AN: Hey all here is the next chapter hope you all enjoy it. Was a bit tricky to write but I got through it. Also appreciate all the support the story has gotten so far and hope you all continue to enjoy it.
Also hope you all leave a comment or a review, and if you have any questions or suggestions PM me.
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.
( - )
(Last Time)
"When our home was attacked, my father and I… we attempted to fight back. We were overwhelmed though, my father was killed, as was my mother and all of our family friends. I don't know what would have happened to me if you hadn't come and killed those men." The girl replied ignoring Naruto's previous suggestion. Her tone hitching for a second as she spoke and her grief slipping in for just a moment, before it strengthened as she continued to gaze resolutely into Naruto's eyes, not backing down. "I want to come with you! I want to learn how to fight like you do, how to kill bastards like those men, like you did!"
Naruto gazed at her curiously as he heard this. Once again relying on his heightened senses as he looked carefully at the girl. She wasn't lying to him he could tell that much, she was scared, she was grieving, she was nervous, but she wasn't lying. More than that she was alone in this world, like he Naruto had been before Akela and Fenrir had taken him in.
Letting out a sigh Naruto turned away from the girl.
She didn't move he could tell that much, but he could hear her heart begin to beat faster, as fear and panic rose up within her.
"Sit down," Naruto said bluntly, idly grabbing up another bowl from the ground as he did so. The girl's heart stopped beating, for just a second it missed a beat. Then it started hammering again, in shock and surprise. "There is some more stew left, you are going to need your energy. We leave in an hour!"
The girl stumbled forward as she heard that, taking a seat just to the side and away from Naruto, her eyes locked on him, an unreadable expression on her face as she watched him fill the bowl with stew before he shoved it over to her.
"Do you have a name?" Naruto asked cocking an eyebrow in curiousity as he saw the girl grab the bowl from his hand and begin eating. Not even bothering to put on airs and graces as she brought the bowl up to her mouth.
The girl paused as she heard this, lowering the bowl enough so she was once again looking at Naruto.
"Yeah, the name's Kin." The girl replied, her voice once again soft, yet her gaze showing her inner strength. "Kin Tsuchi."
( - )
Chapter 3
( - )
(With Naruto)
Naruto's breaths came out low and slow as he loped through the surrounding woodlands. His feet not making a sound as he deftly ran through the trees, his amber eyes fixed on the large mountainous area ahead. Not pausing for a second as he closed in on his prey.
His pace was relentless as he tore through the forest, not pausing as he leapt over rocks, weaved through the surrounding trees. His movements agile despite his pace, his movement's silent as he breezed through the forest, his senses flaring, his guard up and ready for anything.
A few seconds later Naruto came to a stop, his feet barely making a sound as he did so. Narrowing his eyes, Naruto shifted slightly on the spot, his head raised as he sniffed the air, his other senses extended as he lazily surveyed the area. His prey was near, he could sense them. He may be actively stopping himself from sensing their chakra, but he could still smell them and hear the beating of their heart. To a normal Shinobi this might have passed unnoticed, but to Naruto it made finding his prey easy.
"You're still not quiet enough, Kin." Naruto said softly, his amber eyes flickering up to look at the black haired girl in the trees above him. The slightest of grins passing across his face as he saw the put out look on her face, as she glanced down at him. Her hands held up ready to make a hand seal.
Letting out an irritated sigh, Kin dropped down from the tree branch she had previously been crouched on. Her feet not making a sound as she landed in a crouch just before Naruto. Standing up Kin had to look up as she met Naruto's amused gaze, issuing another sigh of frustration as she did so.
"It's not exactly easy you know, hiding form someone with ridiculously enhanced senses and the ability to sense chakra…" Kin complained, her left hand resting on her hip as she looked up at Naruto with a scowl.
"But I didn't find you by sensing your chakra. I found you by hearing the beat of your heart and smelling your scent." Naruto replied in amusement, as he patted Kin on the shoulder.
Kin flushed red as she heard that, deliberately looking away from him. "Well I tried to hide my scent with mud. But what can I do about my heart?"
"You need to calm yourself. You must always be in control, even during a hunt. A single mistake and your prey could slip through your claws." Naruto replied as he looked down on her. Thinking as he did about how heard this was for him when he had been training with his brothers and sisters. Back then he had always gotten to excited, and this had given himself away.
It was a difficult lesson to learn and even harder to put in practice. When you are hunting your prey, you must be calm, cold and silent, you must be in absolute control of your mind and body. Otherwise you were likely to get caught up in the thrill and alert your prey before you were ready. Once you had caught up to your prey, well you could give in to the thrill and the exultation, but whilst you are stalking them, you shouldn't alert them to your presence.
"I know, I know." Kin grumbled, kicking at the earth at her feet as she did so.
