Chapter 15: Balance
A shinobi, whose features were carefully obscured by a large straw hat and a high collar cloak, walked out of a building carrying three duffle bags filled to the brim. The building he exited, along with its surrounding buildings were all of unique and curious design. Where normally one would expect buildings to be made of concrete, wood, brick, or a combination of the three, these buildings were built from large, sturdy rock slabs mined from the land the village was built on.
All of the buildings in Iwagakure were built this way, for in earth country, rocks such as these were in abundance.
The shinobi almost found it laughable how easily he could walk in and out of the village to conduct his business without interference. First, he visited his spy (he idly wondered if he really could be considered a spy if he had no say in the matter) to gather any new information regarding the new Rokudaime Tsuchikage and any plans she had for her forces in the future.
His second and last order of business was to collect the bounty on six of Iwa's missing-nin, according to their latest bingo book, whose heads he had brought with him in a scroll.
He did all of this while carefully hiding his physical appearance, not wanting his easily noticeable features to be recognized and thus cause an incident; he was, after all, on the front page of Konoha's bingo book as an 'S-classed' criminal.
That and his golden hair and physical features were eerily similar to his father's, Namikaze Minato, a man whose name was uttered like a curse in Iwagakure.
They didn't like him too much.
Having your shinobi population cut by forty percent in the span of a few months during a war all because of one man's participation would do that. Especially if said man's participation resulting in the turning of the tables and ultimate victory for the Konoha forces during said war.
It was understandable that Iwagakure would hold a grudge against the man, and anyone related to him.
He had hoped, due to the connection Uzumaki Kushina had with his father, they would have wanted to keep tabs on her, or worse, have had her in their custody – worse because he doubted he could get any information form her if that were the case.
Unfortunately, things weren't so simple. Not only had his 'contact' in Iwa had no idea or any clues to the whereabouts of the woman, they didn't even know Namikaze Minato had a wife.
How very ignorant of them.
"I don't know why you keep collecting bounties, the money alone you 'confiscated' from Gato would be enough to last for fifty generations, if not more…" said a voice from all around him. He was now outside the village, having used a subtle Genjutsu to divert attention away from himself so he could pass the gates without notice.
The source of the voice became clear when a glacier shot up out of the ground before him at lightning quick speeds before it shattered into thousands of glistening icicle sparkles revealing Haku, his mask covering his face and his hair tied at the back with his bangs hanging over his masked face.
With a raised eyebrow, the shinobi commented on the scene "I see you've been practising."
Haku ducked his head somewhat, in what he guessed to be embarrassment "Azuregos-sama has been helping me harness my bloodline, he has been helpful" he agreed.
"I thought your bloodline was to manipulate water?" asked Naruto with confusion, after setting the duffle bags down "you seem to prefer focusing on cooling the water you control instead of heating it…" he commented, trailing off.
Haku tilted his head to the side in confusion "You suggest I try heating it then? How useful could that be?" he asked, warily, he didn't like looking incompetent in front of Naruto, especially in regards to something he really should know more about then he does "I already know how to use the Kirigakure no jutsu, so how useful could steam be?"
It was Naruto's turn to tilt his head to the side in confusion, though his was more an amused confusion then Haku's. Tossing his hat to the side and unbuttoning the front of his cloak he quickly flashed through some seals, too quick for Haku to follow, before inhaling deep.
What happened next caused Haku's eyes to widen to the size of dinner plates behind his mask, for from Naruto's mouth emerged a high pressure column of steam that launched itself at the large rock he aimed it at, causing a huge explosion.
When the dust cleared, all that was left of the rock and several of the rocks behind it was several dozen chunks of overheated rocks that were radiating so much heat that Haku broke out into a sweat.
"What was that?!" Haku asked, pointing at the remains of the several large boulders "I thought you didn't like Ninjutsu!" Haku accused.
Naruto shrugged "I don't" he admitted "Ninjutsu is a waste of chakra when you can just as easily kill someone with a kunai" he said with a pause before continuing "and that was a Ninjutsu I invented in the hopes of making a hot spring one day, I just added more chakra to it" he admitted with a small grin "it combines the Katon and Suiton elements to create a high pressure, super-heated steam cannon that has power and burning capabilities" he explained, while collecting his hat and fetching a stick of Pocky, banana flavour "what?"
Haku was staring at Naruto, at a loss for words, before shaking his head in annoyance "It has its uses, I will admit, but I prefer freezing, it is more subtle" he said "not to mention that by freezing people, I slow them down allowing you to poisoning your opponents much more easily."
Naruto nodded sagely, conceding the point "I do like poisoning people" he pointed out.
Haku shuddered at the memory of some of Naruto's more…ingenious…concoctions. He really did like his poisons.
"Did you find out anything of interest?" Haku asked, trying to change the subject to something less disturbing.
"Nothing new in regards to Iwa, but I did happen upon some…interesting information" he admitted "Uchiha Sasuke has fled from Konoha yesterday towards Otogakure" he informed his partner.
"How is that interesting? Do you want to stop him to gain favour with Konoha?"
