THANK YOU!!!!!! Those reviews motivated me to write more of this store. I'm surprised really that nobody commented on the pervert-ness of Naruto. I know some of you might think that Naruto looked weak in the last chapter but that's because he can't take on almost forty shinobi with different skills, power and techniques. Naruto is going to fight… a lot in the incoming chapters but he's going to have aid… I mean getting out of the hospital to land there again? What?
Disclaimer: don't own naruto
X.X.X
Chapter17: the call, the arrival
Her mind was a hurricane or a tremor… maybe both but one thing was sure… the Hokage was agitated. The communication toad arrived a few minutes ago handing a piece of paper and leaving as fast as it came. The information on the paper was direct and without detail:
Baa-chan…
Battalion… almost forty Iwa shinobi
Heading to Konohas direction
Send Anbu ONLY!!! I have a plan
Tell an 'already on mission' team to meet me as soon as they can at the village I'm heading at
The Hokage was in other words… freaking out. She knew that Naruto couldn't take on a battalion, not even if he grew tremendously strong and almost defeated Pein. Tsunade worried for the safety of the blonde jinchuuriki since he didn't got time to rest after the ordeal with Akatsuki and he encountered a battalion… and his mission was classified S-rank. Shizune and Sakura were worried because they knew that the only time she was this stressed was when something terrible had or was going to happen.
"Hokage-sama… are you alright?" Shizune said a bit afraid since she knew the mighty temper he rmaster had and didn't want any of it.
"No… Shizune take a note… as soon as you finish your mission head to the border of wind country to aid Naruto on an S-rank mission… send that note to Team 8 Shizune" Tsunade said with authority while both medical apprentices had looks of despair.
"What's wrong with Naruto?" Sakura almost screeched in panic, her teammate and secret crush (doesn't want to admit it) was in trouble and she wasn't there to help "And Hinata is on that team… no!" she thought
"That's enough Sakura… he's fine, he sent me a note because he encountered a bump in the road and team 8 is the only team near him" Tsunade said already sensing her disapproval o that team "And you're not going because you're needed here" she said in a voice that said t leave it at at.
"Right" Sakura groaned and walked off to the hospital. Everyday she was there and even if she likes to help people, the amount of people injured was so great civilians and shinobi's alike where positioned on the halls.
"Off you go Shizune the mission of Team 8 wasn't that difficult so I expect them to have it finished now" Tsunade said and watched as her assistant walked out of her office "Yamato…" one lone Anbu member appeared "Take two platoons of Anbu and meet Naruto on the field, go full speed… I need Anbu on the village so take Lee and Neji with you since they can take care of a crowd" Tsunade ordered the kneeling masked shinobi and dismissed him.
"I hope you know what you're doing Naruto" the Hokage thought
X.X.X
Iwagakure
The Tsuchikage was mad if not furious; two birds appeared on his desk this morning : one telling him that the battalion he sent to destroy Konoha was pushed back because one shinobi defeated almost a platoon, the other was from Kumo advising to stop the war since Akatsuki was about to attack the major villages. He considered it for a moment but dismissed it because one group of terrorist couldn't defeat every village. It was a shame that they lost Deidra to those Akatsuki bastards but he was happy the sadistic, art-obsessed asshole was dead.
"I still can't get this out of my head… one shinobi driving a whole battalion back… that wasn't heard since those times of the Yellow Flash and a shinobi of his caliber is impossible nowadays" the Tsuchikage thought with growing worry "And the business of Kumo in all of this… I heard that his brother was captured by Akatsuki but that doesn't give the Kage the right to tell me what to do"
Calling his assistant the Tsuchikage explained the situation and sent to find the best spy they've got and send him to Konoha, they needed to have as much information as possible on this shinobi. "The only clues about him were… blues eyes, blonde, whisker marks, and fast… aside from those marks is a striking description of that man"
X.X.X
Forest, a day away from Suna's border
Naruto was looking all around for the shack that was in this forest but he couldn't find it, the shack was old and trashed and from the outside it looked abandoned. In the inside it looked abandoned too but on the floor there was a passage to go underground and a few people reunited themselves in there to discuss their findings. Naruto avoided sleeping for awhile trying to find the shack and still four hours later and nothing. Something caught his eye and stopped on a branch, looking at the distance, there was an old abandoned shack and Naruto went in that direction hoping it was the one he was looking for.