Naruto merely chuckled in amusement. It had been about six months since he had allowed Kin to join him, and since then he had become somewhat fond of her. A wolf was a pack animal by nature, and Naruto was no different. As although he enjoyed being a bit of a lone wolf sometimes, he infinitely preferred it when he had a bit of company. Or a pack as he liked to call it, much to Kin's embarrassment.
Looking down at Kin a slight smile spread across Naruto's face. She had changed a lot in the six months he had known her, physically, mentally and emotionally.
She was still a beauty, her long silky black hair now tied in a ponytail which reached to just below her waist. Her body was stronger than before, more flexible and lithe too. She stood taller than when Naruto had first met her, and her stance was more confident. Her paled skin had also gained a bit of a tan, as nowadays she spent the vast majority of her time in the great outdoors more often than not accompanying Naruto on his missions.
Her outfit had changed to, gone were the old civilian clothes she wore. Nowadays she dressed more like a Shinobi. She wore a pair of black Shinobi pants, a grey scarf wrapped around her throat, a mesh undershirt her and a grey tunic over the top. She had a leather belt around her waist, attached to which were two pouches at the small of her back, both of which filled with an assortment of kunai, shuriken and senbon. Also attached to her belt, on her right hip there was a foot long tanto, a small very sharp knife that she had insisted on buying when they had travelled through a small town in the Land of Forests. Just as she had insisted on Naruto teaching her how to use it.
The biggest change she had gone through however, were her eyes. Her dark eyes now gleamed with strength and confidence, something that had been absent in them the first few weeks she had travelled with him, still haunted as she was by the loss of her family. Now though that grief had turned into a steely resolve, a resolve to get stronger, a resolve to hunt down and kill the Master of those men who had murdered her family. A resolve to be the best that she can be so that never again would she be a victim.
It was a strength of will Naruto had come to admire about her. Many would have folded and become a hollow shell of a person after the tragedy Kin had been through. But she had come through it stronger.
She had harnessed her resolve to become stronger when it had come to her training. When Naruto had first begun to teach her he had held back a lot, knowing as he did that he could very easily kill her if he went all out. His claws could rip her to pieces, his punches could shatter her bones and liquidate her organs. Such was the power of Sage Mode.
But when Kin had found this out she had rebuked him, much to his amusement she had shouted at him and demanded that he not hold back. Her passion and ferocity had surprised Naruto, and so although even now he didn't go all out, he was a lot less forgiving than before. In the beginning their taijutsu spars ended with Kin unconscious and Naruto having to carry her back to their room.
Despite that though she had still insisted on him not holding back, as she continued to test herself against him. Adapting her style of fighting to accommodate for Naruto's far greater strength, speed and agility, as well as his near infinite stamina and his inhuman durability. Upon realising she would never overpower Naruto, she had instead begun to try and out think him. Using a mixture of genjutsu, poisons, traps and her natural flexibility and agility to fight him.
She had still never come close to beating him, but she seemed to improve with ever spar. Her style becoming sharper her strikes more accurate, her tactics trickier. This had led to not just Kin becoming stronger and smarter but Naruto also, as it had encouraged him to adapt to whatever tricks Kin pulled off, either with her genjutsu's, or with her traps and poisons.
Due to this the two of them had got into somewhat of a routine, every day at daybreak they would start the day off with a two hour training session together. Which usually consisted of a brief warm up followed by a taijutsu spar. In which Naruto would start off on defensive, before going on the offensive, only holding back enough not to kill her. This would invariably end up with Kin receiving dozens of bruises and multiple broken knuckles or fingers, mostly caused by her punching Naruto's rock-hard skin.
After this Kin would heal her hands, using her limited but well-practiced medical-ninjutsu skills she had learned from her father. Naruto would then train on his own for another two hours, pushing himself to the limits as he sought to master his taijutsu, kenjutsu and ninjutsu skills.
Kin meanwhile would use this time to practice her genjutsu, often trying to put Naruto under a genjutsu during his training. More often than not though he would break the genjutsu in moments, which forced Kin to adapt as she continually tried to get the better of the Sage. She would also spend some time practicing with her tanto and plotting how she would try and beat Naruto next time they fought.
It was a routine that the both of them enjoyed, not only because it allowed them to progress their individual skills. With Kin getting stronger every day, her genjutsu becoming more insidious and adaptable as she constantly tried to use them to beat Naruto. Naruto however was not only fine tuning his skills, but was also getting better and better at sensing and breaking genjutsu, he still had trouble casting them though. But also because the two of them just enjoyed spending time together.
