokage, protect the people - as you did for my father when you were in his service," he said, "And my grandfather. This is an order from your emperor."
"Understood your majesty," Naruto said, "We'll do as we always have."
He hung up the phone and massaged his temple as the headache got worse. It seemed that the emperor's contribution to their monthly income may not be as much as normal. Then again, Naruto made a few good real estate investments in the past - though he doubted they'd be any good in the near future. He groaned and left his office to join Makoto in the central hub.
She was standing at the comms center, listening intently as the radio chatter was distorted with static making it an incomprehensible mess.
"My parents are out there somewhere," she commented, "And a younger me. Why don't I remember any of this?"
"Time is convoluted," Naruto answered, "There's no point in dwelling on why things do or don't make sense. The past, present, and future intermingle and collide with each other in ways they were never meant to. It's so subtle though that the average person doesn't generally think about it."
"Of course people pay attention to it!" Makoto said, "Stop trying to sound deep before saying something stupid."
"What year is it?" Naruto asked plainly.
"1999," Makoto answered.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes!"
Naruto looked at her more seriously, "How many days have passed since it became 1999?"
"How would I know that?" Makoto asked. Naruto smiled the way he did when he wanted to annoy people, "So you don't count."
"I'm out there and you're worried about the number of days! What happens if I...the younger me dies!?" she asked. Naruto shrugged, "No idea, but it would be interesting to watch."
"Fuck you," Makoto chuckled, "Asshole."
"I'll level with you - what we're seeing right now. It's unprecedented. Two worlds are colliding with each other in a way that has never happened. This is the kind of thing Burnt Leaf was meant to handle."
"Right now, I think we're failing at it," Makoto frowned as she continued listening to the radio. Reports of an angel appearing at Rainbow Bridge were coming in now. Vampires, dinosaurs, and angels. What else should they expect today? There was no point in dilly dallying. Naruto made a few gestures with his hands and the hub filled with smoke as hundreds of copies of himself appeared. The copies each made gestures before changing appearances into a mob of different people. The copies hurried out into the city, all knowing what was going through Naruto's mind. They would save as many people as they could while he and Makoto waited at the base, but make it look like survivors were fighting.
Makoto went to join them but Naruto took her by the arm and shook his head, "Don't."
"I have to do something!"
"You are. You're time leap ability is the one reset button we have. If things get bad, use it and change the future," Naruto assured her, "But don't go out there and put yourself in danger that you don't need to be in."
Makoto frowned but nodded, looking back at the communication center to listen to the radio fill with panic. Sensing her unease, Naruto tried to take her mind of the situation, "Find anything out from the crime samples?"
"Swab had blood and trace amounts of some saliva mixed with anticoagulant," Makoto replied, "It kept the wound bleeding. Sicko probably licked the blood."
"Sounds like a vampire," Naruto pointed out.
"Or a freak who licked the blood while she bled out from the anticoagulant," Makoto grumbled in disagreement, "Can we not talk right now?"
Naruto frowned and patted her on the shoulder to assure her that everything would be alright.
Kino and Shizu continued down the sewer into darkness with only the lights of their helmets guiding the way. They occasionally stopped to cross reference the sewer map with the screen of the device and make sure they were heading in the right direction. That all stopped when the target started moving on screen again which made them move frantically to catch it.
Then they saw it - a single pink glimmer of light slowly coming towards them along the sewage. Kino took one look at the device and saw that it was moving with the target. She readied her gun and took aim at the water as it came past - a single pink crystal floating along with the sewage, "Is that…the target?"
"Here," Shizu drew his sword and stabbed into the water. With a quick swinging motion, he splashed some of the water and its sewage contents onto the wall beside them. Including the glowing pink crystal. Kino narrowly avoided getting hit with it, "Careful. Have you tried cleaning leather? It sucks."
"Sorry," he offered quietly. Kino picked up the crystal and examined it carefully - noting its perfect square shape and the flowery symbol etched into it. The design looked more like a small sun with the sharp petals resembling the rays of a sun, "It's beautiful."
Both their radiation detectors went off and Shizu commented, "And it's radioactive."
Kino took a look down at the device and commented, "Whatever it is, this looks whatever we were following. Call it in."
"Naruto? It's Shizu. We have the target on hand," Shizu said in to the comms. Naruto's voice came back, "That was quick. What is it?"
