Here's the disclaimer this time. I don't Naruto at all.
So without further ado, onto the chapter.
Oni No Kuni (twelve hours since the attempted assassination)
Shion sighed. Things were not going the way she had intended. When the date ended last night, she thought she would be getting a peaceful sleep. Instead, she had been woken up by one of her guards in the middle of the night. She had rubbed her eyes and was about to chew the guard out when a kunai had sailed through the guards right eye.
Time had stopped right then and there.
It took a while for Shion's brain to catch up but once it did, she screamed (what do you expect)? Immediately, five guards rushed up to her and took defensive positions. A sixth guard appeared and took her away, deeper into the palace. As Shion ran with the guard, she heard the assailant call out a jutsu.
She didn't have to turn her head to know that one of the guards had been incinerated.
As she ran into the palace, she could hear the breath of the other guard. They had just turned a corner into her primary room (she was too tired last night so she slept in one of the secondary beds) when the assassin appeared in front of her and her guard. The guard then stepped in front of Shion and pulled out his katana. The assassin smiled and pulled out his katana to. The duel that followed was one where Shion knew the guard was in serious trouble. When the attacker was landing the killing blow, Naruto appeared and stopped the katana with his kunai. Shion couldn't be any more thrilled that Naruto was there. Suddenly the guard scooped her up and took her to the secure room.
It would be hours before the coast was clear.
After the attempt, she had to console the village and told them of the ultimate fate of those guards. The tally for that night was 27 guards dead and about three injured. Those guards were already receiving medical attention, but Shion knew that without Naruto's help, she could've possibly died that night. Those assassins were top notch. Unfortunately, the one that Naruto had severely injured died before he could reach the hospital.
All in all, it was not a good day to be Shion.
Sighing once again, she rose from her seat and walked over to the balcony. The woods around her village had not changed but yet Shion knew that the woods held so much danger and so many people could be hiding there.
She was roused from her viewing when the doors of her palace were opened. Fearing another attack, Shion grabbed the hidden kunai that Naruto gave to her after the attack and threw it at the person. An eep sound made her turn her head and she saw the kunai lodged into the far wall, about three inches away from her messenger's head.
To her credit, the messenger didn't crap his pants but when he spoke to Shion, his voice shook just a little. "ma'am, message from Konoha."
Shion raised her eyebrow. This was totally unexpected. Right now, she wasn't expecting anything from Konoha, ever since Naruto's banishment. Taking the message from him, Shion thanked the man and sent him on his way. Unrolling the scroll, Shion sat down at her desk again, memorizing the contents of what was on said scroll.
Oni No Kuni's ninja shop didn't get much business. Sure they made enough profit to stay afloat, but other then the occasional request for more kunai and shuriken, the shop didn't really receive any special orders. Hell, for the man behind the counter, it was a very slow day and didn't look like it was going to get busy anytime soon.
That's why it came as a surprise when the man behind the counter heard his bell ring. Looking up from his magazine, he was surprised to find the blond haired boy that was dating their ruler. Clearing his throat, he said "yes, how may I help you?"
To Naruto's credit, he acted like the perfect gentleman that he did on his many dates with Shion. "I was wondering if you have any chakra channeling katanas here."
The man thought about it for a minute. "I don't believe we have any currently in stock but I can place an order for you and it will come in two to three days."
Naruto nodded. "I was also wondering if you have any regular katanas, kodaichis, swords and scythes around."
The man nodded. "Now I know we have some of those in stock. How many would you like?"
"Seven of each," Naruto replied.
The man stopped. "Isn't that a little too much for you?"
Naruto shook his head. "Don't worry. I can pay for all of it. I would also like six kunai and shuriken pouches and sixty kunais and six hundred shuriken."
The shop owner was completely flabbergasted. The amount that the man was buying was nothing short of amazing. Add it all up along with his order of a chakra channeling sword, the price came close to a million ryo. Shaking his head, the man went into the back of the store to get the various items.
Naruto, while the man was getting all the stuff, walked around the store. The place also sold some shinobi clothing, which to Naruto would be useful when he and Amarante, Mayumi, Ayaka, Natsuki, Rei and Sayuri started training. The reason why Naruto wanted to train them was because he had faith in them, just like his old village had faith in him. He had faith that they would succeed and become great ninja. He also had the strange suspicion that they all had some sort of elemental affinity, if their hair color was any indication. Still though, it would be nice to know that their affinity could be.
The store owner returned, prompting Naruto to stop his clothes searching and pay for his items. Then total came close to a million ryo, but Naruto paid for it like it was a normal occurrence. Naruto then left the store while the store owner had anime tears falling out of his eyes. The owner was going to have a healthy dinner tonight.