Of course it wasn't all fun and games. Kin's presence meant that Naruto now had another mouth to feed. Which meant the two of them had to take more missions. To begin with Naruto had stuck with simple C-rank and B-rank missions, just whilst eh had Kin tagging along. But as she became stronger, Naruto began to start taking A-rank missions. Hunting down stronger, more powerful Shinobi. For this Kin had pulled her own weight, often using her genjustu skills to support Naruto's heavily combat based abilities.
All in all the two of them were becoming a very deadly combination.
( - )
"Right then, we are here. Keep low and be ready for anything." Naruto muttered as he patted the Kin's shoulder, not missing how her lips twitched upwards as he did so. "This guy isn't an A-rank Missing–nin for no reason."
With that Naruto began to move forwards, his senses flared as they approached the site of their next bounty.
Hearing what Naruto said, Kin rolled her eyes. She had spent enough time with him to know he could crush most Shinobi, no matter their supposed rank. Despite that though he remained cautious, slowly working his way up instead of taking S-rank bounty requests like she knew he wanted too. When she had asked him why he had only told her that patience was a virtue, and the suspense would only make it that much sweeter when he finally did hunt down and kill one of the bigger names.
That had only made Kin even more confused. She didn't question it though, knowing as she did that Naruto did things in his own time and in his own way. She would probably have more luck defeat Orochimaru of the Sannin than she would in changing Naruto's mind once it was made up.
Letting out another sigh, Kin turned and followed Naruto as he walked to the edge of the forest, the two of them soon emerging from the trees and coming to a slight outcropping that overlooked a small mining settlement below.
This little innocuous settlement was the site of their latest mission. Apparently some Missing-nin from the Village Hidden in the Mist had been causing trouble, the man having effectively taken over a small mining settlement. Using it as a base for him and his band of thugs and bandits. He was also, or at least according to the rumours they had heard the next town over, been burying the villagers who opposed him alive. And if that wasn't bad enough, the sick fuck apparently cried over their deaths as he did it.
Suffice to say the mission had ended up attracting Naruto's attention as the leader of this rabble was strangely enough a somewhat well-known Shinobi, an A-rank Shinobi at that, went by the name of Raiga Kurosuki. The man was apparently a former member of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist and had a dangerous enough reputation to attract Naruto's interest.
He also apparently had a one hundred and fifty thousand ryo bounty on his head. That was what Kin was more interested in, it was enough money for the two of them to live comfortably off for the next six months. Not that Kin was under any delusion that they would stop hunting bounties even if they did have that much money. No killing this Shinobi would just likely spur Naruto on to hunting down even more dangerous prey. Not that that bother Kin that much, as the stronger Shinobi they faced often had useful Jutsu scrolls or tools she could loot off them.
Plus she was hoping one day that she and Naruto would come across a bounty for whoever it was that sent those Shinobi who destroyed her home and murdered her family. She only wished that the men had called their Master by his name instead of just calling him 'the Master', or that Naruto had left one alive so that they could interrogate him. Still though, Kin was content to wait for now, knowing as she did that one day she would track this 'Master' down, and then gut him or her like a pig.
Naruto oblivious to Kin's thoughts continued forward. Coming to a stop on the edge of the rock outcropping. His amber eyes lazily surveying the landscape before him.
"How many do you count?" Kin asked as cam to standing next to him, glancing sideways at Naruto as she did so. Knowing his eyesight and senses were far better than her own.
Naruto didn't respond at first, focusing as he counted the number of thugs and bandits in the small settlement. His senses spread out as he sensed the chakra within all of them, assessing the group to see whether they were more than the common thugs they appeared.
Currently the bandits were overseeing a number of civilians, probably people local to the area, as they were forced to work, breaking up and collecting rocks from around the mine. Over all none of them seemed that well-armed carrying with them a mixture of spears, swords and clubs, none of which seemed to be that good a quality.
"Well?" Kin asked impatiently as she looked over at Naruto, before looking back down at the settlement.
"There is around eleven bandits down below, none of whom are Shinobi and around twenty four civilians." Naruto replied his amber eyes narrowed as he leaned forward, his clawed hands resting on the rock outcropping in front of him as he surveyed the lower part of the settlement.
Narrowing his eyes as he didn't sense the A-rank Shinobi they had come here to hunt, Naruto then glanced up at s small collection of buildings built further up the mountain. The buildings were just out of range of his senses, but he was going to take a stab in the dark and say that this, Raiga Kurosaki, was somewhere further up the mountain. "I haven't been able to sense our target in the settlement below, it's all just common brigands down there."
Kin scowled as she heard that, before she followed Naruto's gaze and saw the collection of ramshackle wooden buildings that were further up the mountain. "You reckon he's up there."
"It seems likely." Naruto replied shortly, standing up straight as he did, his hands clenching and unclenching as he stared at the settlement below. A thoughtful expression spreading across his face, as he looked from the small settlement below to the building built further up the mountain. He could see a path running up from the village, it looked to be the only path leading up there, other than that it was all sheer rock faces. But then again for someone trained to use chakra a sheer rock face wasn't much of an obstacle.
