Okay, sorry for making this a bit longer then usual (meaning the wait)… first week of the new semester turned out to be my worst so far and I had to copy some notes to keep up with the material… I got sick and couldn't even get out of bed till Sunday. I did manage to convince Shang to sit down and help me write this chapter... since he agreed, I'm now uploading it.
ANNOUNCEMENT: Before I go any further, I have a request: do try out Shang's fic "Next Generation" and review if you can, coz I heard he's thinking about putting it on hold and it'd be a shame in my opinion. The story has a really similar climate to this one, so you should enjoy it (when you're at it, you might also wanna try his "Those Who Inherit the Will of Fire"... that's also a fic about the new generation of shinobies).
Now, to answer the reviews: the only question asked was 'why are they after Urusai'… well, I'd prefer to keep it to myself for the time being, but I can promise you it'll be revealed later on… for now I'll just say it has something to do with his bloodline limit.
And with that behind, here's the newest chapter of "Naruto Beyond":
Chapter #13: Silence before the Storm
Chapter Cover: Ayame is walking around in the garden with a watering can in her hands
Naruto walked out of the house and stretched himself. The sky was slowly getting covered by large, black clouds. The storm was coming. The jounin looked in the direction of a nearby forest and then lowered his sight slightly.
"Naruto-sensei, you regained your strength already?" he heard Ayame's voice and only then noticed the young kunoichi stepping outside the house. "Were you going somewhere?"
"Yeah…" nodded the blonde. "I'll disappear for about half an hour… when I get back, we'll head back to Konoha…"
"Then wouldn't it be better if we go immediately?" asked Kakashi's daughter. "What will happen if that Genko guy shows up when you're not around, Naruto-sensei?"
"About that you shouldn't worry your head…" replied the jounin as he placed his hand on her head and kneeled down. "Thanks to a little… present I got from the Yondaime Hokage, I'm able to sense enemies… I'll know when he'll get close, just like I noticed when we were leaving the Leaf… I'll reach you before he'll show up… besides, even with his abilities, with the damage I left him, he shouldn't be able to fight until tomorrow morning… we'll be long gone till then…" with that he stood back on his feet. "Well, I'll be going now…"
"Naruto-sensei, I have one, last question to ask you…" announced Ayame, gaining his attention. "That white-haired man… he was after Urusai, wasn't he? What did he want with him?"
"To be honest, I'm not sure…" replied Naruto, deciding it's useless to hide it. "I have a guess, but nothing above that… at any rate you and Jun are right: their target is Urusai. Don't tell him that though… right now it's the worst thing you could do…"
"Why? Wouldn't it be better if he'd find out?"
"Okay, I'll explain it like this…" began the blonde. "Lets pretend you did told him… in that case he may do something stupid like run away in order to keep you guys safe, thus making himself an easy target… or what's worse, the next time we'd run into the members of the organization Genko is in, he may rush at them, wanting to find out why they target him, thus putting us all in danger… with Urusai's temper, it's better if he doesn't know yet…"
"I see…"
"Okay, I'll be back in an hour or so…" and with that he was gone.
"Why is Urusai so important?" Ayame wondered as she got back inside the house.
"Hey, Ayame-chan, where's Naruto-sensei?" asked the blonde gennin the moment she entered. "I wanted him to help me train a bit…"
"You should pack your stuff, coz we'll be leaving in an hour…" replied the kunoichi.
"Really?" Jun was a bit surprised. "But the storm is coming… we won't make it to Konoha before it starts… it'd be better if we wait until it's over here…"
"Naruto-sensei said we're going, so we better listen…" responded Ayame as she sat on the floor and propped against the wall.
"Guess he went to visit them…" figured Inari as he got back to reading the book.
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"Naruto and his team still haven't returned, Rokudaime-sama?" asked Iruka as he walked into the Hokage office, bowed and close the door.
"Not yet…" replied the Coping Ninja simply.
"Do you think something happened, Kakashi-sama?"
"I don't know… but even if, I'm sure Naruto can handle it…" and then silence fell between the two, broken by Kakashi after few minutes: "Did you hear that Black Flame has appeared again? I've received reports from few hidden villages that the members of that organization were seen in distant parts of the world…"
"Why are you telling me this, Hokage-sama?"