Forest, several miles from Oni No Kuni
In a clearing, Amarante, Mayumi, Ayaka, Natsuki, Rei and Sayuri were all standing. Each had been called by their guardians (or in Sayuri's and Amarante's case, been told by the orphanage) to come to the forest clearing to receive some special training.
Amarante and Mayumi were talking beside a lake. Ayaka, Natsuki and Rei were practicing tree climbing while Sayuri was drawing on a notepad, using a pencil that someone had donated to the orphanage. Each one was wondering who would teach them and what he/she was going to teach them.
Suddenly, there was a bright orange flash and Naruto stood there, hands in his pockets. Immediately, all of the girls stopped and stood in front of Naruto. Though all of them knew Naruto, only Amarante and Sayuri had seen Naruto out of training, since he loved to visit both of them at the orphanage.
Naruto took his hands out of his pockets and folded them. "So you're probably wondering why I called you girls here." All of them nodded. "Well, I decided to do a different training for you girls. You will still get the regular training with the others but when we are alone, I'm going to be training you in some different arts." Naruto then took out six pieces of paper. "These are elemental affinity papers. Here, each of you takes one." All of the girls took a paper. "Just send some of your chakra into the paper and we can see what your affinity is. Wind cuts the paper in half, lightning makes your paper crinkle, water makes your paper wet, fire makes your paper burst into flames and earth makes your paper crumble into dust."
All of the girls nodded and sent some chakra through the papers. Not surprisingly, Amarante's affinity was wind. 'It's going to be easier to teach her, since she also my affinity,' he thought. Turning to Mayumi, Naruto saw her paper was wet, indicating her affinity was water. He looked to Ayaka and all he saw were the ashes of her paper. 'She's a fire user.' His eyes then fell on Natsuki. Her paper was crinkled, indicating an affinity toward lightning. 'I think I could teach her the Chidori.' Rei was next and her paper had crumbled into dust, indicating an earth affinity.
When his eyes traveled to Sayuri, he saw that half her paper had crumbled. The other half was wet. 'A duo affinity, he thought, surprised about the discovery. Not to mention that she has the basis of the Mokuton release.' Shaking his head, Naruto brought all of the girl's attention back to him. "Since you all know your affinities now, I would like you guys to practice water walking and tree climbing. We'll work on your chakra exercises today and pick up on your different kinds of elemental jutsus in about three and a half hours." Naruto then flashed away, leaving the girls to do their exercises.
Four hours later.
We come back to the clearing to see all the girls hunched over, all of them a little winded. They all had been practicing water walking and tree climbing to the point that their chakra control was perfect. They had all stopped about thirty minutes ago, waiting for Naruto to return. Wanting to know the others, Amarante started a conversation with Sayuri.
"You think he's coming back?" Amarante asked Sayuri.
Sayuri shrugged. "I honestly don't know. I've only met him a couple of times, so I don't know his tendencies."
Mayumi decided to join the conversation. "It's kind of weird. We don't know anything about Naruto-sensei, but he knows nearly everything about is. It's unnerving, to say the least."
Rei also added her own two cents. "I honestly cant read our sensei. When Mayumi, Ayaka, Natsuki and I first met him, he seemed to radiate this sort of power. But other then that, we know as much as you guys do."
Ayaka was next. "I sort of like what he is doing to us. You all remember that he said that he believed that we could be great ninja. He spares no expense in training us. I wouldn't be surprised if he made up some cool jutsus for him and for us to use."
Natsuki was the final one. "It seems like we all have something to share. But since it's only been a week ever since we met Naruto-sensei, we're going to have to hold our opinions about him until we know him better."
All of them nodded and continued to converse about other topics. Unbeknownst to them, Naruto had been hiding in the bushes around the clearing, having returned thirty minutes earlier. It really touched his heart that Amarante and her fellow ninja trusted him that much. 'I promise, to all of you, that you girls will get the best training that I can offer.' Deciding to show himself, since his feet were getting sleepy, he waved to all of them.
"I see you guys have mastered water walking and tree climbing." All of the girls nodded. "Well, I said we would train with our elements when I got back but we'll also be doing something else in the process." With that said, Naruto immediately unrolled a sealing scroll, activated it and threw the scroll into the air. A moment later, there was a puff of smoke and all the weapons Naruto had purchased that morning all came crashing down. There were so much that Rei, Mayumi and Ayaka were knocked off their feet. Ignoring there surprised looks, Naruto said "now take any weapon you deem fit. Just remember when I say this, choose a weapon that you feel most comfortable with."
All the girls stood up and walked over to the weapons. It took about twenty minutes but Naruto saw that all the girls had a weapon that they thought fit them. Amarante had opted for two kodaichis, Mayumi and Rei with single swords and Ayaka, Sayuri and Natsuki with single katanas. Each had also been given the pouches that Naruto had purchased. They each received ten kunai and a hundred shuriken. Strapping their new weapons to their backs, all the girls looked at Naruto again.