Haku looked at Naruto with confusion when the boy just looked at him like he was crazy.
"Right, then how is that information useful to us?"
"On it's own it isn't" Naruto admitted "however, it gives our enemies something to keep them occupied while we go to meet someone right under the Snake sannin's nose" he commented while storing his newly acquired cash into scrolls.
"Who are we meeting exactly?" Haku asked "And why, pray tell, are we meeting anyone located anywhere near Orochimaru or someone that has any affiliations with the man" Haku questioned.
"What did you learn of Tuberculosis from the scroll I gave you?" Naruto asked, in a weird change of subject.
"Other then over a third of the world's population has been exposed to it in some way and that it can easily become fatal? Why do you want to know?" he asked, curious.
Annoyed at the constant questions, Naruto answered, if only to shut him up "I am in need of someone who has the skills to cure said disease" he said, no signs of his annoyance showing in his features or speech.
"It took a while" Haku began "but I did find a way to cure it, I'm just glad that I didn't waste all that time learning how to cure it for nothing" he said, his voice sounding cheerful "I expected something like this to be honest."
Naruto nodded "We are going to be meeting with somebody who has been mistreated in a way similar to you and has this disease" Naruto explained "we are going to persuade him to join us by healing him."
"Fair enough, but who is he?" Haku pressed.
"He" Naruto began "is the sole remaining survivor of the Kaguya clan, and thus, the only person alive that can use the Shikotsumyaku bloodline" he trailed off, noticing with interest how Haku's head snapped up at the mention of his clan.
"His name is Kaguya Kimimaro" he revealed "and he is being used by Orochimaru."
Haku slowly removed his mask and looked at his feet, his fists clenched tightly by his sides. Naruto continued to observe him as he started to tremble before taking a deep breath and calming down.
"I've met him before…" Haku began, to Naruto's surprise, though he suspected that he shouldn't have been so shocked, especially when they both came from Kirigakure and both had bloodlines.
"It was when Zabuza-san...found me" Naruto listened as Haku began to tell his story "we were leaving Kirigakure using some attack on the village as our cover when we encountered… him. His eyes…they were just like mine before Zabuza-san found me" Naruto noticed with interest how Haku, as of late, didn't refer to his late sensei with as much reverence as he used to.
"He asked us if we were from Kirigakure, when we said no, he apologised and left us alone, but those eyes…it was like he had no idea what his purpose was in life…the pain and suffering he must have gone through must have been surreal…he was older then me at the time…but still so young…"
"His respect for his new master completely dwarfs whatever respect you had for Zabuza" Naruto cut in "it is borderline fanatical, which will be hard to break" Naruto conceded "however, as always, I have a plan around that, all you need to do is make sure you can heal him otherwise he's useless" he paused "from the reports I have 'gathered', his condition is severe; not only has it infected his lungs, but his joints also. His bloodline's ability to increase the regeneration of his bone structure only serves to speed up the disease's destruction of his body. He will die within the month unless you cure him" he finished, taking note of Haku's horrified expression. His partner, he figured, had a soft spot for lost causes like Kimimaro and Gaara, he assumed, he could probably relate to them.
"Where is he?" Haku asked, his voice was quiet and sad.
"No doubt away from Otogakure to help in attaining Orochimaru's next test subject" Naruto said with a shrug "we'll head east to the border of Fire and Rice and intercept him before he makes any attempts in assuring the capture of the Uchiha."
"We're not going to stop Orochimaru getting the Sharingan? If he uses his immortality jutsu and takes his body, he will posses the bloodlines and will become more powerful" Haku trailed off, sounding wary.
"Orochimaru is the weakest of the Sannin" Naruto assured, with a dismissive gesture "If it wasn't for the fact that he shares similar goals with stalling Akatsuki, I would have killed him already, however, he still serves a purpose and until that is fulfilled, he will live" he assured "Akatsuki dislike Orochimaru as much, if not more, then I do. Their attention will be split between their goals and hunting him down and delivering vengeance; the longer he stays alive, the more useful he is" Naruto said, while staring off to the east.
"When will you finally kill him?" Haku asked, not liking the idea of toying with other's lives so callously, but it was a monster of a man they were talking about.
"The second I find my sister" he said with conviction "I have a feeling he knows something about it, he wouldn't be so confident in our encounters otherwise" Haku realized Naruto, for the first time, sounded troubled by the fact "he hated my father for taking the position of Yondaime from him, no doubt he would consider taking his daughter away from her home a just punishment" he said. Haku couldn't tell from his face, but he could feel the anger radiating from the fifteen year old.
"Why do you want to have Kimimaro-san join us?" Haku asked, in an attempt to change the subject.
Naruto continued to stare off into the east, keeping silent for a few moments, before answering "He will perfectly balance out our little team" he admitted "that and the way he was treated in his life – to his knowledge or not – will make manipulating him much easier" he said, glancing briefly toward Haku who frowned.
"Is that what you did with me?" he asked with no hint of emotion in his voice.