"So what do you want to do?" Kin asked shortly as she saw him looking form the village to the buildings above, guessing what was going through his head. Personally she would have preferred to attack he village, but she was still somewhat new to this and was content to follow Naruto's lead. "Do we attack the village, or do you want to try and sneak past?"
Naruto hummed slightly at that, a thoughtful look on his face as he came to his decision.
"We attack the village, we kill all the thugs doing it as silently as possible" Naruto began a savage grin on his face, his eyes flashing with bloodthirst. "Then we go after Raiga."
"And the civilians?" Kin asked a slight frown on her face, as she looked down at the settlement. Scowling as she saw the how the locals were being forced to work by the thugs. Already she could feel anger building up within her, as she saw the strong abusing the weak.
"Put them under a genjutsu." Naruto replied giving Kin a sideways glance as he did so. "Make them all unconscious, I don't want them getting in our way."
Kin nodded at that, crouching down as she made to leap forward. Before she did though Naruto grabbed her by the back of her shirt and dragged her back.
"Make sure to do it silently. We don't want Raiga to know we are here until we want him to. I don't want him doing a runner, not yet." Naruto added as he made eye contact with Kin.
"Yeah, yeah I get it." Kin replied as she straightened her clothing, rolling her eyes as she did so. "This isn't my first time you know." Kin added, before a slight smirk spread across her face. "At this anyway…." She trailed off, before giving Naruto a wink.
Naruto cocked an eyebrow as that, before he crouched low to the ground and leapt forward. His body a blur as he silently leapt from the rock outcropping into the valley below.
"Aww, he's no fun." Kin grumbled as quickly followed after him. The slightest of smiles beginning to form across her face as she saw pursued him. For all his feral appearance and ruthlessness she couldn't help but enjoy her time with Naruto.
She still missed her family. That was a hole she didn't think could ever be filled. But at the same time she wasn't going to curl up and die. Naruto was part of the reason for that, since travelling with him she had found a reason to go on and to get stronger. She had found content in the routine she shared with him. She had also learned to be proud of the things she accomplished, and hunger for the excitement the hunt gave her.
Naruto's lifestyle was very addictive. There was a freedom about it that being a part of a Shinobi Village would never compare with. Still though she wished she knew more about the silver haired Sage. She knew he was around her age as surprising as that may be considering the fact he looked closer to eighteen than thirteen. She knew he was raised in a forest by someone called Akela. She also knew he had master Senjutsu. And that was about all she knew about him, Naruto wasn't the kind of person to talk about himself and what little she did know was things she had wheedled out of him over the last six months.
A slight frown passed across her face at that thought, before she pushed those feelings away. Instead focusing on the task ahead, the both of them had just reached the outskirts of the settlement, battle would soon be joined.
( - )
"Come on hurry up!" A short man, with a scruffy black beard and a mop of greasy brown hair shouted, a nasty expression on his face as he watched the villagers working. "We aren't paying you for nothing you know!"
The man followed this up with a loud laugh, something a number of his compansions joined in on, as they passed around a wineskin.
"Erm Pon… I don't think we're paying these guys…." A tall skinny man, with shaggy brown hair and a vacant expression on his face said.
The now named Pon turned to glare at the other man, a look of annoyance prominent on his face. "That's the point of the joke dumbass!"
"Ohh…" The other man replied nodding his head as he did so, before he paused and let out a laugh. "Good one Pon!"
Pon shook his head as he saw this. "Sometimes Li! Sometimes you're so fucking stupid I swear it's a miracle you remember how to breathe."
"Ha! That's funny Pon!" The now named Li replied with a guffaw.
Pon's expression was blank as he looked at the laughing Li. "I wasn't joking…"
"Oi! Can you two just fuck and get it over with!" Another one of the thugs shouted up, taking his eyes off the toiling villagers as he did so. "Otherwise Raiga will give you a funeral!"
That shut all of the men up, all of them shifting uncomfortably, their eyes shifting to the upper portion of the village, further up the mountain.
"Right you are." Pon replied uncomfortably, coughing into his hand before turning back to the villagers. "You lot hurry up! Raiga wants the mine running faster!"
The villagers below grumbled a bit at that but otherwise increased their pace. They had after all seen the cruelty of the one they called Raiga. It didn't matter who you were, whether you were one of his thugs or a villager, if you pissed him off he would kill you. And your death would be long, drawn out and terrible.
"Come on faster you lazy fucks!" Pon shouted again, slamming the base of his spear into the ground to emphasize his words.