"Some kind of crystal. Has a marking that looks like a sun or a star. Should we head back to headquarters?"
"Yeah. Head back. I want to take a look at it," Naruto said back, "Get back street level and prepare for-"
"HEY!"
Shizu missed the last part of the conversation as he and Kino turned to see another bed sheet ghost coming towards them in the darkness, "Humans! And they have the crest! HUMANS HAVE THE CRE-"
Kino fired a shot from her gun and the ghost disappeared in a puff of smoke, "AH!"
His deathly scream was accompanied with the moans of more ghostly figures emerging from the walls and the water.
"Naruto. We're heading street level now. Get here quick! It looks like we ran into some trouble," Shizu said calmly as he and Kino started running back, "We're going to find the nearest man hole and climb out. We'll radio a location soon."
"Okay. Stay safe team," Naruto said back. Kino and Shizu retreated as more ghosts appeared - through the walls and out of the sewage. Their path was getting very narrow as they were crowded and the ghosts attacked. They retreated in turns. Kino would cover Shizu while he retreated, then he would cover her while she caught up. They took turns at this, trying to keep as much space between them and the ghosts in the crowded sewers which advanced towards them against the light of their gun fire.
"We're running out of room Shizu," Kino muttered as she fired into the ghosts. Shizu swung his sword at them to no effect and was forced to his use his own gun when the ghosts kept coming, "Just a little further! We passed an entrance that way!"
"ZOMBIE CLAW!" a rotten blue hand shot past both Shizu and Kino, just narrowly missing them and prompting the two to shoot the attacking ghost. Kino commented, "They call out their attacks? Then how do you sneak up on people?"
"They're ghosts Kino!" Shizu shouted as he took another shot. They finally made their way into a slightly larger room with a ladder leading straight to a man cover. Kino sank to one knee and drew her second gun to start shooting at both entrances into the room as ghosts came at them, "Shizu."
"On it," Shizu sheathed his sword and took a few steps back from the ladder. He dashed towards it and leapt up on the wall, still moving his legs to turn it into an upward run. When he was half way up, he drew his sword and swung it with enough force to cleave the cover in half before jumping out. From there, he started shooting back into the darkened sewer to cover his partner, "Kino! We have our exit!"
"On my way," she fired a few more rounds before clamoring up the ladder behind him. He laid down suppressive fire until she was halfway up, at which point he reached his hand down for her to grab. She took hold and held tight while he pulled her up with a loud grunt. His muscles were sore from all the activity and his body ached but that didn't stop him from pulling as hard as he could. Afterwards, they ran with the ghosts still in pursuit.
The streets were near empty, with only a few people still running around in search of safety. However, there were still plenty of monsters in the vicinity and the true measure of what Naruto's copy said earlier sank in. Red dinosaurs destroyed buildings, mammoths stampeded over anything in their way, large green insects buzzed past over head, and sludge monsters took their time to consume anyone who walked in their way. This was all accompanied by the bodies of the dead all around them.
"It's worse than I thought," Kino murmured, shooting wildly down the man hole, "Any idea where we are?"
Shizu glanced around them and figured it out from the street signs, "Naruto, we're in Koto Ward. Can you get us an exit?"
"That's a big area Shizu. Can you be more specific…also, how the hell did you guys get there? You entered a man hole in Minato!"
Shizu didn't appreciate his joking mood as the two took shots at the ghosts following them out. The noise of their guns attracted the attention of the larger monsters and the two were forced to flee when they joined the chase. Shizu said into the radio, "We're near the Shibaura Institute of Technology! Hurry up and get us an extraction ready!"
"Alright, I'll have Makoto get ready to assist. I'll pick you guys up soon," Naruto's voice said, "There's a bridge about two blocks west of your current position. Get there and stand by for extraction."
"We'll be exposed!" Kino said into the comms, "There's no defendable positions there!"
"Don't worry, I'm sending back up," Naruto said into the radio, "We're on our way."
"Are you kidding me!?" Shizu said into the radio before firing another round into a ghost. They ran into a nearby building to shake off the larger monsters and headed out the back door into another open area that was more exposed than the street. A pack of upright bunny dog things were scavenging the area, picking clean bodies for clothes and jewelry. They stopped when they saw Kino and Shizu, "Hey! Humans!"
"Get them!"