Naruto took another stick of pocky out of his pouch and chew on it for a few moments before answering "At first? Yes" he answered bluntly "you will still loyal to Zabuza-san and thought you had no reason to continue on with your existence; you killing yourself wouldn't be useful to me at all" he admitted "it's not like you had much of a life before I intervened anyway" he said, tilting his head in Haku's direction "and travelling with me, you can freely express your homosexual tendencies with no fear of my disapproval" he said, a hidden smirk behind the cloak of his collar as Haku flushed in anger.
"Will you shut up about that?! It's old and not funny anymore!" Haku replied angrily, he wasn't sure how he felt about Naruto manipulating him the way he did, but one thing was certain – his life definitely was much better now that he travelled with the blonde, despite the constant teasing. Naruto truly was a master puppeteer to be able to manipulate people to his will so.
Naruto disappeared in a gust of wind, a snort of amusement on the wind as he did so. Haku sighed before he was encased in a glacier once again almost instantly. The glacier broke into thousands of tiny icicles revealing nothing but air as the two headed east.
Mitarashi Anko sat at her favourite bar, a plate of Dango and a bottle of sake lying on the table in front of her as she silently pondered the last few months of her life. She snorted in amusement before taking a sip of sake at the thought of how often she had been doing just this lately.
Ever since the mission to retrieve the slug princess Tsunade, she began to feel more and more disillusioned with her home village. This normally would have never happened, however, ever since the death of the Sandaime Hokage, a man she knew she could always confide in and actually cared for her, she found that she just didn't care for the village as much as she used to.
Normally, the ridiculously difficult solo 'S-ranked' missions the council sent her on, hoping she would just get herself killed in the process, wouldn't even bother her; it was, after all, one of the ways she would deal with her boredom, especially considering that she absolutely refused to take a Genin team.
Now though, with the death of one of the only people she saw as precious to her in this village, every action taken against her seemed to hurt all the more. All the years of ignoring the pain that resulted from other's actions towards her seemed to have finally taken its toll; if the fact that she had recently taken to crying herself to sleep every night was any indication of that.
She still had friends, or at least she assumed she did. Yuhi Kurenai, a girl she grew up with and advanced in shinobi ranks alongside was someone she often spent time with drinking or getting a bite to eat while discussing their lives with each other. That comfort had however become a rarer commodity now that the woman had gained an interest and possible relationship with the late Sandaime's son, Sarutobi Asuma.
Then there was Morino Ibiki, the interrogation specialist of Konoha and her partner in crime. At one point in time, it wouldn't be uncommon to find the two of them shit faced drunk and generally causing some sort of disturbance some place in the city for kicks. However, without the Sandaime chuckling at their antics and letting them slide anymore, the council really cracked down on the interrogation specialist and warned him off such actions again if he wanted to keep his job.
Now, all she did for fun was her missions and brooding.
She wasn't so naïve to think that things would get better for her. She was a mistake that Konoha wanted erased to remove all evidence of an embarrassing past. She was also the only remaining link the village had to the despised Snake Sannin that they all used to revere.
She snorted at that.
Well, she used to be.
The Uchiha brat had just yesterday fled the village in the direction of Sound, probably to seek power from Orochimaru. The kid seemed crazier then Itachi ever was, and that's saying something. What she found more amusing was that she believed the reason behind his fleeing was something no one in the village but the boy himself expected. The gaki had probably discovered Namikaze Naruto's identity and strength level for himself and in a fit of jealousy and rage, fled to the one source he believed would grant him the power to not only kill his brother, but surpass the one who dared be better then him.
Oh well, not like she cared. The brat will probably one day seek Naruto out, especially if he kills Itachi, which seems likely considering all t his fiasco with the 'Akatsuki' Jiraiya was telling them about on their last mission together, and he will get absolutely thrashed.
The thought made her sigh happily.
She would give all of her mission earnings to see that!
Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by a sharp pain coming from her collar bone that could only belong to her cursed seal.
Damn she hated this thing.
It would seem that the revered Snake Sannin was really pissed about something, as he often was when she felt this kind of pain from her seal.
She hoped she saw the Namikaze gaki again, hopefully he found some way to remove it.
But for now, she would be content with the fact that her old bastard of a sensei was so pissed off at something, she could feel his anger from hundred of miles away.
Naruto and Haku stood in an open grassy field, not even attempting to hide their presences from the incoming shinobi. Haku had been worried at first with this plan – he remembered the carnage the young Kaguya had caused from stories Zabuza had told him. At the time, the boy had been twelve and he was able to slaughter Kiri Jounin level shinobi with ease; he was a perfect tool of war for the Kaguya clan.
Suddenly, appearing in a blur of speed, a boy who looked to be in his late teens with two red spot marks between his eyes, long bone white hair, an open white Gi top showing off a pale yet muscular chest, fitting black pants all held together by a thick purple rope belt tied in a makeshift bow at his back.
"Namikaze-san, please move aside, I have a mission to complete and I won't have you interfering" the white hair boy said with a cold face.
Somewhat humbled that his reputation was spreading to the likes of Otogakure elites, Naruto turned to Haku, seemingly inspecting him before turning back to Kimimaro.