He was about to speak again before he suddenly stopped his eyes widening as he heard a faint whistling sound. Looking around Pon's vision began to blur, even as the sound of whistle began to reverberate around his head.
"W-wha what…." Pon tried to say, his head throbbing as his vision blurred even further. He soon stumbled to the ground, his hands slapping into he wet mud as an overwhelming feeling of weariness came over him.
All around the prone man the others were all similarly affected. Bandits and villagers all were falling to their knees, their heads throbbing and their gazes blurred. All the while the low whistling sound continued to sound out across the village, the sound was faint, barely audible but even so it had succeeded in incapacitating nearly forty people.
"You're getting better." Naruto spoke up, a look of faint surprise on his face as he saw all the disabled men and women around him.
"I know." Kin said, a slight grin on her face as she looked over at Naruto, the village once again becoming silent as she stopped whistling.
Sound based genjustu that was where Kin excelled. It was a talent she had first learned from her father along with standard genjustu techniques, but had since developed whilst in Naruto's company. Using sound as a base for casting genjutsu was in her opinion somewhat of a niche technique, far more subtle than standard genjutsu techniques. Far more versatile too.
"It's not exactly silent though is it?" Naruto asked in amusement as he walked into the village, glancing briefly over at the incapacitated villagers, before looking over at the bandits. They were all beginning to recover, it was slow, but a couple were slowly pushing themselves to their feet.
Kin shrugged in response, unsheathing her tanto as she approached one of the hunched over thugs. Grabbing the disorientated man by the back of his head, Kin yanked him backwards, exposing his throat as she slashed her tanto across it leaving a gaping bloody wound. "I was as quiet as I could be. Besides it was so quiet I doubt any of the ones up top will have heard."
Naruto rolled his eyes at that, barely glancing down as he grabbed one of the thugs by the head and snapped his neck. Barely straining as the man's spine let out a sickening crunching noise as his head twisted one hundred and eighty degrees. "You doubt it? That's the point I am trying to make. Some Shinobi have enhanced hearing and might have heard you. You always have to be cautious, if not you could find yourself getting ambushed."
"Yeah, yeah I get it." Kin replied as she thrust her tanto into the back of one of the bandit's skulls, felling him instantly. Glancing round she noticed that the rest were nearly back on their feet, the villagers not far behind.
"Can you put the villagers to sleep?" Naruto asked as he too noticed what was going on. Twisting around, his claws gleamed crimson as he tore through the throat of two of the bandits, before thrusting his hand through the chest of a third.
Kin nodded as she heard him, pursing her lips as she began to whistle again, the tune very slightly different this time. The pitch was still quiet, but it was also notably several octaves higher, barely on the spectrum of human hearing. Though it was still on the spectrum of Naruto's hearing apparently, as she noticed him flinch a little as she whistled.
Seeing this she made a note to herself that high pitched noises seemed to irritate him. It may come in useful the next time they sparred, she was still hoping to get a proper hit on him. So far she had only managed to strike his hands when he was blocking her.
The instant Kin stared whistling again the rest of the people in the area all froze. All of them freezing in place for a moment before their eyes rolled up into the back of their heads as they slumped forward, now all unconscious.
"Why didn't you do that the first time?" Naruto asked curiously as he shook his right hand, flicking off crimson flecks of blood, as he looked around him. All the bandits were now dead, whilst all the villagers were passed out in the mud below.
"Well it wouldn't be right if we killed those bandits in their sleep." Kin replied with a shrug as she wiped the blood off of her tanto, using the clothing of one of the dead men to do so. Before she wandered over to Naruto.
Naruto shrugged at that, he could see her point. There was no sport in killing sleeping prey, then again neither was there much sport in killing disorientated men but at least they had a chance. Not that the outcome would have been any different. No, Kin's genjutsu were deadly, even he had temporarily succumbed to some of them. It would take a skilled Shinobi to throw off some of the more deadly ones from her repertoire.
"Right. Well come on then. We need to head up and kill Raiga." Naruto said as he gave the area one more glance, before he began to head for the mountain path. His senses still flared just in case anyone attempted to spy on or ambush them.
"Hmm?" Kin hummed in response, looking around the area too, as she looked to see if there was any good loot she could take. Not that she expected much from a small, poor mining settlement like this. Seeing that there was none, she ended up turning and running after Naruto as he began to run up the mountain path, his movements fluid and silent.
( - )
(A few minutes later)
A few minutes later found both Kin and Naruto crouched on a rock outcropping, looking down at Raiga Kurosaki as he wept at a freshly turned grave, a number of his followers standing around him wearing funeral clothing watching the dangerous Shinobi's theatrics. It seemed Raiga had gone ahead and murdered another person, burying them alive as a form of execution. It was truly a nasty way to go.