Arriving at the place he saw a seal on the top of the doorway and felt a few chakra signs on the inside. Flaring up his own chakra he hoped they would come out to greet him but what he got wasn't the usual 'hi how are you'. One man was behind him holding a kunai by his throat while other placed a seal at his feet and the last one was at his side glaring at him. Naruto was overwhelmed but to the three shinobis it was shock seeing their prisoner poof out in smoke.
"Come on guys… I'm not that ugly" Naruto said sitting in a branch grinning "Nice to see you too… I guess" he greeted awkwardly as he jumped off the branch and began walking to them.
"Is that you Naruto?" one of them asked uncertainly as the others readied themselves.
"You don't recognize me already?... it seemed like a few months ago that we meet with Jiraiya in this spot to gather information on some group harassing people" the blonde jinchuuriki said knowing that that information was confidential between them.
"It is you… damn the last time I saw you, you were wearing something different… you seem to look like a shinobi now" the first one that spoke said as the others loosened up at the sight of their young friend.
"You probably know this but…" Naruto said but was cut off by one of them
"Inside boy… even if you don't sense anything… the forest can hear and retell" the older looking one of the bunch said as they entered the house. As they lowered to the underground Naruto saw tunnels going through any place you'd want and saw the same chairs, tables and various papers scattered all around.
"Not change a bit" he whispered smiling. Taking a seat as the others did the same he opened his mouth to speak but on of them beat him to it.
"Jiraiya died… Konoha almost was wiped out and you drove away Pein… Konoha is at war with Iwa" one said dismissively and Naruto got a bit angry.
"That's not something you talk about like that… you guys know your stuff but can you tell me why is he declaring a war against Konoha out of the blue?" Naruto asked forcefully glaring at them
"Well… old scars… you see the Yondaime Hokage defeated battalions and right out whole armies of Iwa shinoi in the last war… this Tsuchikage must have a grudge against Konoha… like every shinobi who survived that war" the old looking one said
"That's stupid… I'm in a mission but got ambushed by a battalion heading to Konoha to right out destroy it…" Naruto said but cut off not wanting to reveal too much to them, friends of Jiraiya or not he was dead now so no loyalties to a dead man… right?
X.X.X
The woods a day and a half from Naruto's location
Yamato looked at his shinoi and sighted, two platoons, which are sixteen Anbu plus Neji, Lee, Tenten and Shikamaru making twenty shinobi to take out a battalion. The last two chunins were doing nothing at the moment and he assigned them along with them. He knew that Shikamaru could handle himself well since he got rid of an Akatsuki member and that's no easy feat. The weapons girl was nothing surprising but she knew her way around almost every weapon and a perfect accuracy could be beneficial to them.
"Okay guys I'm going to say this now… Naruto is gathering as much information as he can about the battalion" Yamato said directing himself to the shinobi "We are going there to either kill them or push them back"
"We should kill as much enemy ninja as we could… to send them a message" one Anbu said voicing his opinion on the matter.
"Yes that maybe true… and they're not going to be easy on us" Yamato said putting his finger on his chin thinking.
"We should hid in the trees, ten shinobi a bit further than the other, when the first volley finishes they fall back while the other ten come forward" Shikamaru said lazily but with a look of determination and seriousness.
"Good one Shikamaru… we'll follow your plan until something else pops out to do in the unfortunate event of your plan failing" Yamato said as he put his mask back on and jumped away, the others following.
"Man… I just know this is going to suck… troublesome" Shikamaru thought as he jumped through branches with the other more powerful shinobi around, he may have more intelligence but raw power and resistance he doesn't and he got a feeling he was going to need them both.
X.X.X
With Naruto
Resting on a cave he found after he got out of the shack, Naruto laid on the floor getting a much needed rest. It was almost morning and was planning on getting a few hours of sleep before meeting with the back-up he asked for from Tsunade. He was woken up by a small toad as it shook him to no end, and he was about to kill the thing when he remembered that that would not look good with the toads.
"Hey… you done?" Naruto asked sleepily rubbing his eyes
"I've been done hours ago but the Kazekage told me to stay in his office if anything else happened so that I could relayed it back t you" the little communication toad said "You're not going to like this… since Suna is very weak on military strength I was shinobi attacked the village with some earth jutsu since they're located in a area surrounded by walls of earth in the middle of the dessert"
"They what!!!!" Naruto exclaimed shocked at the news "Iwa is going to pay big time" he thought obviously angry at the rock country itself.
