Chapter 5
Several days later, Naruto and Anko met up in their usual spot: the dango restaurant. Despite the owner not being a big fan of the two, he couldn't help but admit that they brought in big profits, so he would usually ignore their antics.
"It's almost time," Naruto said as a greeting to Anko when she plopped down in her seat.
Anko's eyes widened just a fraction, before a large grin appeared on her face.
Just as she was about to say something, Naruto interrupted her.
"But we aren't going to leave Konoha's citizens with 'presents', Anko. Not yet."
"Why not?!" she hissed angrily.
"I told you before, and I'll tell you again. Patience!" Naruto replied harshly.
At that moment, where Naruto's anger shown through, Anko saw once more the reason why she decided to join Naruto. Naruto's young boyish frame seemed to flicker for a moment, only to be replaced by the dark god that she had seen three years ago when they had met. Unsurprisingly, she immediately stopped arguing.
"Yes, Naruto-sama."
The blond blinked. That was unexpected. He didn't expect her to act all demure like that.
"Listen, Anko. I know you want your revenge. I know others who do too. But now is not the time. You remember what I told you three years ago? How I had things to learn and people to recruit? Well, I'm mostly done with those two things here in Konoha. But, that doesn't make us strong enough to take on the whole village. Information is power, and we currently don't have enough of it."
"Why are we leaving so quickly then? Don't get me wrong, I do want to leave soon, but wouldn't gathering information on future enemies be a better idea?" Anko asked.
"I'm not worried about the weaklings here. You already know many of the jounin and chuunin here, no? And I, as an academy student, know all of the future genin. None of them are of any particular interest. All they have are their respective clan techniques. Further information on them would be pointless," Naruto waved his hand flippantly.
"I see," Anko nodded. "I understand what you mean now. I may not like it, but I get it..."
"Good. Now, in one week's time, we will be meeting at Otafuku Gai, the city to the southeast. Go sometime during the night, so that you will not be seen, and so that you won't be noticed as missing until at least the following morning. This way, even if you manage to be spotted, you can use the excuse that you are leaving for a long term mission."
"We're not going at the same time?" Anko asked.
"No. That might raise suspicion, since I must call on whom I have coming with me."
"How many exactly are coming?" she wondered.
"If all goes well, two more besides you."
"Two, that's it?"
"They have the potential and the hatred to be great. No one else here is worthy of my attention."
Their conversation soon came to a close.
-
The night of Naruto's departure soon came. Using the shadows of the night, the blond slinked his way around the streets of Konoha, carefully heading towards the gate.
Suddenly, he stopped and straightened up.
"Weasel-san?" he asked with an unseen smirk.
"And where are you going, Naruto-kun?" came the soft reply.
"Out, of course."
"I see."
Naruto finally turned his head towards his protector. Noticing a dark stain on the ANBU's cloak, he wondered out loud, "Is that blood I see?"
Weasel looked down at his own cloak. "I guess it is."
"How'd you get that there?"
"Oh, you'll find out about it eventually. Now, I must ask, shouldn't you be at home, Naruto-kun?"
"Nah, I'm leaving Konoha."
"Is that so? How odd it is that fate would bring us together like this," he mused. "Anyway, where do you plan on going?"
The younger boy shrugged. "Places."
"Well, since I'm so used to being your bodyguard, why don't I go with you?"
"Sure, Weasel-san."
Unknown to Naruto, Weasel had ulterior motives to accompanying Naruto.
-
Flashback
"Welcome back, Weasel."
Weasel bowed. "Thank you, Hokage-sama."
"I need you for another mission. One of great importance."
"Yes?"
"You understand…about Uzumaki Naruto's…condition, yes? Well, there have been many attempts to end Naruto's life, and there are not many I can trust with keeping him safe. I would like to choose you as his protector. His hidden protector. I just want you to whatever you have to do to keep him safe. If several villagers get a bit…uncontrolled, you have permission to do what you must. Do you understand?"
"Of course, Hokage-sama. As you command," the young ANBU replied, bowing before taking his leave.
End Flashback
-
From that day on, he had kept Naruto safe, even from his own family members. He had even become fond of the young blond. After seeing Naruto leaving the village, despite becoming a missing nin, he thought he could continue his mission of protecting Naruto by going with him. It was a basic example of killing two birds with a stone.
Removing his mask, Weasel revealed his face to Naruto. "You can call me Itachi now." With a kunai that appeared from his sleeve, Itachi slashed the Konoha symbol before replacing it back around his forehead. "Come. Let us be off now."
-
Unknown to the two, they were spotted by a lone jounin, who had arrived in the area on his way home. When he had spotted the two talking, he thought it suspicious and tried to eavesdrop. Upon Itachi and Naruto's departure, the crouched man, ready to report to his superior, suddenly stiffened, and his back arched.