"Okay, so here is the plan, I go kill Raiga whilst you kill the others." Naruto said quietly, his eyes fixed on Raiga's back. Narrowed as he sensed not just Raiga's chakra, but another source that seemed to be attached to the swordsman's back. It was a person that much was obvious to Naruto, and judging by the way their chakra circulated through their body and into their eyes, it was a person with a Doujustu.
Which meant that this was going to be harder than Naruto thought, as from what little he knew of eye based Bloodline Abilities, they were a pain in the arse. He had heard about a couple of Bloodlines like that and all of them sounded like an annoyance. Still though, this might give him a bit of practice fighting against Doujutsu.
"They should be quite easy for you to finish off, once you have done that I want you to hold back. I want to test myself against this Raiga, see how my swordsmanship fares against his." Naruto continued, not looking at Kin as he continued to watch Raiga, making sure as he did that the two of them had not been noticed. "Is that alright with you?"
"Yeah, sure do what you want. You go first and then I'll follow." Kin replied, confident that she could take down the untrained bandits. As for letting Naruto handle the A-rank Shinobi, well she had no problem with that either.
Naruto nodded at that, his amber eyes narrowing and is claws sinking into the rock at his feet as he prepared to jump.
Without a sound Naruto leapt forward, leaping several metres into the air before he rapidly descended on the group below. Behind him he could sense Kin already moving, the girl charging forward on foot, her tanto in one hand and her chakra already beginning to churn as she prepared to use a genjutsu.
( - )
As Naruto descended, he took note of the fact that Raiga turned to face him, his eyes widening before an ugly sneer crept across his face. His hands already moving for his blades, as he made to unsheathe them. Raiga already beginning to move as he jumped backwards.
Naruto's eyes narrowed as he saw Raiga's actions. Even as he crashed into the ground the impact making it crater at his feet. The instant he landed Naruto lunged forward, straight away going on the attack, his blood burning in his veins.
Raiga however had already moved away, his movements fast as he leapt back putting some space between him and Naruto. The sneer on his face growing, as his dull red eyes met Naruto's glowing amber ones. The arrogance they held plain to see.
"You don't know what you're getting yourself into kid!" Raiga snarled, setting his feet as he watched Naruto turn to face him a feral grin spreading across his face and his amber eyes gleaming with challenge as he surveyed the former Hidden Swordsman of the Mist.
Naruto grinned as he looked over at Raiga, it seemed like Naruto had been right when he thought fighting against a Doujutsu user, or at least someone who was allied with one, would be tricky. Somehow Raiga had been able to sense Naruto's attack, which considering Naruto's speed and stealth was a surprising. Or at least the person on Raiga's back had been able to sense Naruto, a person who seemed to be hiding in a large canvas bag.
Seeing this Naruto assumed the Doujutsu user could see through the canvas material, that or he could sense Naruto's chakra. Either way he had seen Naruto coming and had warned Raiga.
After all from Raiga's Bingo Book entry he had elite level skill with his blades and his lightning jutsu, but in terms of his other Shinobi skills he was barely Jounin level. That being said Naruto was not too perturbed by this, as he had expected something along these lines happening the moment he had identified that Raiga had a partner.
Shifting his feet Naruto brought his hand up and grasped the hilt of his sword, slowly drawing the wickedly sharp blade. A feral grin spreading across his face. Yes, Naruto had no problem at all with this turn of events. As a Former Seven Swordsman of the Hidden Mist, Raiga had somewhat of a reputation as a skilled swordsman. Already Naruto could feel his blood racing, and the thrill of battle rising up within him as he prepared to test his skills with a sword against Raiga.
As Naruto was doing this, Kin had already engaged the rest of the bandits. Her tanto in hand as she bobbed and weaved through them, slashing at exposed limbs. All the while she let out a low whistle, disorientating her opponents as she quickly cut through them. Her Shinobi based skills making short work of the untrained thugs and brigands.
Seeing this Naruto smirked, the girl really had gotten stronger. With that in mind it was time Naruto pulled his own weight. Darting forward Naruto his sword held in his right hand he quickly engaged Raiga. His amber eyes gleaming in excitement as he saw that the man had drawn his own blades, the Kiba Blade. A set of finely crafted twin blades that sparked with lightning as he lunged at Naruto, straight away going for a decapitation.
Naruto took a step back, his eyes narrowing as he felt the concentrated lightning chakra flowing through those blades. Dodging Raiga's first swing, Naruto then lunged forward, his blade a blur as he went for a downward slash at Raiga. Which was followed by a swift set of rapid lunges and slashes, each strike flowing into the next as he began pushing Raiga back. Naruto's feet almost dancing across the ground, his blade a blur as he struck with both immense speed and strength. Quickly overwhelming, the slower and weaker Raiga.