Naruto started. "Now the reason I wanted you guys to take weapons was because I will be teaching you the art of Kenjutsu. I am a beginner myself but each of you will be sparring against someone else while I spar with my clone. We shall begin in two minutes."
With that said, Naruto created a clone and got into a stance, his practice katana held in a reverse grip style while his clone held it in the normal style. Immediately, the girls split into groups. Amarante had gone with Sayuri, Mayumi went against Ayaka and Rei opted to fight Natsuki. The air was silent and still as the practice duel was about to begin. Every last ninja was there was scared out of their minds but if one looked closely, that person could see a fire of determination in the eyes of the ninja. A bird, perched on one of the many trees around the area, suddenly took flight. With that signal, the duels began.
With Shion (two hours after the duels had started)
Shion rubbed her hands up and down her face, growing tired by the minute. It was bad enough that she had to deal with paperwork concerning the dead guards but she had finished reading the message that had been written to her from Konoha. In the message, Konoha had now entered the arranged marriage race. They had offered one of their wealthiest civilians to be her man. She had just written a reply right after the last sentence, politely (I don't know politely you can get after multiple declines) refusing the offer. 'What I wouldn't do just to go to sleep right now,' she thought. She heard her palace doors open and sighed. 'Why cant people just leave me alone,' she whined. The person turned out to be the same messenger that she had almost killed this morning.
Putting on her regal face, Shion spoke to the messenger. "Another message?"
The messenger nodded. "This one is from Suna, ma'am."
Shion sighed. 'Hope it's some good news.' Taking the scroll, she bid the messenger farewell. Once said man was out of sight, she unrolled the scroll and glanced at it.
Dear Priestess Shion,
So sorry to be writing this, but it has come to our attention that one former Konoha shinobi might be heading to your village. His name is Uzumaki Naruto and he is a dear friend of mine. If he does make a stop at your village, please find some way to detain him so I can pick him up. It is sad that Konoha had lost its most powerful shinobi along with its most trusted citizen. I would like to take him to Suna and make him a Suna shinobi.
Godaime Kazekage
Gaara
P.S. just to let you know, we have backed off from the arranged marriages. I think the Wind Daimyo finally got the message after your last reply.
Shion laughed a little at the postscript. She still remembered the letter. One of the guards had came in when Shion threw the proposal against the wall, denting both the wall and the proposal. The guard, after getting over his shock, asked if he could do anything to help. Shion had shaken her head, telling the guard to go back to his post. The guard left but not before picking up the scroll and hiding it in his armor. Later, Shion had begun to write another reply when the same guard came in and handed her something. Wondering what it was, Shion had looked up to the guard, only for him to shake his head and he left immediately after. Shion opened it and had to clamp her mouth shut before she busted out laughing.
It was picture of one of the guards and he was flashing his butt to a camera. Some guards had even gone as far as to take a black ink writing utensil and write obscene things on the picture. Deciding that this might get the point across, she sealed the letter with the picture and sent it to the Wind Daimyo. 'Apparently, it did work,' Shion thought. She frowned however. 'If Gaara has an idea that Naruto is here, who else knows or has an idea where Naruto is?'
Shion was roused from her thoughts when one of the new guards came running through the doorway. Bending to one knee, the guard said "ma'am we have spotted a large amount of energy coming from the northeast of our position. Would you like us to investigate?"
Shion thought for a moment. "No, just let it be. I'm sure it is nothing to serious."
The guard nodded. "Of course, my lady." With that, the guard then ran out of the doors.
Shion sighed and gazed out to the northeast, to where she knew Naruto and the others were training. "What exactly are you doing out there, Naruto?" Shion had muttered and hoped Naruto was doing nothing too extreme.
In fact, it was much more extreme then Shion even dared to imagine.
With Naruto (three hours after the duels began)
Naruto was lying on his back in the clearing, breathing heavily. 'God, that was tough,' he thought. Turning over onto his stomach, Naruto glanced at the girls. All of them were just out for the count, each sporting some kind of injury, though nothing too major. Their various practice katanas, kodaichis and swords all laid around their feet, broken right down the middle. Naruto gave a small laugh. 'Looks like they all went out.' Each of the girls had a little difficulty beginning the training but after thirty minutes, each had gotten the hang of their weapons and the battles began in earnest. Naruto himself had broken his katana after two and a half hours of constant fighting. 'Uhg, never thought learning Kenjutsu could be so hard, he thought. I'm mostly flying by the seat of my pants by training these girls in this art.'
After another three minutes, Amarante started to rise. She was still low on energy however and was only able to flip where he stomach was facing the sky.. She looked over at Naruto and smiled "Sensei," she began.
"Yes?"
