Satoshi's Apartment

Ever increasing and ever continuing, that damn pipa just wouldn't stop playing.

"Naruto!" Sasuke yelled when Naruto's arm hit the Uchiha while he lied on his bed roll, "Quit it!"

"Sorry..." Naruto sheepishly apologized and then snarled from that pipa, "Why won't it shut up!"

"What won't shut up?"

"You don't hear it?" Naruto asked a confused Sasuke, "Somebody's playing a pipa or some string instrument and it's really annoying! It's kept me up all night!"

"Just use ear plugs then...

"I threw them out when they didn't work." Naruto muttered when he twitched like a fox that was splashed with water, "There it goes again!"

"Come on...you probably just need water." Sasuke said and pulled Naruto out of bed. The two boys made their way to the living room where Satoshi was sound asleep on the couch which was now using as a makeshift bed, "Guess he wasn't going to be out for long."

"Maybe, let's get that water..." Naruto decided while the boys snuck past the living room to the kitchen area and focused their chakra to walk up upon the kitchen counter and reach the cabinet with the cups inside, "When will our nii-san's start teaching us actual jutsu?"

"When we're older I guess..." Sasuke answered as he caught a cup while Naruto landed with one of his own, "Nii-san and father say that I'm too young right now."

"But Itachi and Satoshi were only a year older than us when they became genin and they didn't learn their jutsu from the academy."

"They're genius' though..."

"And I'm gonna be the next Hokage!"

"Keep it down..." Sasuke warned when Satoshi snored and turned on the couch, "Maybe they just want us to be kids...I don't know..."

"That's another thing bugs me..." Naruto admitted to his friend while they drained their water to half empty, "Satoshi always goes on about how he's an adult, but he's only eleven! How come he gets to be an adult and I have to be a kid?"

"Maybe he wasn't allowed to be a kid." Sasuke guessed and saw framed photo hanging on the wall, "Are those his parents?"

"Oh...I guess so..." Naruto answered upon looking at the picture that Sasuke pointed to. In it, two couples in ceremonial outfits posed together with wide smiles save for the fourth whose smile was gentler and more subdued, "Mine too..."

"The blond guy and that red haired woman?" Sasuke guessed, looking at the beautiful woman with long crimson hair who held both the blond with spiky hair and the brown skinned male with grey spiky hair in a double arm hold while the fourth woman with pale skin and black hair and closed eyes warmly held a newly born baby in her arms, "And that little guy was Satoshi..."

"He was soo cute..." Naruto said to himself with adoration that frightened Sasuke, "But that's alright, cause my baby's going to be way cuter!"

"Let it rest dobe..."

"No way teme!"

"HELP!" Both boys stopped and ran to the door when they heard a voice frantically cry for help, "SOMEBODY HELP ME! HELP!"

"That sounds like..." Naruto opened the front door and was immediately tackled to the ground by a fellow schoolmate, "Hinata?"

"Hinata?" Sasuke asked himself while he closed the door as Naruto got Hinata to her feet where something on her robes scared both of them, "Naruto..."

"Hinata...what happened?" Naruto asked in fright while he looked upon the blood that was splashed upon Hinata's robes, "Why were you screaming? What are you doing out here?"

"Hide...now." The boys heard Satoshi command while he knelt down to Hinata and placed two fingers on her neck, "Were you hurt Hinata?"

"No...but...Kagome..."

"You're safe here. Stay with Naruto and Sasuke alright?" Hinata softly nodded while Satoshi motioned the two boys to go with her, "Stay hidden until I come and get you, understood?"

"Alright...but what's going on-"

"Do as I say Naruto." Naruto paled even though Satoshi didn't raise his voice and immediately led Sasuke and Naruto out of the living room and to a hatch that led to the basement...

xxx

Once Naruto, Sasuke and Hinata had left Satoshi allowed the details that he had picked up from watching Hinata to soak in. She was breathing heavily and unevenly, which meant that she had ran through the village streets for several moments. If she came to his area then it meant that she was away from the Hyuga Compound and that meant that she had a guard.