"Ah crap," Shizu drew his sword and started cutting them down. His blade work was quick and effective, slicing through the creatures like a hot knife through butter. The bunny dog things screamed in pain with each slice but Shizu did not let up. Any one that Shizu missed, Kino finished off with her gun. They moved through the pack of creatures with the ghosts still in pursuit. The building behind them shook as the giant dinosaurs started moving around its size. They were running out of room and had to pick up the pace. They cut inside another building and emerged to put more obstacles between them and the dinosaurs pursuing them.
The ghosts and the pack of dog things were relentless in their pursuit, forcing them to pick up the pace and escape their pursuers. On the other side of the building was another street, where they watched a red car zoom past with two creatures riding on top. A rock creature and what looked like a burlap sack wearing a pumpkin. They couldn't dwell on it any longer and they hurried across the street into another building. Shizu went into the radio again, "Naruto, this is Shizu! We're almost at the bridge! Where are we on the extraction?"
"Ten minutes out," Naruto said over the radio, "Makoto will meet you there."
"Makoto? She's at base!" Kino pointed out as they continued moving. Naruto instructed, "Hurry to the extraction. We're on our way."
Kino groaned and they continued fighting their way to the bridge. They came out onto another street and saw a pixie like creature standing with the burlap pumpkin and a creature made of rocks. Kino took her time lining up her shot before actually pulling the trigger. Mostly, it was because she was tired and needed to stop running for a second. The hunger wasn't helping her concentration.
As she observed and took her time lining up the shot, she noticed that there was something calm and playful in their demeanor. They didn't seem like the other monsters that had been chasing them around all day. Kino sighed and didn't feel comfortable shooting at them. At the last second, she changed her target to the ground just before their feet to scare them off and pulled the trigger.
The pixie grabbed the other two and took off, hurrying away. Shizu looked at her, "It's not like you to fire a warning shot Kino."
"Shizu, there wouldn't have been much to gain from killing them. It's not like they leave a body to be eaten," Kino answered. She noticed the quizzical look he was giving her and explained, "You haven't noticed? They don't leave bodies. They disappear."
"I did notice, but what was that about eating them?" Shizu asked quietly. Kino sighed, "I haven't eaten since last night. I'm starving."
Shizu laughed, "If you and I make it out of this, I'll cook you something good."
"Just open the ramen shop," Kino replied quietly, trying to hide her face from Shizu although she could tell he was already misunderstanding her. They hurried to the bridge, encountering more of the creatures as they did. They arrived to find the bridge abandoned. They couldn't see to the other side because of the fog, but they could see their pursuers hurrying towards them from behind. Shizu shouted, "Let's go! Other side of the bridge, we'll funnel them towards us!"
"Fine, move," Kino hurried ahead and started shooting back behind them at their pursuers. The ghosts and bunny creatures fell easily, but the dinosaurs shrugged off the attacks. When they got halfway across, they could more clearly see the other side and the three red dinosaurs waiting to meet them. Shizu slid to a stop, "We're surrounded."
"What was that about funneling them?" Kino asked sarcastically, "Naruto, where are we on the extraction?"
"Five minutes out. Makoto should be there," he answered over the comms. Shizu murmured, "We don't have five minutes. And Makoto isn't here."
Shizu and Kino stood back to back with their weapons out. Shizu faced the side with the three dinosaurs and Kino aimed her guns at the oncoming pursuers. They stopped just short of the pair and one of the ghosts approached them, "Humans. You're surrounded and you don't have anywhere to go. Give us the crest, and we'll kill you quickly! There's no chance of escape so just make it easier on yourselves, otherwise you'll encourage us to take our time."
Shizu and Kino looked at each other briefly, both thinking the same thing. Shizu nodded and Kino pulled the trigger of her gun, putting a shot straight between the ghost's eyes. This angered the other monsters and they started their advance. Kino raised her gun and started firing, "Well, so much for that ramen."
"Giving up on it already?" Shizu asked playfully. Kino kept firing without looking at him, "Idiot."
Shizu was disappointed in her response and looked back to face his three dinosaurs when he noticed the center one was squirming uncharacteristically. It started breathing balls of fire out and they hurtled over their heads at the monsters on the other side. Kino looked back to see the commotion as the center dinosaur's head started bobbing up and down. Its head swayed from the left to the right as it burned up its two partners. They wailed as the fires consumed them, leaving nothing but clouds before it finally shot a ball of fire down onto the center of the bridge and blew a hole under itself. It fell into the water below just as a woman appeared on its head and leapt off it, landing between Kino and Shizu easily.