A snarl spread across Raiga's face as he faced this onslaught. His skill with the twin blades was admirable, using the lightning flowing through them to his advantage as he defended himself. Releasing bolts of lightning at Naruto, with every clash of their blades.
Not that this deterred Naruto as his sword did not conduct Raiga's lightning, and the bolts Raiga did send out were easily avoided as he used the advantage Sage Mode gave him to sense the lightning chakra as it was released. Giving him an almost precognitive ability to avoid Raiga's attempts to paralyze and shock him with the stray blasts of lightning.
Undeterred by Raiga's counterattacks Naruto took another step forward, taking a strong base as he parried away Raiga's Kiba blades. Before he darted forward with a swift lunge, his blade scoring a bloody wound on Raiga's shoulder.
It would have impaled the man but at the last second he had dodged, throwing his body to the side.
Scowling as he saw this, Naruto once again scowled at the lump on Raiga's back. The moment before he had struck Raiga, he had heard a whispered warning being given to the man. It was because of this that the man had survived what would have been a crippling blow had it landed.
Letting out a slight growl Naruto rushed forward once again engaging Raiga as he lashed out with his sword, making the man backpedal as Naruto bulled forwards. A look of frustration entering Raiga's eyes as he swung both of his blades sideways at Naruto, probably hoping to make him back off and give Raiga more space to compose himself.
It didn't work though as Naruto ducked down low, avoiding the wide sweeping blades and instead delivering a solid kick to Raiga's right leg causing it to collapse under him before Naruto followed it up with a slash of his sword. Raiga only just managing to dodge as the blade cut through his clothing and bit into his skin, leaving a bloody trench running from his left hip to his right shoulder.
Naruto then follow this up with a light kick to Raiga's chest that sent him staggering backwards, the Kiba blades falling out of his loosened grip as he instead clasped the bloody wound on his chest. .
( - )
(With Raiga)
Staggering backward from his silver haired attacker. Raiga clasped to the bloody wound across his torso, his eyes widening as saw his attacker stand up straight again. His sword held lazily at his side, and his amber eyes locked hungrily on Raiga.
Seeing this Raiga's mouth went dry, fear beginning to grow within him as he saw his opponent didn't even look out of breathe. This foe was beyond him, he knew that much. He was faster, stronger and more skilled than him, Raiga could tell that. Just as he could tell the only reason he wasn't already was because this man, for whatever reason was toying with him.
Pushing his fear away for now, Raiga instead channeled his chakra to his wounds, stifling the blood flow and sooth the pain form the wounds as he did so. It was a temporary measure, but hopefully it would allow him to continue on long enough to at least escape this attacker.
"What do you see, Ranmaru?" Raiga muttered as he took a step back, his eyes flickering to his Kiba blades that lay in the mud behind his assailant assessing the likelihood of recovering them.
A soft voice replied back, the voice coming from the large backpack he had on his back. "R-Raiga, he's too powerful for you to fight. I've never seen anyone with this much chakra before, it not human, he's not human… he's a monster Raiga. W-We need to run now or he will kill us… we need to flee!"
"I know but it's not that easy. What about a genjutsu? Can your eyes cast one on him?" Raiga asked, his eyes narrowed as he tried to think up a strategy. Ranmaru was correct whoever this was, Raiga was out of his league. and with the wound's Raiga had already suffered he was unlikely to be able to fight his way out of this, which meant he would have to rely of Ranmaru using his Doujutsu to cast an irresistible genjutsu on the man. That should hopefully buy them enough time to grab the Kiba Blades and escape. But for that to happen Ranmaru would have to make eye contact with the feral looking man.
Ranmaru made to reply, but before he could his eyes widened and he instead shouted a warning to his friend, "Raiga he's coming get down!"
Raiga through instinct did what Ranmaru said, lunging into a low crouch. Just in time to as he saw the man's blade slice through the air overhead, the air thrumming as it did so. Rolling to the side he once again dodged as the silver haired man's clawed foot slammed into the ground, followed by his blade.
Rolling to his feet Raiga looked up in shock, only to find himself looking at a set of glowing amber eyes.
( - )
(With Naruto)
Naruto scowled as Raiga once again seemed to almost predict his attack. The child on his back was the reason, Naruto knew this now after he had listened into the brief conversation the two of them had had.
His eyes to appeared allowed him to see Naruto's attacks even through the canvas covering the boy, not only that but from what Raiga said they also seemed to be able to be able to cast eye based genjutsu. Naruto had never heard of a set of Doujutsu like this, but at the moment it sounded like some kind of cross between the Hyuuga Clan's famous Byakugan and the Uchiha Clan's legendary Sharingan. Either way it was powerful.
Not missing a beat Naruto leapt forward, his blade held at the ready as he once again engaged Raiga. The man avoided his first strike, and then his second. But his third, his third struck Raiga straight in the chest, Naruto's four foot long blade piercing through Raiga's chest and through the person on his back.