A glowing symbol appeared on his forehead, and just as suddenly, it disappeared, returning him to normal.
'I must inform Sasori-sama of this immediately.'
-
On their way to Otafuku Gai, they met up with Anko, who, by chance, happened to leave a little while earlier than the other two.
After greeting Naruto, Anko's eyes had turned to Itachi, widening in surprise.
"Whoa holy shit! It's that prodigal Uchiha kid!"
"My name is Itachi," was the curt reply.
Addressing the youngest of the trio, she said, "I didn't think you'd convince this kid to come along!"
"I am not a 'kid'. I am fourteen," Itachi stated in what could've passed for an indignant tone.
"I'm nineteen. You're fourteen. To me, you're still a kid," she teased.
Itachi was about to reply to that when Naruto spoke up. "Stop your bickering, children. Let's just focus on getting to Otafuku Gai. I'm still waiting for someone else."
-
"…So, where to now?" Anko asked curiously.
After meeting up with Neji and getting out of the city of entertainment, they were headed east. By this time, it was close to five in the morning. Staying too close to Konoha so soon after their defection was not a good idea.
"We need to find a place of operations. I've heard that Wave is pretty empty right now. There's no sense of law or order there, and their economy is so bad that they don't have the money to do anything. Finding a place to stay shouldn't be too hard."
"If we're looking for a headquarters, wouldn't it be ideal to get a big cave, or some place hidden?"
Turning a baleful look onto Anko, he asked, "Do you want to live in a cave? Besides, there's supposed to be some kind of millionaire businessman that has his eyes on Wave. I think he's built a whole palace somewhere in the area. We'll go search for him. See if he's interested in handing his company over to us, peacefully."
"And if he insists on resisting?" Itachi asked.
"Then his life is forfeit."
That ended the conversation.
The quartet continued to run, dashing past the natural inhabitants of the forests that spread all throughout Fire Country.
Crack!
Immediately, the group of four stiffened.
A black haired girl of seven years of age appeared from between a pair of thick trees, panting heavily.
They stared down at her with caution from their perch in the branches higher up.
Not even noticing that they were there, the girl suddenly turned around and stomped her foot down.
A small dragon made of earth rose from the ground and disappeared between the two trees that she had just appeared from.
Cries of surprise filled the air, but no shouts of pain came.
Three more figures appeared from the same place the girl had come from.
"Leave me alone!" the girl screamed.
"We cannot do that. You belong to the Tsuchikage! You're lucky that he hasn't given us the order to execute you for treason, you little bitch!" the first man replied angrily. From his words, the four people from Konoha deduced that they were Iwa nin.
"Quiet!" the second individual hissed. "We're in Konoha territory here right now! If we get caught, this could be looked at as a declaration of war, and Tsuchikage-sama would definitely have our heads for this!"
"Stop your bitching, you fool!" the first returned. "It's around six in the morning. Those spoiled Konoha nin will all be in their comfy beds at this time. Not to mention, they're all a bunch of sissies! If they catch us, they wouldn't declare war. Especially with the loss of that fucking Yondaime! They'd just try and 'negotiate' for peace! And besides, we had to track her halfway across Fire Country! I refuse to return home without the girl."
"Hah!" the girl shouted while the first two Iwa nin argued. With a kick, clumps of earth rose from the ground and shot at her enemies. While they weren't big enough to kill, the pieces of earth were large enough to get their attention.
"Ow, fuck!" the first nin cursed. "You know what? Forget this shit! He said that she had to be brought back alive, not that she had to be brought back in good shape."
Plunging his hand into the ground, he pulled a hardened spear from it. The second man followed suit by creating an axe out of the dirt. The third man, however, stayed back to watch.
"Hyaah!" the first man shouted, stabbing his spear forwards at the girl.
Fully expecting her to be killed, the four in the trees above were thus surprised when she stomped the ground with her feet, and pillars of earth rose up. The Iwa nin's spear smashed the pillars and continued on.
Taking a small leap back, the girl once more slammed her foot into the ground, creating more pillars. However, this time, the pillars came from under the spear, not in front, so that the Iwa nin's weapon was smashed into pieces almost immediately.
Undeterred, the man just created another one, and this time attacked with his comrade, the second Iwa nin.
With several fierce combos, the young girl could do nothing but shield herself. Flicking her hands upwards, she created a thick ball of earth that fought off the battering from her enemies.
After a minute, the third man, quiet until now, spoke up. "Move, you idiots. I'll deal with this."
Slowly making his way over, he then plunged his hands into the girl's ball of earth, eliciting a muffled cry of surprise from within.
Closing his eyes, he showed the perfect image of concentration. With a grunt, he overpowered the girl's chakra and subjugated the earth to his control, before forcing the earth to disperse.