A guard who she saw die.

Fortunately, the blood on Hinata's robes weren't hers nor was she injured. But she would likely require intensive psychological assistance and counseling after tonight. But for the moment, the more important detail was the figure who stood outside of his door. He had sensed him enter the house's vicinity as soon as Naruto was gone and knocked on the door.

The assailant had decided to be polite.

"How can I help you sir?" Satoshi politely asked with a smile as he opened the door.

"Apologies, but the village has been attacked." An ANBU said while he entered the home as Satoshi looked out the doorway, "The Hokage believes that an infiltrator may be attacking patrolling shinobi."

"Really? That's terrible," Satoshi said as he noted the absence of an ANBU tattoo on either of the ANBU's shoulder, "I'd like to help however I can."

"Thank you for your cooperation." The ANBU replied while Satoshi walked over and picked up one of the glasses of water, "I am looking for a little girl with black-blue hair and pale eyes. She may have seen the attacker."

"You'd be better off going to the Hyuga Compound," Satoshi replied while his thoughts began to churn, "This must be the one who Hinata is hiding from. Makes sense, his attempt at mimicking ANBU behavior and protocol is laughable."

"Thirsty tonight?" The ANBU asked while pointing out the other three glasses of water on the counter, "Or are the others are for younger siblings?"

"Yes, sometimes they have nightmares." "Implication of threat against children...possible suspicion of harboring Hinata..." "Fortunately, we managed to solve the bed-wetting issue a few months ago."

"All three of them?"

"The youngest could devour a bull if you gave one to him." Satoshi laughed, "The assailant may already know that Hinata is near...maybe he saw or heard her enter the house..."

"And what is this?" The ANBU asked while he picked up a meal cloth with the pattern of two ram horns upon it, "This is the emblem of the Kuromuton Clan. How did you get one of their handkerchiefs?"

"That old thing? It was a gift from my great-great-grandmother to my grandmother," Satoshi answered as he walked to the ANBU's side and received the cloth from the ANBU's hand, "The cloth was made from the wool of one of the finest flocks that the Kuromuton ever had...cloth made from those sheep are valued highly..."

"How high?"

"How high is the sky?" Satoshi asked with a chuckle, "By the way...what is your name?"

"That is classified."

"Except that every ANBU agent is required to state their codename upon meeting any known Konoha shinobi unannounced." "That is true, you are not called the covert ops of the village for coolness' sake."

"You would know more than me, Kuromuton." Satoshi's smile immediately faded as soon as the stranger spoke his surname. "He didn't just come here for Hinata..." Satoshi's iris turned from brown to golden when he saw the assailant draw his tanto and slash towards Satoshi.

"First, employ defensive distraction." Satoshi threw the cloth at the ANBU's face and used the opportunity to divert the attacker's slash from his neck, "Cross to left humerus and hook to right mid-ribcage." Satoshi's right fist impacted into the ANBU's surprisingly hard left upper arm while the other impacted into the ANBU's body and threw him against the counter where he quickly recovered.

"Must force relocation to prevent possible injury to children." Satoshi figured as he swerved to avoid the assailant's slash and rolled under the living room table. He grabbed a hidden jian before he emerged on the other side and drew the sword in time to slash through the metal of the assailant's likely stolen sword, "Kick to right femur..." Satoshi kicked out with his left leg and was blocked by the assailant's raised knee.

"This seems...too easy..." Satoshi thought to himself before he braced on the attacker's knee and kicked him towards the door. Satoshi winced as the door broke while the assailant stood up in the doorway, "Far too easy..."

"Katon: Yuubi Tonbo" Satoshi finished the last series of handsigns and exhaled to blow a large gust of gas faintly resembling a dragonfly in the direction of the ANBU. The Dragonfly rushed into the ANBU and pushed him outside into the street before it ignited into a flaming insect that set the false ANBU on fire, "No real ANBU would've been defeated by a C-rank Jutsu..."

"Satoshi?"

"Stay hidden." Satoshi warned Naruto while he walked outside to investigate his aflamed kill, "I would ask who you were working for...but you are dead."