"My assumption is… that one of their targets is Kodawari Urusai…"
"It'd make sense, since Uragiri is their leader, but why would he show interest in Urusai now? It's been over twelve years already…"
"I don't know why would he want Urusai, but that is something he have to find out… when Naruto comes back, ask him why was he delayed… I'm sure he'll talk freely with you… and do inform the ANBU I want them to keep a look out for any, possible Black Flame members… we cannot allow the same thing happening twice…"
"Yes, Hokage-sama…" Iruka bowed and with that left the office, leaving the Rokudaime looking outside the window:
"Ayame, I hope you're okay…"
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Naruto stood before the two graves. One had a huge sword stabbed into it and the other got surrounded by flowers. He smiled under his nose at the sight: "You were always so girly, Haku…" and with that he place the flowers he held in his hand on the smaller grave.
"It's been eighteen years already…" Naruto said to himself. "Boy, how time flies… before I even noticed I'm already old…" with that he smiled to himself slightly. "You know, I often wonder how'd it be if things would go differently that time… history has a funny way of repeating itself… but you guys will be happy to hear that I still haven't broken a promise I gave you that day…" just then the rain began to fall.
Naruto looked to the sky and stood like this for a while, before returning his gaze to the graves: "This time it was your turn, eh Zabuza?" and with that his senses warned him of an enemy nearby. "I have to go… sorry guys…" and with that he was gone.
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"Oh, it started raining…" noticed Ouda as she held out her hand.
"This should be quite convenient for you guys…" saying so Genko turned to his male subordinates. "You may go and play with the brats… I'm going to kill that damn Jinchuuriki… once you're done with your opponent, head back to the hideout… I'll met you there… dismissed!" and with that all of them disappeared.
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Naruto ran through the town before he spotted Genko appearing right in front of him, blocking his way. The white-haired smirked and got into his fighting stance: "I know it's still kinda early, but let's have a rematch already… I just can't help enjoying this…"
"Out of my way…" ordered the blonde. "If you'll move now, I won't kill you…"
"And if I don't?" replied Genko with a smile.
"Then I'll rip you into pieces!" and with that Naruto's eyes turn red, his whisker-marks became visible and red chakra started to surround his body.
"So, using the Kyuubi again? And so soon… well, I guess it's understandable, but allow me to just say this: last time you got me with a surprise and those brats helped you out… you won't be able to defeat me this time…"
"People who talk big… are usually extremely weak…" announced the blonde jounin as he jumped right at the white-haired man.
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"Are you sure?" asked Jun as he and Urusai jumped onto the nearest roof top.
"I'm telling you there was someone hiding behind that house!" replied the blonde gennin right before he received a powerful thunder into his chest, which send him crushing against a wall of a building tens of meters away.
"Urusai!" yelled Jun and was about to ran to his friend when all of a sudden Hongen appeared before his eyes.
"Sorry kiddo, but your opponent will be me…" announced the new arrival with his arms crossed. "If you don't like it, though luck…" and instantly the missing-nin began his chain of hand seals.
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"Thunders already?" Ayame was a bit surprised as she looked out the window from Inari's house. "And so close too… this doesn't seem too natural to me…"
"Don't worry, storms happen quite often in our country…" announced Inari. "But in most cases there's nothing to worry about…" and the moment he said so the wall behind him exploded. "What the…?"
"Nothing to worry about?" repeated Ouda who stepped out of the dust that arose with the explosion. "Well, you may have a point… I'm here for the brat, so as long as you won't interfere, you'll keep your life…"
Ayame just looked at the kunoichi surprised and then reached for her shuriken hostel.
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"Dammit, what the hell was that?" yelled Urusai, struggling back to his feet. "Was that a lighting that hit me? Jun, are you okay?"
"I'm afraid he's not…" came a voice from behind and the blonde turn around to see Hekireki coming his way. "He's fighting Hongen at the moment and most likely is getting the beating of his life… but that lighting part was somewhat true… I kinda know, since I was the one who fired it…"
"What the hell is your problem? Are you working for that Genko guy?"
"More or less…" replied Hekireki. "But that's not important for now… my mission is to take you with me and the way I see it, we can do it two ways: you can either come peacefully or I can just release such a large among of electricity into your body, that it'll get damaged so badly, you won't be able to move… all we need is for you to stay alive until Uragiri-sama performs the ritual…"
"I don't know what's that ritual you're talking about… nor that I know why you're chasing me… but besides the two you mentioned above, there is also a third way out: I can kick your ass and go help my friend fight their battles…"
"Interesting… you think you can manage to defeat me?"
"We'll have to find out…" replied Urusai as he charged right at the missing-nin.
And so this chapter is done… hope you liked it and that you'll leave a review once you're done with it.
Sorry for no jutsu encyclopedia this time around, but to make it up to all of you that I'm too lazy to write it this time, I'll describe all the jutsus used so far (which haven't been described already) next time!
Take care and cya next time!