Makoto, dressed in her combat fatigues and armed with her own weaponry, "Hey guys. Miss me?"
"You're late," Kino answered, still shooting at the monsters on her side. Makoto shrugged, "Take it out of my tip. Oh, by the way."
She shoved Shizu to the ground with a hard push, "Watch out."
As soon as she did, a blue rotted hand shot by where Shizu had been seconds ago. Shizu looked at that in surprise, "Did you-"
"Yes, you guys went down pretty bad," answered Makoto. She drew her own gun and started shooting into the oncoming horde, "I like you guys, but I can only do that so many times. Try not to get killed again."
"Yeah, funny," Shizu picked himself up and raised his sword for the attack. Makoto smirked and drew her gun at the remaining enemies coming at them from the other side of the bridge, "I know. Come on, let's end this."
The three of them started fighting the monsters charging from the other side of the bridge together. They put down the smaller ones easily, but there was always another to take its place - ghosts, bunny dog things, dinosaurs and more. As hard as they tried, there were simply too many and they had to start pulling back. They surrendered ground to buy more time until they ran out of room to give - when they had their backs to the hole. Naruto's voice came over the comms, "On my way team. Two minutes out. Get ready to jump."
"We're running out of room here Naruto," Shizu said back, "Get over he-"
Before he could finish, another deathly blue claw appeared and grazed Shizu in the stomach. The strike was deep enough to cut open his abdomen. Parts of his guts came out and he cried out in pain while trying to hold his guts in. In spite of all his skill, he was still human. Kino watched him hit the ground and shouted, "SHIZU!"
Makoto swiftly shot the offending ghost, covering the two agents as best as she could, "Kino, get Shizu up along the railing."
"On it," Kino answered, helping to pull Shizu up onto his knees. He groaned in pain while still holding his own organs in. She moved one of his arms over her back to support his weight while she helped him walk to the guard rail. All the while, she still took the time to occasionally fire off a shot at the monsters. Her aim was wide and most of her shots missed but it was because she was too focused on trying to help Shizu. His blood was all over her and he grunted with each step.
When they were close enough, she leaned him over the railing and took the chance to start shooting, "Naruto! Shizu is down! Where the hell are you?"
"Under you in five seconds," Naruto replied. Kino heard the roar of the engine and asked, "Did you take the boat? Where are you!?"
"Here!" Three copies of Naruto appeared on the railing on the other side of the bridge and dashed towards them. The monsters saw the three copies and looked genuinely confused, as if they'd never seen more than one of any person anywhere. They attacked anyway, trying to kill the three Narutos while they dropped little grenades on the bridge. They each took hold of one of the agents - Kino, Shizu, and Makoto - and leapt off the bridge into the murky water below. At the last second, all of the grenades detonated and harmed anything caught in the blast.
Makoto and Kino screamed, certain that the fall would kill them. Shizu was already in critical condition - assuming he survived, he'd definitely die from toxic shock. Or so it seemed, until a boat appeared beneath them. All three clones adjusted themselves in the air to land on their feet while still holding the agents - and they hit the floor of the boat gently. The boat sped away from the bridge, leaving the monsters behind as it journeyed into the unknown fog. The three copies disappeared, leaving Kino to tend to the injured Shizu, "We need a med kit!"
"There's one under the seat," Naruto said while driving the boat, "Do you have the crystal?"
"What?"
"The crystal!" Naruto said over the roar of the boat's engine, "Do you have it? And the device?"
"Shizu's bleeding!" Kino pointed out. Naruto didn't look back but answered, "Your boyfriend will be fine! Patch him up and we'll get him back to base to be treated! Do you have them?"
"Yes! Here?" Kino retrieved the 'crest' and the device from her pocket. She tossed them to Naruto before returning her attention to Shizu. He was losing a lot of blood and his organs just refused to stay in. She lay him flat on his back and began treating him - hoping that he made it out of this alive. He still owed her that lunch.
Meanwhile, Naruto pocketed the crest and fiddled with the device. He noticed that the red dots on the screen had moved. One was directly on top of them while the other seven were now gathered in one spot. If he had to guess, that was where they had to go. Makoto leaned up next to him, "What's the plan boss?"