"Or so it appears to your eyes." Satoshi dropped into an open-palm combat stance as he watched the assailant stand while the ANBU mask fell from his face, "Beware your eyes...what you see can deceive...Beware your ears, for the perception of sound fades with usage and time...Beware the tongues of men...for we lie more often than when we speak."

"So a poet hired you?" The figure fell into a heap as the fire went out to reveal a pile of scorched wood that was formerly a figure that Satoshi never thought he would see in the Land of Fire, "A puppet?"

"Satoshi-"

"NARUTO! GET INSIDE NOW!" Satoshi roared at Naruto who was looking out of the doorway of his apartment. Trusting Naruto to do the intelligent thing, Satoshi turned his attention back to the scorched puppet that also bore the distinct smell of burnt flesh. "Worst...whoever did this took a freshly killed corpse, skinned it's muscle and skin and melded it around a puppet...but why?"

His bones shook as he heard a pipa play nearby.

"Satoshi...you were played like a fool..." Satoshi turned to the direction of the music and saw a single individual walking towards him. The young woman wore black traditional robes with a white formal undershirt and had long hair that went down to her shoulders. In her arms was a pipa that she played with masterful grace and speed while she continued to approach, "Who the hell comes out at night and plays on a pipa for no reason?"

Of course, this woman had a reason.

While Satoshi watched, he suddenly felt an intense surge of killing intent flow past him and with it an image of his head falling from his shoulders. Acting on instinct, he swerved his head to the left and felt a very small sharp inseeable dagger glance the side of his neck. The musician continued playing as Satoshi felt blood seep down his neck and he shivered from the fear of death.

"But...how?" Satoshi thought as he felt another surge of killing intent and saw himself bisected from the top of his head and down through his nether regions, "Futon: Uzamaki Shīrudo!" A gust of wind swirled in solid concentrated in front of Satoshi and was destroyed by the same unseen attack from before. The forcewave of the impact threw Satoshi onto his back while the music continued...

Konoha South-East Central Hub

Shishi momentarily stopped in place and removed his mask to cough onto the tiles of the rooftops.

"Damn it..." He said to himself before he put his mask back on and increased his pace, "Better hurry!"

Konoha Residential District 17

"Satoshi!"

"Naruto...if I have to tell you go back inside one more time!" Satoshi shouted in spite of the heavy slash that ran down both of his arms as a result of attempting to block the blades of sound that the musician was playing, "The adults are talking right now..."

"Do as he says!" Sasuke yelled and pulled Naruto back into the house, "Sorry Satoshi-san!"

"Just stay safe..." Satoshi managed before he leapt to the right to avoid an attack and felt his side get cut open by a smaller attack that sent him onto the ground, "Damn...not like this..."

The musician didn't care.

She momentarily softened the tone of her music before she stopped and rapidly played several notes. Satoshi felt time slow to a halt as he felt the musician's killing intent and could see the painful and graphic death that awaited him. Without seeing, he saw the blades that flew towards him...without hearing...he heard them cut through the air and the dirt and without speaking...he screamed...

Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!

Futon: Kazeken!

Raiton: Kaminari Dasshu! Three bursts of elemental power, one wind, one fire and the other lightning converged in front of Satoshi and shot through the attack and impacted against the musician. A frantic set of notes were played at their highest volume and created a visible field of displaced air that forced the musician onto the ground and threw back the three ANBU that were thrown in front of Satoshi.

"Odd...that combo always works..."

"There's a first time for everything..."

"This is true Shishi..." The ANBU with a crow-mask stated before turning to Satoshi, "Are you alright?"

"I've had worst," Satoshi assured the ANBU, "Are you real ANBU or more fakes?"

"I am Karosin and as you know, this is Shishi." Karosin replied to the battered Satoshi before addressing Shishi, "How many times do I have to warn you about using the Shinri Kage Bunshin?"

"So watching over your brother doesn't count as necessary cause?"