"What is it with people from Kirigakure and having an overabundance of oestrogen?" he innocently asked. Haku slapped his forehead in annoyance while Kimimaro didn't seem to be affected by the insult at all.
"Is that your purpose? To inform me that my appearance is causing you to feel conflicted in your sexual orientation?"
Haku looked at the white haired boy with eyes as wide as dinner plates while Naruto remained perfectly silent, his hat and cloak completely obscuring his features, not allowing one to notice his take on the insult.
Suddenly there was a snort coming from Naruto before a soft chuckle escaped his lips "Indeed Kimimaro-san, unfortunately for my friend here, you are mistaken, I was merely making an observation" he said amiably.
Haku however, was not pleased "What? You let up on him after one insult and return to calling me gay?" he asked, annoyance clearly present in his voice.
"Yes" was his brutally blunt answer. Haku resisted the urge to face vault and ruin their image of 'dangerous criminals'.
"I'm sorry to intrude on your mission Kimimaro-san, but I cannot allow you to continue" he said, all trace of humour in his voice gone.
"I assume you will be trying to return the Uchiha to Konoha too then?" he asked, tilting his head to the side and tensing the muscles in his back.
Naruto snorted in amusement before answering "He can go and play with Orochimaru all he wants if he thinks it will help him kill his brother, I couldn't care less" Naruto admitted "I said I couldn't allow you to continue, not that I couldn't allow you to complete your mission, though the two seem to share the same meaning at this moment."
Seeing Kimimaro's confused face, Naruto chose to elaborate "You are suffering from an advanced form of Tuberculosis, one that will kill you if you so much as exert yourself one more time according to your last medical examination" he revealed, not at all surprised that Kimimaro seemed to know this.
"I know this, what of it? I live to serve Orochimaru-sama, if I die in his service, it would be a great honour."
"Is it an honour to serve someone who refuses to seek treatment for someone he supposedly cares for? You" he said, pointing at Kimimaro "of all people, who deserve any leader's upmost respect for you devotion to them would be willing to sacrifice yourself for someone whose only reason for not caring for you being that you would exceed him in strength?" he asked, his head tilted.
Kimimaro frowned at the comment and Naruto hid a smirk at his plan succeeded, he had planted a seed of doubt "Orochimaru-sama and Kabuto-san informed me that there was no cure for my disease" he said, not betraying any emotion.
"Of course they would" interrupted Haku "were you at full strength, they would fear your abilities" the words, as soon as they left Haku's mouth, seemed to have an instant effect as Kimimaro's eyes darkened slightly.
"I live to serve Orochimaru-sama, if he so chooses that my death is in his best interests, then I would happily oblige" he confessed.
Naruto tilted his head in confusion "You may be so willing to throw away your life for a man you think you know" Naruto admitted "yet, I wonder, how anyone could throw away their life for a man after said man continued to commit crimes worse then the ones their subordinates were subjected to."
Seeing the confusion on the white haired teen's features, Naruto took out a scroll from his pouch, slowly so he wouldn't surprise the white haired teen and tossed it at his feet.
"In that scroll, you will find proof of Orochimaru kidnapping shinobi children from their homes, raising them in captivity and performing several experiments on them to further his ambitions" he said, as Kimimaro took the scroll warily and began to read "you may be willing to serve your master and help him achieve his ambitions of destroying Konoha, but how can you, in good conscious, serve a man who commits atrocities worse then ones you were exposed to as a child" he said, not flinching in the slightest when Kimimaro's head snapped in his direction.
"I make it my business to be well informed of anyone I will be having dealings with Kimimaro-san" Naruto explained "I know of how you were literally beaten into submission nightly while a captive of your own clan" he began, speaking more loudly.
Haku finally realized how he was ensnared by Naruto's manipulations at first back in wave, the boy had a charisma about him that just drew you to him and made you listen to the words he spoke. It he was still a part of a village, or even wanted to be, he would make a great Leader.
"Orochimaru not only treats his captives worse, he does so under your very nose, laughing behind your back as you blindly serve him despite him being no better then your clan. Those children he has captive are just as innocent as you were. Who will protect them? When Orochimaru has people like you serving him and making sure they cannot gain the salvation they so rightly deserve?"
Haku watched, amazed, as Kimimaro's hands seemed to be trembling as he looked over the scroll's irrefutable proof.
"What is your purpose here? What will you do about this?" he said, his voice sounding broken, Naruto assumed, for the first time in his life. The teen had always served someone in his life, and now, betrayed for a second time, he was probably feeling lost and confused.
"Haku can heal your disease, despite what your former master and caretaker told you" he said with confidence "afterwards, I would welcome your…skills…to our group, it would serve to balance us out perfectly making us much more formidable."
"So, essentially, I am trading one master for another" the boy said, narrowing his eyes "how do I know you won't betray me like the rest? And should I chose to agree, Orochimaru would have me killed regardless for disobeying him through the curse seal" he asked, covering the seal with his hand instinctively.