"We get to the other dots on the map," Naruto said, "I don't know what the hell is going but I bet you we'll find out when we get there!"
"What makes you so sure?" Makoto asked him, noting the grim expression on his face, "Just a hunch."
As he spoke those words, they could see flashes of light somewhere in the distant fog that briefly outlined buildings. It was accompanied with rhythmic booms and explosions. None of the team knew what they were heading into.
A Memo to the Prime Minister
Per Burnt Leaf policy, all information after this point is considered classified and has been redacted from the report. I apologize Prime Minister, but we make no exception in this regard. All you need to know is that the two separate cases involving the monsters that attacked Tokyo in what your colleagues are referring to as the 'Odaiba Incident' and the case of women falling ill of anemia around the Tokyo metropolitan area were related - and the cases are considered closed.
I understand that the SDF managed to detain several of these creatures and is moving them to a black site facility. I recommend keeping a close eye on the military personnel assigned to guard the black site. The Americans, Russians, and Chinese would all like to get their hands on one for their own purposes, and any weak links in the chain of personnel can cause a breach of security. This is to say nothing of the North Koreans, British, French, and other interests.
Burnt Leaf has put a great deal of trust in your government over time. We've never disappointed. Please don't disappoint us.
The Last Hokage
Burnt Leaf IV
Naruto returned to the boat with fewer answers than he'd hoped. Events played out as the book had said, and he'd met the person who set him on his path so long ago. It turned out just as the boy said it would - his second meeting with the boy would be the boy's first with him, much like how his first meeting with the boy was the boy's second second meeting with him. That only left the third meeting - when everything would make sense. He didn't mention how much longer that would be which wasn't a good sign.
His team was waiting for him patiently beside the dock where he'd left them. Rather, Makoto was waiting patiently while Kino was trying to keep Shizu stable. There was someone there that Naruto didn't expect - a large man in black leather plants and chains, wearing some kind of metal mask on his face and with fire for hair. Makoto had him on the ground with his hands on his head and kept a gun trained on him. There were holes in his legs, indicating he wouldn't be getting up even if he wanted to. Naruto pondered how many times Makoto had shot him before asking, "Who's this guy?"
"No idea. Crawled onto the dock gasping for air. We think he's one of the monsters," Makoto answered, "His head was on fire and he tried burning us with the fireballs. It didn't work."
"Is he alive?" Naruto asked. The man looked up, "Alive enough to burn you humans! When Lord Myotismon get here, he'll strike you all down!"
"Myotismon. I've heard that name. Wait. If you mean the vampire, he's dead," Naruto stated, "And you will be too."
"You're lying," the man replied. Naruto pointed up, "You saw the flash in the sky. That was your boss, Lord Myotismon. He's dead. Which leaves us with this question - what do we do with you?"
"Who cares!? We need to get back to base!" Makoto shouted, "Shizu's bleeding out! Just put the bastard down!"
"Good point, let's do it," Makoto put her finger on the trigger and prepared to pull. Naruto knew she wasn't going to. This was a standard tactic in Burnt Leaf - anyone about to die with no chance of rescue would often look for something, anything, to keep them alive a little bit longer, "Wait!"
"Clock's ticking!" Kino reminded them loudly.
"What do you want?" the man asked, "Name your price."
"Information," Naruto replied, "But that's cheap and easy to come by. There must be hundreds of your friends out there right now and I bet you they won't be so difficult to work with."
"Hurry up and put the bullet in him," Kino urged. Naruto nodded to Makoto and walked past the man as he lay there. The man forced himself up, "I was in Lord Myotismon's inner circle. I know more and than any of the others. What do you want?"
Naruto had him. He contained his smile and waved for Makoto to hold the trigger. Without turning around, Naruto asked, "For starter's, what's your name?"
"SkullMeramon."
Author's Notes: That's all for tonight dear reader(s). Thanks for stopping by and giving Burnt Leaf Declassified a read through. I hope you guys enjoyed this project as much as I enjoyed working on it. If you liked it, let me know in the review section. I make a point of replying in a day or two. Guest reviews won't be replied to as this story's update schedule will be more haphazard and unpredictable. Add this story to your alerts to get updates on when new chapters come out.