"But now your ability to fight this assailant is lessened." Karosin said to his partner, "If you dispel it then his sufficient injuries and fatigue will carry over to you, but if you don't then that will be a sizable portion of your chakra that you won't be able to use."

"No need for arguing now." Urufu lightly rebuked the younger ANBU and then turned to Satoshi, "Hey! I'm Urufu of the ANBU! What do you know about that guy?"

"He attacks you through his music!" Satoshi warned the three ANBU as the musician began to restart his song, "The sound of the pipa generates a fine chakra whip that he controls by playing it!"

"Thanks! Get to safety! We'll take it from here!" Shishi told the off-duty Chunin who dashed into his apartment while Shishi used his Kazeken-infused sword to deflect the unseen attack that was sent his way, "You won't claim anymore victims!"

"I believe that our assailant is blind." Karosin told his comrades while they went on guard from the intensifying music, "I saw him when he picked up the pipa. It was right in front of him and yet it took five seconds for him to grab it while he examined the ground."

"Makes sense..." Shishi agreed and all three scattered to avoid the sound blade that sought to kill them. After landing, Shishi began to remember something, "Wait...beware your eyes, beware your ears and beware your tongue...the assailant is deaf!"

"Lovely! How come I don't feel more optimistic?" Urufu asked before he was slashed in half and the two halves formed into stable condensed forms of electric energy. The music intensified when a porch was slashed through and Urufu leapt out from the ground, "Okay...how does this help us?"

"Shishi! Take point! Urufu! Support him! I'll stay back and try to find a weakness." Karosin ran through a series of handsigns before he was cut into multiple pieces by the assailant's unseen assault.

"Advice captain?"

"Don't stand in one place at once and don't die." Urufu stated as Karosin's corpse fell apart into multiple crows that flew towards the assailant before they were cut down in a single stroke, "I think I have an idea..."

"I'll cover you!" Shishi stated as he saw a jian fly towards him from his left and he caught it in his left hand while running through a series of handsigns, "Futon: Muchiuchi Gesuto!"

"Katon: Hōsenka Tsumabeni!" A series of aflamed kunai rained upon the musician at the same time that Shishi slashed both blades forward and produced a focused pair of air pockets which flew towards the musician and increased the intensity of the aforementioned fire jutsu. As if detecting her peril, the musician increased the pace of his song and spun in place, deflected the kunai and the air blades into the buildings adjacent to her.

Blocking a retaliatory attack, Shishi now noticed Urufu's absence and a patch of discolored earth where he was formerly standing. He side-stepped an attack that cut into the ground and spun to deflect another set of attacks acting purely on the assailant's own killer intent and his own instinct to keep from dying.

xxx

From the window of his room, Naruto and Sasuke watched the battle with amazement and fear. The lion-masked ANBU now stepped into a high-energy dance with his sword and the sword that Satoshi had given him. Most of the time, it looked like he was deflecting something and the rest of the time he was avoiding an attack that could not be seen. The entire scene and the music of the pipa made the entire night seem surreal to the two boys.

"Katon: Komodo Honoo!"

"Cool..." Naruto said when he saw the lion-masked ANBU produce a large fiery form that resembled a lizard skull that flew towards the assailant while the ANBU created another blade of wind to empower and quicken it, "Do you see this Sasuke?"

"Yeah..." Sasuke muttered with more concern than excitement, "I wish nii-san or father were here..."

"It'll be over by the time they get here!"

"I hope so..."

"Why aren't you hiding?" The boys heard a frantic Hinata ask while she sat with her knees pressed against her chest, "He will kill us! We need to run or he will kill us like she killed Kagome!"

"Hinata...calm down..." Naruto said to soothe the girl and placed his hands on her shoulders, "We're going to be fine, nothing's going to happen to us-"

"Naruto...you're not helping..." Sasuke muttered as the girl began to cry into Naruto's shoulder, "She did watch someone die in front of her..."

"Oh...I'm sorry..."

"It...it...wasn't your fault..." Hinata managed while she wept, "It was that banshee...that man-"

"Man? The musician is a woman-"

"No! I saw him! He was a man!" Hinata pleaded while Naruto realized something that made him pause in place, "Naruto-kun?"