"I have no interest in being your master" Naruto began "you would be free if you chose to travel with us, I have no use for mindless drones after all, I would need you to have your wits about you if you are you are to live up to my expectations" he confessed "As for betraying you? You don't know that, but you do know that I am offering you things no one has ever offered you before, freedom, and removing the means in which Orochimaru can control you" seeing both Haku's and Kimimaro's shocked expressions, he elaborated.
"I have been studying the cursed seal's mechanics for some time for an…acquaintance of mine" he began "I have created a Fuuinjutsu that essentially exorcises the portion of Orochimaru's soul within your body implanted by the seal completely, leaving only the seal and the benefits it provides. It will essentially cut your link with him and free you" Naruto explain, aware how both were looking at him with wide eyes, it was no surprise either, such techniques were a bitch to create.
"There's also the fact that Haku will cure your disease of course" Naruto said, motioning to Haku "being perfectly fit for the first time in years would be another gift from me to you, and with this gift, you could go free all of those prisoners of Orochimaru's" he said, sweetening the deal "you are, of course able, given your freedom. I merely offer the choice in joining us afterwards if you so wish…we can be an… entertaining group to be around…" he finished lamely. Haku wasn't able to resist the urge to face vault this time.
Kimimaro gave no verbal sign of compliance save for the smallest of nods while relaxing his stance and lowing his defences. Naruto nodded and looked directly in his eyes with his own. Kimimaro didn't resist the Genjutsu he was being placed under and soon let darkness claim him.
"Take him to the place we have set aside for the operation" Naruto ordered "will you need help?"
When Haku sook his head in the negative Naruto merely nodded and approached his friend, using his slipping of a scroll on his person to get close enough to deliver a message.
"Go quick and cover your tracks, I need to deal with a pest" he said, in a voice that Haku could barely hear but heard nonetheless.
Disappearing in a familiar glacier, Naruto wasted no time and used Shunshin to appear next to a large random tree on the opposite side of the clearing with his arm pulled back ready to strike. So shocked the person hiding within the tree by his sudden attack, he barely had time to escape when the tree itself was demolished by a chakra-enhanced punch.
"Zetsu-san" Naruto greeted "you may be excellent at stealth and hiding your presence, but you cannot full my senses" he motioned to his nose as he mentioned his senses "your scent is far too close to that of the famous giant pine trees of Kusagakure" he said, while slowing removing his hat and cloak.
"Is that right Naruto-san? Then I applaud you on your detection skills, but I have been ordered to bring you in given the opportunity, I find this to be the opportune moment" he said, removing his own cloak in the process revealing a standard shinobi outfit customized slightly to customize for his huge venus flytrap head.
Naruto crouched low, one arm placed towards the ground while the other facing Zetsu "I have warned your organization enough times about interfering in my affairs" he commented "and now you know about my newest team member, which is something I can't have you reporting to your superiors."
Naruto observed his opponent carefully knowing his Shodaime puppet would be all but useless, if not self-damaging to use from what he knew of his opponent's fighting style; he would only take advantage of the extra coverage. His poisons wouldn't be of any use either; it was well known that the plant like shinobi was immune to all foreign toxins due to his unique body chemistry.
Suddenly, Zetsu sped towards Naruto at an impressive speed, one that he wasn't expecting, and ducked his head, using his Venus-flytrap head to try and bite him in half. Naruto turned on his back foot, allowing Zetsu to pass by harmlessly and twitched one of his fingers to initiate his own attack.
Suddenly, Zetsu had to dodge less he be impaled by hundreds of senbon -one of which would have easily punctured a vital point in his body – and a large metal scorpion like tail from beneath him.
"Ah, are these your original creations then?" the white half of Zetsu's face asked.
"I wonder why he isn't using human puppets like his useless late master, perhaps he lacks the skill? Foolish boy"
"It's useless" Naruto said, phasing out of existence in a gust of wind with the aid of a Genjutsu "taunting me won't help you bridge the gap between our skills" he said, his voice coming from all directions "you're already dead."
The cold and emotionless way in which Naruto delivered the information would have scared anybody into submission, possibly into pleading for their lives, but Zetsu was not a member of Akatsuki for nothing.
"You cannot scare me Kyuubi-boy" the black half of his face said, sinking in to the ground. Not allowing his opponent to escape, Naruto reappeared in a flash of speed and slammed both fists into the ground causing the ground to split open in a huge fissure.
Zetsu appeared looking worst for wear with a scowl on his face from one of the trees "Your strength is annoying, perhaps I should sap it away from you?"
"You honestly expect to beat me with poisons?" Naruto asked, acting incredulous "How useless."
Naruto commanded his reconstructed Doriru to appear before him, its mighty shield defending him from the thousands of poisonous needles fired from the sharp thorns on Zetsu's plant like head.
Twitching another finger, Naruto commanded his Tenshi puppet which burst out of the foliage of the trees to blast the plant like shinobi with its twin flamethrowers attached to its arms. Flying high to use the sun as a natural cover and limit Zetsu's visibility, he commanded it to release two powerful torrents of fire. Zetsu didn't notice until the last moment, having been focusing on trying to destroy Doriru. Cursing, he replaced himself with a log and appeared on the other side of the clearing, a move Naruto had been expecting.
