Alright. Clear a thing up. I said before that there would be three more chapters. There is in fact four more. I am ending the story at 32 chapters. Honestly I have had enough of writing the first part of Fire Paved Skies and I want to get onto the new one. Updates will come as readily as possible, as I am not updating my other story, Our Way, until this is finished. I also now have a clear understanding of what I want to happen, and that knowledge has given me a better idea of what to write in the future chapters to come.
Symbiotic
April 11th
Konohagakure
That night, after Naruto was sure Hinata fell asleep, he quickly got out of bed and got on his clothes. Moving quickly yet as quietly as possible, he managed to get out of the Quonset hut he had slept in and not wake up Hinata. Moving rapidly, Naruto then moved down to a line of jeeps that resided on the runway, sitting there in the night. People were still working on planes in the airfield, and guards still walked around, but no one was near the jeeps. This made Naruto's job a whole lot easier.
"Come on," Naruto said, walking up to one of them, "Come on please have them in there." After looking down the line, Naruto was happy to see one have a set of keys on the dashboard. "Yes." Getting into the jeep and starting it, Naruto then put it in gear and began driving it. Having no idea where Kurenai was, he decided to check out where she could be, and he knew asking a guard would be his best bet.
"Excuse me," Naruto said, driving up to a guard, "I need to know where Madame is."
"She's down at the control tower," the guard told Naruto. Naruto gave the guard a friendly salute then began driving again towards the control tower. Moving fast so it would go by as quickly as possible, Naruto then found what he was looking for, a jeep containing ignition keys to start the vehicle. "Thank you kami sama," Naruto said, rushing to get into the vehicle. "Now lets go find Kurenai." Putting the vehicle into gear and pressing the gas, the blond container of the nine tailed fox that had attacked the village years ago drove off to find Kurenai.
For at that very moment, Naruto felt that he was in the worst kind of peril of all. A peril much worse then getting shot down by Sasuke, being found by sky pirates, or getting into a pirate versus pirate battle.
For two young lovers, it was the perfect night out. Konohamaru had chosen this night to go with his girlfriend outside of the airfield and Hokage Tower vicinity for one reason. Hanabi had been reunited with the young man, and now he wanted to spend every single moment possible with the girl.
But for Hanabi, it was a chance to do something else. It was a chance to ask a few questions that she had been dying to ask. Unfortunately, she did not have the courage to ask. That is, until Konohamaru broke the ice. "So Hanabi," Konohamaru questioned, "Beautiful night isn't it?"
"Yeah I guess," Hanabi replied, "Especially with you Konohamaru chan." Konohamaru pulled his girlfriend closer as they walked down the sidewalk, and it made Hanabi smile. The smiling did not last long however, as the desire to ask questions, and it was a desire that the young Hyuga female could not hold in anymore. "Konohamaru?"
"Yes," her boyfriend replied.
"Were you thinking of me when you joined the military," Hanabi questioned, "Did you ever think of me?"
"Of course I did Hanabi chan," Konohamaru said, "I thought of you when I enlisted." Hanabi then broke away from her boyfriend and ceased all movement. "Hanabi?"
"You thought of me and enlisted anyway," Hanabi muttered, tears starting to cascade down her cheeks, "Do I mean anything to you?"
"Listen to me Hanabi," Konohamaru said, walking closer, "There was a reason for me wanting to enlist, even when I knew you would not want me to."
"I know why," the young woman replied, starting to step backwards, "Because you hated me. You are a spiteful, selfish, cheating person and I do not know why I ever loved you!"
"Hanabi," Konohamaru replied, moving in closer then she could back away and gripping her tightly by the shoulders. "Listen to me. I would never hate you. I had a bigger reason to want to join the military that I was afraid to tell you about since it might have made me seem stupid."
"What then," Hanabi yelled back, "Just tell me Konohamaru, and I'll believe you! What was it that made you do this?"
"Because I wanted to impress you," Konohamaru said rapidly and loudly.
To say she was shocked was an understatement. Completely caught of guard was a better way of putting it. Hanabi did not see what Konohamaru had said coming, nor did she think it was even a feasible answer. But soon it all fell into place, and the girl began realizing why her boyfriend would want to impress her. She then watched her boyfriend let go and turn his back to her.
"You wanted to show that you were stronger then all those kids who would pick on you and hurt you," Hanabi said, "Is that it?"
"I really wanted to go off in a war and win a metal," Konohamaru told her, "Have something to make you think you had someone who did something few people, if anyone before him, ever did. It seemed like a smart idea at the time, but none of it actually happened."
"What did happen," Hanabi asked, walking up to Konohamaru slowly.
"I shot a rifle once in basic," Konohamaru said, "They found I was better at fixing weapons then firing weapons. I was then sent into the air force, where I became a crew chief for Naruto and a few pilots in his air wing. Not so cool eh?"