"Hey...Hinata...you've got that byakugan thing right?" Naruto asked while Hinata nodded, "Look...I know that you're scared, but I need you to look in the musician's direction and tell us what you see."

"Are you crazy Naruto?"

"She doesn't have to look directly at him! Just in his direction!" Naruto clarified to Sasuke before Hinata slowly rose to her feet, "Please? I want to help the ANBU and you can help us if I'm right."

"Okay..." Hinata agreed and turned towards the outside of the apartment with veins bulging along her eye line, "Please give me a moment..."

"Take your time..." Naruto assured her and gulped when the window was cut and sent glass flying to the ground, "Reasonably..."

xxxx

"Urufu...anytime would be great..." Shishi said to himself as he felt a piece of his black jian get chipped off by the sound slashes of the musician's song. He now found himself using both instinct and the song's own rhythem to predict which notes would produce a deadly attempt on his life. He couldn't use either by itself since his reflexes could be tricked by the quieter notes and that went double for the unpredictable rhythem of this song.

The pace of the song now prevented him from using any jutsu without a distraction and locked him a dance with his blades where his defenses were being chipped away and stopping would be a surefire way to die.

"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu!" Shishi was relieved when the musician's assault was diverted to ward off a volley of smaller bursts of flame while Shishi ran through several handsigns to add to his partner's continued counter attack.

"Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu!"

"Futon Kazekiri!" Shishi unleashed his burst of deathly sharp wind in time to join it to the fireball that was fired towards the musician by the now present Karosin. The two attacks joined and caused the musician to pause his song. She played a series of high notes that resulted in a barrier of displaced air that dispelled the attack and then played another set of notes that would fire more attacks in the direction of her foes except for two problems.

One, her leg had been pulled into the ground.

Two, a lightning charged fist was embedded through her chest.

"Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu" Urufu pulled the woman further into the ground and pulled out his arm, causing the pipa to drop to the ground in the process, "Sorry I was late."

"You late...big surprise..."

"I got here to save you didn't I?"

"Karosin was here, that doesn't count." Shishi muttered while grabbing his right shoulder and grunting, "Damn it...that little dance will make my doctor's appointment longer...won't it?"

"Your own fault...the Shinri Kage Bunshin No Jutsu was forbidden by your clan for a reason." Karosin pointed out while the two of them approached Urufu who looked upon the woman whose head stuck out of the ground, "Couldn't you have at least attempted to keep her alive?"

"That's the problem..." Urufu noted while holding out his arm, "It's too clean."

"Another puppet?" Shishi asked as they felt killing intent from the woman puppet and heard the pipa of death play once more...

Authors Notes:

A puppet? If the actual murderer is nothing more than a puppet then who is the real assailant behind this attack on Konoha? Will Naruto and the others be able to find out the mystery behind the attacker before Shishi and the other ANBU are taken by the song of death?

Stay tuned to find out.

Here is our first official battle of Kindachi No Kamigami and before you say anything, yes it has a Kung Fu Hustle reference in it. As I loved Kung Fu Hustle, this won't be the last reference but I'll try to keep them natural and not have them forced in just for author appeal.

Translations:

Shinri Kage Bunshin No Jutsu - True Shadow Clone Technique

Futon: Muchiuchi Gesuto - Wind Release: Whiplash Gust

Futon: Uzamaki Shīrudo - Wind Release: Swirling Shield

Futon: Kazeken - Wind Sword

Katon: Komodo Honoo - Fire Release: Komodo Blaze

Katon: Yuubi Tonbo - Fire Release: Delicate Dragonfly

Katon: Hōsenka Tsumabeni - Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Flower Nail Crimson

Katon: Gōkakyū no Jutsu - Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique

Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu - Fire Release: Phoenix Sage Fire Technique

Futon: Kazekiri - Wind Release: Wind Cutter

Raiton: Kaminari Dasshu - Lighting Release: Thunder Dash

Doton: Shinjū Zanshu no Jutsu - Earth Release: Double Suicide Decapitation Technique