From directly behind Zetsu, Dokueki latched onto it like a parasite using its six limbs to keep him stationed. Naruto twitched another finger, commanding his puppet to attack, and on queue, it punctured the body of Zetsu with several blades that shot out from its torso directly into Zetsu's.
Naruto didn't look too surprised when Zetsu crumbled into several pieces of mud. It was a clone.
"Are you done running from me Zetsu-san, you are boring me" Naruto said, knowing full well that Zetsu was trying to sneak up on him from behind "I told you, there's no point in trying to fool my senses."
Naruto snapped around and raised his foot hit before bringing it down for a devastating attack that cracked the ground in a straight line towards the plant like shinobi. Dodging out of the way of the attack, Zetsu continued his own only for Naruto to dodge under another attempt to devour him.
Naruto commanded his three puppets to attack simultaneously; Doriru lashing out with powerful strikes and his large scorpion tail, Tenshi firing senbon and swooping down to intercept any of Zetsu's counters and Dokueki using its six limbs expertly and trying to puncture Zetsu with one of its many blades.
"Enough of this boy!" yelled the black half of Zetsu's face "You will meet your end!"
Zetsu flashed through several hand seals before slamming his palms into the ground. Naruto was, suffice to say, intrigued when dozens of thick vines erupted instantaneously from within the venus-flytrap head and the ground both, attacking his puppets and himself simultaneously.
"DIE!"
The vines, which were covered in impressive and dangerous looking thorns, shredded Doriru as he attempted to protect the other two puppets easily and sped straight to Naruto who covered his body with his arms to avoid most of the impact.
Zetsu grinned maliciously when his vines impacted; however, not wanting to be careless, he increased the power of his attack, his limbs all turning into massive, dangerous vines leaving only his black and white torso and head remaining.
"Unfortunately, I cannot kill you, but victory is mine Kyuubi, you knew this was futile, I don't know why you…" Zetsu turned in shock when he felt a massive amount of chakra being gathered behind him, turning his head as much as he could, the rest of his body dedicated to attempting what he thought was Naruto, only to see Naruto with his arms held out to the side, palms facing the sides and slouching slightly.
The boy was glowing green and radiating chakra freely.
"Try and escape this" was all the warning he got, as the wind around Naruto picked up to create a small tornado which shortly increased in size. Zetsu didn't even have time to retract his vine limbs from the previous location when Naruto spun around at an incredible speed and stopped several feet close to him, his arms in the same position and crouching down low.
A shredding tornado of epic proportions, one of the same size as the one he had seen shred the Shukaku's leg came thundering towards him, destroying everything in it path, including his puppets, once again.
Zetsu didn't even have time to scream as the cutting winds tore him apart in and pulled him into the eye of the raging tornado. Naruto was only annoyed that he wouldn't have a head to turn in and collect a bounty for.
As the winds died down, Naruto let out a deep breath, covering his nose to mask the smell of tainted blood that was drenching the area when he caught sight of something out of the corner of his eye. The sun was shining on a small metallic object on the far end of the clearing.
Approaching it, Naruto grinned when he saw a small ring marked with the kanji for 'boar' on it. Oh, how he loved screwing with their plans.
Naruto immediately took off in the direction Haku should be waiting for him in, currently operating on Kimimaro, knowing that others had to have seen or felt the results of that battle.
Kakashi panted heavily as he continued to keep up with his dog summon. He had been running for almost a day straight to try and head off his wayward student. He had returned home from a mission only to hear that Tsunade had sent what shinobi they had, five Genin and a Chunin, to return Sasuke to Konoha, unharmed preferably, but a body would suffice if he resisted.
He had immediately, without the permission of the Hokage – though he knew he had it – to try and salvage whatever he could of his team. Sakura had, understandably, stayed behind, her strength being nowhere near the level needed for this mission if her embarrassing performance in the Chunin exams was any indication, and even though he was worried for Sasuke's safety and mental health, he was most worried about little Hanabi. The now eleven year old was one the team of Genin sent to fetch the Uchiha, her knowledge of his fighting style and personality being a valued commodity that they would exploit.
The sight that he was met with when he arrived at the valley of end would be imprinted in his mind for years to come – just like the sight of his old team mate being crushed by several boulders.
There, beside the river, lay Hanabi, heavily bleeding yet luckily still breathing. As he rushed over to her, he cursed his ex-student – 'ex' because no student of his would do such a thing – had probably used a Chidori to sever the girl's arm. Even if Tsunade manage to salvage it, he doubted she would be able to use chakra through her arm again, thereby ruining any prospects of her using the Jyuken style properly ever again. Sasuke has deliberately not killed her knowing this. Where had he gone wrong?
"Hanabi-chan, can you hear me?" he asked gently, silently instructing Pakkun, his trusted dog summon, to try and locate Sasuke's scent; he would kill the boy for doing this to such a promising shinobi, though that was if Hiashi didn't find him first. He silently cursed when he realized the rain that had began to fall over an hour ago would probably cover the boy's trail, he couldn't have chosen a better time to flee even if he tried…
"I could have killed him…" muttered Hanabi under her breath, which was laboured due to the loss of blood "I had the opportunity to strike his heart but I hesitated…because he was my team mate…" he managed to get out, her face contorted in pain but no other emotion showing on her face. Kakashi winced at her words, he was the one that taught her the values of teamwork after the uptight Hyuuga initially refused to work with her team mates; he couldn't help but feel partially responsible.