Amarante seemed to be mulling over her words. Finally, she asked "why are you doing? Why are you training us?"
"Remember what I told you guys before we started?" Amarante nodded. "That's my reason. I believe that you guys will become awesome shinobi. With just the right training, you may be able to surpass my old teacher."
Amarante looked at Naruto quizzically, but decided to drop the matter. Instead she asked "could you teach me some wind jutsus?"
Naruto looked at her dumbly. "Um, sure I guess. But you want to rest up for a little bit?"
Amarante nodded and continued. "You said you believe in us and you believe we can become the best shinobi. Well, I want to learn some wind jutsus."
Naruto nodded and stood up, albeit a little slowly and with much whining from his muscles. "Come on then. I have just enough chakra to teach you one move."
Amarante stood up as well, with the same slowness as Naruto. "Now, the one I'm going to teach you is Fūton: Renkūdan. It's a very simple technique and one that doesn't drain too much chakra. Watch my hands. I'm going to do this really slow." Naruto then made the hand signs, doing each one slowly so that Amarante could see. After about five tries, he asked Amarante to try. Amarante made the signs but it took her a while before she could remember the proper order. "You seem to have gotten it down, Naruto said. Now I want you to try it out."
Amarante nodded. She made the signs, cried out Fūton: Renkūdan and blew out a huge air bullet. Said bullet smashed and destroyed trees in about a 30 meter straight line. The amount of noise also woke up the others and they to wanted to learn some of their elemental jutsus. Naruto sweat dropped. 'Maybe it wasn't such a good idea to teach Amarante a futon jutsu,' he thought.
Konoha (3 hours before midnight)
Most of the vendors inside the village were closed, but a barbeque restaurant was still open, though there was only one person in there. Haruno Sakura sat at one of the booths, staring at her now cold tea. It had been several minutes since she entered the establishment, but her mind was no clearer then when she entered. She had kept asking herself two questions. "Why, she muttered, over and over. "Why were you banished, Naruto? Where are you now?" over and over, the questions seemed to come. Sakura kept staring at her tea while a single tear came out of her eyes. It truly was a sad moment for Sakura. For one, her crush was gone and now her anchor was gone. She basically had no one. As she sat there, Sakura also thought of something else. 'I really don't feel for this village anymore. It's so hard for people to let go of the past.'
Her analytical bran also started to work. 'I know he wouldn't go to Suna. That would cause complications. Every other place is either too far or not far enough.' It took a vicious kick from Inner Sakura (yes she's going to be in this story) to finally have Sakura focus on one location. A memory came back to her, one of a sunset, of her standing by Rock Lee and two blonds, one male and one female, talking and the blond female asking the male blond a question. A promise made between the two. Finally, it all clicked and Sakura knew where Naruto was.
"Oni No Kuni." Slapping some bills and a tip, she ran from the restaurant. She had some packing to do.
Midnight
Mrs. Haruno was currently watching some cheesy operas on her TV. Another one had just ended when she called her daughter's name. "Sakura, your dinner is getting cold." No answer came. "Sakura?" when she received no answer, she got off her couch and went toward her room. 'This better not be one of her moods,' Mrs. Haruno thought. You could tell that this was not a new thing for Sakura's mom. Mrs. Haruno reached her daughter's room and knocked once. "Sakura?" no answer came from the door. Mrs. Haruno tried the knob and saw that the door was not locked. Steadying her breath, Sakura's mom entered the room.
The site that greeted her was startling to day the least. The entire room was empty. The closet was bare of clothing and her nightstand was empty as well. Mrs. Haruno then noticed a piece of paper stuck to the wall with a kunai. She took the letter with a shaking hand, opened it and read it. She dropped the letter, put her hands on her mouth and ran as fast as she could to the Hokage tower.
It doesn't need to be said what was written on the paper.
Konoha Gates
Sakura readjusted her pack and checked her equipment one more time. 'Looks like I'm all set,' she thought.
She then took off her hiate and looked at it. 'Only one last thing to do.' She took a kunai from her weapons pouch, scratched the leaf symbol and dropped her hiate. She then took capsules from her pouch, used her chakra enhanced strength to throw them far, then departed Konoha from the gates. 'It should take me at least a week and a half at top speed to get to Oni No Kuni,' she thought. With that said, she jumped into the trees and began her journey.
Unbeknownst to her, four shadows were following her. With orders from their master to eliminate any threat to Konoha, they started trailing her.
With the night air's howl, a new chapter began on Haruno Sakura's life. She didn't know that she would change so much more.
Got nothing to say other then here is chapter 5. Thank you for reading and don't forget to review. Comments, suggestions and criticism are welcome but no flames.
Glossary
Chidori: Lightning Blade
Mokuton: Wood Release
Poll Time: Should Sayuri learn the Mokuton release?
Yes
No