Blood bubbled from Raiga's mouth as he looked at Naruto in surprise, confused red eyes meeting glowing amber. Naruto just gazed levelly at him for a moment, before he twisted his blade and wrenched it out of Raiga's chest. With a dull thud Raiga collapsed backward, his eyes wide and vacant.
"Well you took your time." A glib voice spoke up from behind Naruto. Prompting him to turn around and smirk at the waiting Kin. Noting as he did the dozen or so dead bodies lying behind her, most of whom had their throats cut.
"I was enjoying myself." Naruto replied with a shrug, idly reaching down and tearing off a part of Raiga's clothing before he used it to wipe the blood of his blade. "How did your fight go?"
"It was easy, none of them had any real skills to speak of." Kin replied with a nonchalant shrug, her gaze instead resting on Raiga's dead body. "What about yours? Did he put up much of a fight?"
"Not really, he was a mediocre swordsman at best, mainly relying on the Kiba Blades abilities." Naruto replied in disappointment, glancing at the fallen blades that were lying in the mud a few feet away. The wielder of them might have been incompetent, but the blades themselves were powerful. Naruto would make sure to take them with him when he left. "He also had a partner."
"A partner?" Kin questioned her brow furrowed in confusion as she scanned the area looking for another dead Shinobi.
Seeing this Naruto shrugged before he used his foot to kick Raiga's body over, so it was now lying on its front.
Kin looked over curiously at Naruto as he did that.
"Yeah he had some kid with a set of Doujutsu on his back. The kid was abel to see and read my attacks and was warning Raiga about them. Ended up making the fight longer than it should have been." Naruto replied absentmindedly as he reached down and ripped the backpack of Raiga's back, the material tearing away to reveal a frail looking boy on his back. The kid looked to be around twelve or thirteen years old, with very aple skin, and thin brittle looking limbs.
Not that that mattered as the boy was dead, his eyes staring blankly straight ahead. A large bloody wound in his chest form Naruto's sword. Turning his body Naruto looked closely at his dead eyes, taking note as he did of the chakra that was slowly flowing out of them, his body no longer constantly providing it now he was dead.
"This kid's Doujutsu." Naruto said with a frown as he looked up at Kin, noting the curiousity on her face as she looked at the kids red eyes. "It was some kind of variant of a Sharingan or a Byakugan I am not sure. Either way it allowed him to see through this bag in all directions and help Raiga in tracking my movements and predicting my attacks. It also apparently could cast genjutsu, though I didn't see him dong it"
"Poor kid." Kin said as she looked down at the boy a bit of pity in her eyes. "Do you reckon Raiga forced him to help him?"
Naruto shrugged at that. "Can't say for sure but the kid seemed more than happy to help Raiga, or at least that was what I heard."
Kin sighed at that before nodding. It was a shame someone so young had to die, but if he had been willingly helping a monster like Raiga, someone who buried people alive and took pleasure from it. Then maybe it was better of that they were dead.
"What do we do now?" Kin asked as she once again looked around the area, before looking back at Naruto.
Naruto hummed at that, a thoughtful expression crossing his face, before he swung his blade up and down, decapitating Raiga's dead body. With that done he then pulled a scroll from out of his coat pocket, unrolling it as he did so before he first sealed up Raiga's decapitated head for the bounty. Then he walked over and grabbed the Kiba Blades, seal them inside the scroll too. With that done Naruto rolled the scroll back up and then shoved it into his pocket.
With that done Naruto then turned to Kin, a curious expression on his face. "Hey Kin, how good are you Medical Ninjutsu skills?"
Kin frowned at this question, not sure where it was coming from, but answering it anyway. "They're decent enough… why?"
Naruto paused for a second, looking down at the corpses of Raiga and the Ranmaru for a second before looking up at Kin a determined expression on his face. "Because I am going to implant those Doujutsu, and I want you to help."
( - )
AN: And there is the chapter. And I have to admit it was much longer than I was planning. But I got a bit carried away. Either way I hope you all enjoyed it and hope you continue to support this story as it progresses. Also I have to admit I am quite liking the Kin/ Naruto partnership, subtlety meets power it is an interesting partnership, or at least in my opinion.
Have to say this chapter was quite tricky to write, but I think I pulled it off. I hope. I always liked this arc in the Naruto story, just as I always found Ranmaru's Doujutsu very interesting, a part of me was quite disappointed that they never made anything of it. And they were just forgotten as the story instead obsessed over the Sharingan and the Rinnegan.
The next chapter should be out soon so I hope you all stay tuned.
Any questions PM me. I Love hearing from people. And other than that I hope you all leave a review and I will see you later.
Seagate.