"I'll kill him…I swear it…Jyuken or no…" she declared before him, murderous intent leaking from her as her eyes narrowed. Kakashi sighed, wondering if he could persuade her otherwise as he felt a headache coming on – this was like Sasuke all over again.
"Don't think about it now Hanabi-chan" he uttered softly while closing off the wound with his mediocre first-aid skills he picked up while in ANBU while sealing away what was left of her arm, idly thinking that there was nothing much to salvage "we'll discuss this when we get home, I'll protect you…" he visibly winced at the words – is this how all the people he promised to protect ended up?
"Arigatou…Kaka-sensei…" she said softly before letting the darkness claim her. Kakashi hefted her over his shoulder and secured her to his back, waiting for Pakkun to return, though he didn't think it'd matter much.
Suddenly, there was a large explosion of chakra to the west. Snapping his head in that direction, his eyes widened when he saw a massive tornado over the trees travel a short distance before disappearing quickly. Were any of the other Konoha shinobi in danger? Before he let his thoughts consume him, Pakkun returned quickly in a puff of smoke, panting.
"Kakashi" he said, still trying to catch his breath, probably from escaping that blast if he was close by "that blast was created by the Namikaze boy, he was fighting an Akatsuki member in that direction…" he said, raising one of his prized 'squishy' pawed hand and pointed in the direction the explosion came from.
"What do you mean 'was' fighting?"
Pakkun's face turned serious "It was a man with a huge venus-flytrap encasing his head" he began "the boy completely decimated him, that last jutsu didn't leave much other then a lot of blood and a few shredded body parts" he explained, as Kakashi's eyes widened in shock.
"He's already gone, it looks like we need to get the gaki back to the village, Sasuke's scent, as you know, was washed away by the rain…"
Kakashi nodded solemnly, though glad that something good came out of this day. Naruto seemed to be encountering Akatsuki a lot lately according to Jiraiya's information, as long as he doesn't get captured, perhaps he could remove the threat they could potentially become before any lives are lost. He snorted at Sasuke's possible reaction if Naruto killed Itachi before him as Pakkun disappeared while he made his way back to Konoha.
A pair of white eyes looked back at the area she had felt the explosion come from with interest before closing once again.
Naruto arrived back at the clearing he said he'd meet Haku in earlier that day only to see an exhausted Haku panting and leaning against a tree with Kimimaro sleeping peacefully by the lake.
"It was a success then?" he asked, though he knew it was unnecessary.
"Yes" Haku affirmed "he claimed that it was remarkably painful, which doesn't come as much of a surprise seeing how many infected cells needed to be destroyed and regenerated in his body."
"Which means he was screaming like crazy because you didn't have the foresight to apply any anaesthetics or render him unconscious" Naruto concluded, filling in the left out pieces of Haku's exclamation.
Haku had the decency to look embarrassed "It was an experimental procedure, I hadn't had a chance to test it before today" he admitted, making Naruto snort in amusement.
Both looked to the slumbering boy as Naruto began to unseal some equipment from one of his scrolls.
"You're going to remove Orochimaru's connection to the seal now?" Haku asked as Naruto nodded.
"Why not remove the seal itself?" Haku asked, genuinely curious.
"I could so much remove the seal from him that I can remove my seal from my body. It is so intertwined with his chakra system that it would probably kill him" he began "but even if I could, I wouldn't, it would be pointless."
Seeing Haku looked at him questioningly as he began to paint a complex array of kanji around Kimimaro's seal and in a large circle around him on the ground in the shape of a pentagon, he decided to explain.
"The curse seal, basically, converts ones' stamina into chakra, boosting one's chakra capacity exponentially for a short period of time" he began "this has its downsides obviously, as you could imagine, it puts an immense amount of strain on the body and prolonged use could lead to an extreme case of chakra exhaustion, or death" he explained as he quickly and efficiently used some Kage Bunshin to finish off the sealing array before Kimimaro before he woke up.
"If I simply remove Orochimaru's soul from the seal itself and Kimimaro's body, he can no longer control any part of Kimimaro as well as implant suggestions into his mind, he will be free and be able to use the power of the seal should he chose" he explained with a shrug as he performed several hand seals.
After releasing the seals, Haku noticed that Kimimaro's breathing became deeper and evened out.
"I put him in a forced sleep, wouldn't want him waking up during this" he explained.
Naruto then began to perform his own set of hand seals, and while he couldn't recognize any of the seals themselves due to the speed in which he was performing them, it was the longest sequence he had ever seen in his life, at least five times longer then the sequence for the Suiryudan no Jutsu.