With the dispersing of the earth, the girl became exposed, and her eyes showed fear.
Up above, Naruto signaled for them to drop down and help the girl.
Itachi showed no emotion to the younger boy's "command", while Anko grinned savagely. Neji just sighed.
With a soft plop, the quartet landed among the three Iwa nin.
Almost immediately, Anko's snakes burst out from her sleeves, trapping the first man in her grasp.
Itachi, pulling out his tanto from his days in the ANBU, leapt towards the man with the axe and engaged in combat, while the third enemy nin stayed behind.
Seeing the third man begin to weave a series of genjutsu, Neji shouted out the warning to his comrades before throwing a combination of kunai and shuriken at him, distracting the shinobi from completing whatever he was trying to do.
Annoyed, the third Iwa nin returned fire with his own projectiles, following it up with a quick dash towards the Hyuuga boy. As he ran, a shield made of granite rock formed on his arm. Using it as a battering ram, he smashed into Neji and sent the boy flying.
Just as Neji was about to smash into a particularly thick tree trunk, the earth below him rose up and caught him, softening the blow considerably. Muttering a thanks to the still unnamed girl, he got back up quickly and readied himself in his Tsuku no Mai stance, staring down his foe with fierce determination.
"Huh, a kid pretending he knows how to fight. Is this how far the strength of Konoha has fallen?" Neji's foe taunted.
Utilizing a quick snap kick, Neji followed his first attack with two jabs, both of which were deflected, and a knee to the stomach, which was stopped with a palm.
"Not bad, but not good enough."
The nin threw his shield like a boomerang, causing Neji to bend back to avoid it. Just as he sprung back up, he heard a sickening slash of kunai against skin. His eyes focused on Itachi, who was standing behind Neji's opponent with a kunai in his hand, blood splattered on his face.
"T-thanks," the boy said shakily.
Looking around, he realized that the other two nin were long dead, and that Naruto was speaking to the young girl.
"You have my thanks for the help," the girl stated stiffly, bowing slightly to the blue-eyed blond.
"No problem. Why were they so intent on capturing you?" Naruto asked curiously.
"Didn't you hear?" she replied bitterly. "I'm the Tsuchikage's weapon. Out of ten or so other children, I was the only one to survive being implanted with a bloodline, and as you probably noticed, my bloodline gives me control over the earth, so I can do Doton jutsu without any handseals."
Nodding in faux sympathy, he asked, "So you're heading towards Konoha?"
"Yeah, I heard that they worship bloodlines, so I'm hoping they'll take me in."
Chuckling, Naruto informed her, "They may proclaim that, but in truth, bloodlines to Konoha are like a bone to a dog. Once they get their hands on you, they'll never let go. The people there backstab and lie like pros, doing whatever necessary to ensnare bloodlines to their own families. Trust me, it's not a place you want to go."
Watching the girl's eyes go wide in shock, Naruto continued speaking. "Why don't you come with me? Me and my three friends here," he paused here, waving his hand towards Itachi, Anko, and Neji, who were standing several meters behind him, "are all victims of Konoha's greed. And so, we have left the village, striking out to make our own way in this chaotic world. Will you join us?"
The girl in green stopped to think about this. These people had saved her from being captured by the Tsuchikage's lackeys, and had even revealed the farce that was Konoha. With this information, there was no way she could still continue to Konoha. Even if the boy was lying, she would always have doubts about the true intentions of the village.
Her mind made up, she told Naruto, "Yes, I'll join you."
"Excellent. Ah, yes, we still haven't done introductions yet. I am Naruto. The boy without pupils over there is Neji, the guy in the cloak is Itachi, and the girl in the trench coat is Anko."
"Nice to meet you," the seven-year-old girl greeted. "My name is Toph Bei Fong."
-
A/N: Sorry about that giant delay. Problems with the computer and internet…In any case, I managed to complete two chapters. The next one will be up in a minute!
And yes! It's Toph, our favorite earth bending little girl! However, she'll be different from Toph from canon.
Also, two chapters of The Band of Nine will be coming up soon...maybe in a week or two.
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Omake by KuroAi15
"You know how you've always wondered about what my dream was?" Naruto asked, breaking the quiet.
"Yes..."
"It's to conquer all of the villages."
Neji's eyes flickered over to Naruto again. "All?"
"Yes. All."
"Why?" Neji questioned.
"You really wanna know why?" Naruto cast a sidelong glance at his companion.
Neji nodded.
"It's so..." Naruto leapt to his feet and screamed, "I CAN CONTROL THE WORLD'S PRODUCTION AND EXPORTATION OF POCKY!"
Neji's eyes shone an unearthly gold color for a Hyuuga as he kneeled before the boy. "NARUTO-SAMA! I WILL FOLLOW YOU FOREVER AND HELP YOU ACHIEVE YOUR DREAM!"