"It's very cool," Hanabi said, putting her hands on Konohamaru's shoulders, "It's really cool. I can now say proudly I have a boyfriend who can take apart an airplane and put it back together in less then six hours. That's something to be proud of there. So what if you didn't win a metal? Fixing planes is plenty talented."
"You mean that," Konohamaru asked. Hanabi whipped him around so he was looking into her milk white eyes.
"Have I ever lied to you before," Hanabi asked. She then brought him to her face in a rapid manner and locked her lips with his. Caught off guard, Konohamaru didn't kiss back at first. But when Hanabi went in again, the boy began kissing the girl back, and this lasted for about two minutes. "Wow that was long."
"Are you going to fight tomorrow," Konohamaru questioned.
"I don't know," Hanabi said, "I am obliged to, and I do not want to let down my oniichan. What do you think?"
"Do it," Konohamaru said, "I can be up there with you, fixing planes."
"You're such a great thinker," Hanabi said, wrapping her arms around Konohamaru, "And that's another thing I love so much about you." Once again, the two began to kiss, and this time it would last much longer then either of them could remember.
"Control tower," Naruto said, stopping the jeep in front of the massive, towering concrete structure. "Kami sama, Kurenai better be in there, or you will not like what will come next." Getting out of the jeep, Naruto then inhaled deeply and exhaled a few times to prepare himself for what was have. He then walked to the door and opened it up with a sweaty hand, proceeding to walk up the stairs to the top of the tower. There, surrounded by lieutenants and leaning over a table was Kurenai, all dressed and ready to fly when the time came. "Kurenai," Naruto called out.
"Hold on a second," Kurenai told her officers. She then turned around and saw Naruto standing in the midde of the tower. "Yes?"
"We need to talk," Naruto said, "Right now."
"I'm planning a battle right here Uzumaki," Kurenai said, "Can you wait?"
"You cannot plan for battle Kurenai," Naruto said, "Even if you do, the battle comes and bites you in the ass. Now come on, I need to talk to you right now." Kurenai shook her head then looked up at her officers.
"Boys," she asked.
"Go ahead," one of the officers said, "We basically got it down." Kurenai nodded yes and then walked over to Naruto.
"We'll talk outside," Kurenai said, opening the door to go out onto the deck of the tower. Both of them stood, looking out at the city, sky, and forests that laid before them, marveled by how far it all stretched out. "So," Kurenai asked, "What do you need to talk to me about?"
"I got a huge problem," Naruto said, "Beyond huge. More like gigantic."
"What did you do," Kurenai asked.
"I said some stuff," Naruto said, "To Hinata."
"You better not have hurt her Naruto," Kurenai said, "What did you say to her?"
"I said I loved her damn it," Naruto yelled. Aghast at first, it didn't Kurenai long to get why Naruto would have said something like that. She understood clearly why Naruto had said he loved Hinata and would not mean it.
"I hate you," Kurenai growled, "I hate you in unfathomable ways. Do you what it means to lie to people Naruto?"
"She was so jealous," Naruto said, "Of her sister and stuff. And there was no way I could just let her be sad, not with the eve of battle. But I didn't think she would be so serious."
"You lied about loving her," the red eyed woman said, "That is about as low as it gets. What did you expect to do when she found out Naruto? What were you thinking when you said this?"
"I wasn't thinking anything, I just..."
"That's right," Kurenai said, "You did not think one bit about it. And you know what, because of that, I am not going to think of way to get you out of this mess. You don't think and hurt my student because of it, I do not bother thinking up a way to help you fix it." Kurenai then walked back into the control tower, slamming the door shut with a loud band, and leaving Naruto aghast that he would have to figure out this problem on his own. A problem that would definitely not be easy.
April 12th
Konohagakure
"This is the last one," Asuma said, walking down the street with a Sten submachine gun in his hands. "We took back the last neighborhood." A few jeeps drove past him, down the nearly abandoned set of streets and buildings. The neighborhood was like a ghost town.
Correction, it was a ghost town. For it was quite clear no one had bothered to stay in the neighborhood with the battle going on in the streets, and over their heads. For all of the men walking through the streets, this was nothing new. But what they would witness that day was something that was quite new to most of them.
"Alright," Asuma said, "Search all buildings for anyone who may have lived, tell them it's safe, and..." His thoughts were quickly interrupted when a manhole cover in front of him began shaking. With great speed, Asuma whipped his Sten gun into firing position, aiming it at the manhole cover and ready to shoot whenever what came out of it. But what he saw surprised him.
It was a man with an old military issue helmet on his head, holding a pump shotgun in one hand. "Howdy," the man said. Asuma continued to remain tense.
"Who are you," Asuma yelled, "What are you doing?"
"Me," the man said, "My name is Clayton. Clayton Mcdowell. The misses and I took a boat from New Mexico over to this place right when all of the sudden it broke out into a crazy fight of sorts. What's going on here?"
"Say that for yourself," Asuma said, "What are you doing in the sewer?"