"Fuuinjutsu: Ashikonda no jutsu (Evil Soul Exorcism technique)"
Suddenly, blue chakra seeped out of Naruto and travelled into the seal array on Kimimaro's body and the ones on the ground around him until the seals were glowing a bright gold in colour. Naruto continued to hold the last seal of his jutsu as sweat started to pour from his brow while Kimimaro's body started to float from the ground, his cursed seal glowing brighter then the seals around him.
Haku watched, with a sick sense of fascination as the floating Kimimaro's body seemed to convulse violently when the seal started to glow more brightly. Sweat was rolling down Naruto's face in torrents from the strain of holding the technique Haku assumed and it awed him. Of all the impressive techniques he had seen Naruto used, none had strained him like this, not even the sealing of the Kyuubi's mind, yet this one was so powerful it was making his knees tremble.
Naruto was having trouble keeping upright while holding the technique, the damn portion of the snake sannin's soul was putting up more of a fight then he had anticipated. It had become a battle of willpowers to try and seal the soul fragment into the unrolled scroll before him and then destroy it.
"Haku" Naruto called out with urgency in his voice "I'm having trouble standing, some help?" he asked, his voice cracking from the strain.
Haku nodded, immediately understanding what he needed to do. Holding his hands in a seal, ice started to form at Naruto's feet and rise up to cover his whole body up until below his armpits in a thin yet powerful layer of ice. He had to keep applying more chakra to the makeshift stand however as the immense amount of chakra Naruto was putting out was heating up his body by epic proportions and melting the ice almost as soon as he applied it.
Naruto allowed himself to be supported by the ice as he completely focused on removing the soul. Unbeknownst to either of the shinobi in the clearing, Naruto's eyes began to glow a brilliant red with power as if there was a flashlight behind his eyes illuminating them as he pumped out more chakra.
With an ear piercing scream of effort, Naruto put forth even more chakra, causing the already blue fiery aura surrounding him to explode outwards as he made one final push to remove the soul. Haku watched with awe, while
subconsciously adding even more chakra to hold the ice stand in place, as the cursed seal itself began to glow a sickly purple. Suddenly, from the seal, a purple mist, the same colour as the light, floated out and pooled in the air above the levitating boy for a few seconds before Naruto forced it into the scroll he had set up in the beginning of the seal.
The mist flew straight into the scroll as the kanji on it flashed purple once before dying down and leaving a plain scroll with simple writing on it, or so it seemed.
Kimimaro instantly fell to the ground with a thud, but that didn't mean Naruto stopped. Using his last bit of strength, Haku broke the ice stand so Naruto could escape and grasp the scroll as quickly as possibly.
Naruto looked at the scroll in contempt before rolling it up and tossing it into the air. He went through three hand seals before his forearm was encased in a swirling vortex of wind. Moving his arm up as quickly as possible, as if half-heartedly uppercutting an imaginative opponent, the wind blasted from his hand and straight for the scroll – it would be shredded in seconds.
The soul fragment of the snake Sannin would no go down quietly though as the scroll literally let out a high pitched shriek as it, instead of being shredded like expected, started to melt in mid air as it was destroyed.
Naruto swayed on his feet as Haku quickly ran to him to catch him before he fell.
Naruto had a lazy grin on his face as he looked up at Haku's face, amused by the compromising position they were in "As tempted as you are to kiss me right now" he rasped out, his throat sounding dry from the strain on his body "I think I'll be asleep for a while…though you should know…" he began, trailing off…
"Orochimaru felt every second of that…" he said with a grin as he fell unconscious.
Haku looked around at the decimated clearing, where the seal array once was only to have disappeared, then at the two unconscious shinobi sharing the clearing with him before cursing in his mind.
"I won't be sleeping for a few days…" he mumbled under his breath before picking them both and placing them on a platform of ice and leaving the area, surely someone will come asking questions after that display of power.
Naruto slept with a smirk on his face while Kimimaro looked content.
Kabuto looked at his master with worry. The man had been screaming and howling in pain for the past ten minutes while on all fours. Uchiha Sasuke sat in a darkened corner of the room, clearly unimpressed by his new sensei's show of weakness.
After the screams died down, Orochimaru turned a murderous glare on his personal medic before his lips twisted in a sick grin.
"Bring me Karin…I need to vent my frustrations on someone, and if I can't do so on the brat himself…"
Kabuto smirked while readjusting his glasses, allowing the light to reflect off of the lenses, hiding the glee in his eyes.
"…then I will do so with his sister…kukukuku"
Author's note:
Oh snap, I was wondering if I should have revealed that here or waited until Naruto actually met her, but I figured I should explain her life in some ways before they actually meet so you know their personalities and what not beforehand and then, can understand their reactions when they meet.
Zetsu is dead; I hope his abilities are somewhat believable. He died easily but I never thought of him as a fierce opponent. I guess I always saw him as a useful tool used by Pein for his abilities. It's not like he's necessary for the plot, but now Naruto has two rings.
I'm gonna go back to the Harry Potter fic for a while now, then come back and do a chapter here when I've written like 4 or 5 more for it. It helps when I get a random bout of writer's block I guess…
I strongly suggest reading 'The Lie I've Lived' by jbern if you haven't already; it's off hiatus and a very good HP fic.
Adios.