"Sewer," Clayton said, "I ain't in no sewer. These are old defense tunnels. Come on in and I'll show you." Clayton then disappeared down the ladder and into the darkness of the manhole.
"Give me some backup," Asuma ordered. A group of five men went with Asuma, climbing down the ladder and into the darkness of the manhole. As they went down, they saw it was getting progressively lighter as they ventured farther down, instead of getting darker. Perplexing as this was, none of them pondered it as they descended farther down. But even more confusing was the fact that they hit not wetness or raw sewage, they hit dry rocks, and the area was lit up very nicely. "What the heck is this?"
"Some kind of old defense tunnels I take it," Clayton said, "Made for some good shelter. Can thank you locals for showing this."
"Old defense tunnels," Asuma said, walking down the stone structure lying under the street. Each time they walked farther, the Black Swan vice leader and his five backup operatives were even more amazed that they had not been told about these tunnels, especially considering that Asuma's father was the leader of the village, and the leader of the military as well. "So, Clayton san?"
"Yes,"Clayton said.
"Are there other people down here," Asuma questioned, still looking around at the complexity of the engineering marvel that he was walking inside of.
"Of course there are," Clayton said, jumping up onto a platform in the middle of the tunnel next to a large blast door in the wall. "Right behind this here blast door." The westerner then reached over and grappled his worn hands onto the large door handle and pulled it open. When they opened it, a bright light burst out of the tunnel and temporarily blinded all seven of the men in it's path for a few seconds. After it faded, they slowly began to walk into the tunnel, where people in various little rooms carved out of the walls resided with their families. "Whoever runs the show around here sure had a good idea running. Oxygen coming through pipes, running gas reserves, backup power generators, running water, this is perfect for anyone needing to hide out for awhile."
"You can thank my dad for that," Asuma said, "He's the one running the show around this place."
"You're kidding," Clayton exclaimed, "He let a bunch of sky pirates come into his city and just rough the place up? Well he sure had his mind on safety, but better just to keep them out then ever let them get in. Back in the good old US of A we focus on prevention rather then getting rid of the problem."
"Good forward thinking skills," Asuma said, "Now do you have a radio down here?"
"We got one right around here somewhere," the American told him, "Beth Anne, you around here?"
"I'm over here honey," a woman said. Asuma, Clayton, and Asuma's backup looked to their left to see a woman with copper colored hair that had been tied back into a bun and wearing a white dress stained with various different substances. Her face was tarnished with black stains of dirt and fluids, and her hands were covered in blisters, dirt, and grease. It was quite apparent to Asuma and his men that this woman hadn't bathed, despite the claims of running water down in the tunnels. But what really amazed them was the fact that Clayton and his wife were embracing, despite the fact that she was covered in grime.
"Clayton," Beth Anne said, "Who are your friends?"
"They're from the surface," Clayton said, "I take it they been fighting those guys dropping all the bombs."
"Sarutobi Asuma ma'am," Asuma said, going up to Clayton and Beth Anne. "Is there a radio down here? I really need to contact someone urgently."
"We got one," Beth Anne told him, "Clayton go fix up a meal for Asuma's men. I'll take him to the radio."
"You got it honey," Clayton replied, "Come on boys, time for me to cook up some of my famous fried chicken!" Asuma's backup operatives walked away with Clayton, while Asuma himself went with Beth Anne to go contact the person he need to reach.
"So Beth Anne san," Asuma said, "What exactly are you and your husband doing here?"
"We made a vow that after we were married we'd see the world," Beth Anne told Asuma, "And everyone was saying that Konoha and the Fire Country was the place to go. Unfortunately, we didn't expect to run into a battle. The day after we got here, a servant we had from the travel company that we went with got us into the tunnels. We've been leading the survival effort down here ever since." The two of them walked a little bit more until they came upon a disheveled table containing papers, coffee mugs, cigarette butts, and a radio. "There you are sir."
"Thanks," Asuma said, going over to the radio and putting the headphones on. He then began tuning into the radio. "This is Black Swan 02, is Kurenai out there?"
"Still at the airfield near the tower," Kurenai said, "What's going on?"
"Just stumbled upon an American guy and his wife under the street in some defense tunnels," Asuma said, "In the last neighborhood under Blood Red control. We're done with them on the ground, except in that fortress they got in the Bara Hills area."
"We'll worry about that later," Kurenai said, "Say honey, would you mind getting up in the air and leading a few pilots with me, the girls, and everyone else? We're going to blow the Blood Red gang out of the sky once and for all."
"How you going to do it," Asuma asked.
"Lock them in a Canae," Kurenai told him, "I think we can do it."
"I think we can," Asuma said, "I'll be looking for the fleet." Asuma then shut off the radio. "Beth Anne, gather my men and tell them to meet me near the entrance."
"No problem," Beth Anne replied, "I'll have them replied before you can spell United States of America!" Beth Anne then ran off, and Asuma smiled. Kurenai had an interesting plan up her sleeve, and Asuma was one who was definitely willing to participate.