"That woke you up" the toad said sarcastically "Listen Gaara-sama surrounded the place in sand and personally went out t confront the culprits… let's just say they're not among the living anymore" the toad said shuddering at the image he saw in his visit there.
"I guess you saw him in the act" Naruto said nodding in understanding "Killing is not enjoyable but necessary to keep those precious to you safe" the blonde said sagely.
"Right… well Gaara-sama said to not worry but please arrive as soon as you can" the toad said and with that vanished in a poof of smoke.
"Don't worry my friend… I'll be there in time" Naruto thought as he turned to sleep again, the thoughts of innocents dyeing in this war for some old grudge burned of his mind "I'll end this war… that's a promise" were the last thought as sleep claimed him.
x.x.x
It was almost twelve in the morning and the Konoha platoon was resting in a small clearing. Aking the much deserved break the shinobi in general got some light meals and light stretching since they hadn't rest since dawn and ran top speed again. Some shinobi were relaxing to cool down their leg muscle while others relaxed but kep watch for anything but no one relaxed better that Shikamaru who was… sleeping.
"Shikamaru is a lazy ninja huh?" one Anbu said chuckling at the scene of the chunin sleeping like a log in the clearing not caring who saw or think of him.
"Yeah… huh?" another shinobi said in the branches above and was startled as he saw someone coming at them at unbelievable speeds. "Someone's coming, get ready" he said to the shinobi above but as the readied themselves the person was already in the clearing shocking them all.
"You guy's are not that far away from the commotion you know… not wise to lower your guard like that" Naruto said grinning as some of the Anbu were ready to fire up some weapons.
"Naruto!" Yamato said jumping down and landing in front of him. "You gave us a scare… what are you doing here?... I thought you were to meet us ahead" the wood user said as he took a look at the blonde in front of him. He looked like he didn't got a good sleep and had a few scratches here and there, signs of a battle he didn't finish.
"Well about that… the enemy forces are moving so I decided to move as well" Naruto said calmly "I got shadow clones all over the forest and they would poof out if there was something interesting for me to know" he added smiling
"We should move too" Yamato said and everyone gathered their stuff "Naruto you lead the way… we have a plan" the wood user said as the jinchuuriki nodded.
Jumping yet again through the woods, some shinobi saw a few Naruto's on branches meters away but they weren't stoping. The original Naruto lead them to a medium size clearing a bit farther than the clones were positioned.
"If you didn't notice… the clones were back there and the Iwa battalion is half a mile from this spot… they're resting" Naruto said looking at every shinobi in the masks and some in the face "My clones have telescopes so yes they can see them from their position… we'll move when the battalion moves that way we caught them a bit by surprise" the blonde said waiting for someone to say something and to his displeasure one did.
"But won't that make it difficult to engage them" one Anbu said as the rest nodded.
"You maybe right… but not if some of you are a bit ahead" Naruto said signaling a clone to come down "This clone will guide ten of you to a position that's a few kilometers ahead of them while the rest of us ambush them from the rear… you can do your plan with these limited numbers so use high level ninjutsu" the blonde finished with a smile and a few shinobi nodded and leapt away with the clone.
"Naruto… you didn't gave any orders" Yamato said as Neji appeared on his side.
"He's right Naruto… what should they and us be doing" the Hyuuga prodigy said frowning at the lack of strategy.
"Your orders I will tell… my clone will tell the rest so don't worry" Naruto said dismissively trying to calm everyone's nerves a bit "I don't need paranoid ninjas"
"After we engage the enemy… you are to head to your original destination Naruto" Yamato said "The Hokage gave us strict orders and your mission is S-rank" he said reminding the jinchuuriki of his duties.
"Sure" Naruto said understanding his predicament "But not before I make sure you can all survive" he thought as he signaled them to start heading at the enemies direction.
Jumping through the branches in a slow pace the remaining Konoha shinobi closed-in on the enemy. The plan was simple; get them from behind since they're going to be distracted in the front by high level techniques. Naruto had plans of his own as well and Neji along with the three chunins were a bit afraid since they knew they were outnumbered against half their numbers. A brief speech and Naruto had everyone in confident mode and waited the onslaught that was to begin in a few moments.
Seeing the entire battalion ready to move out the clones knew the time was upon them, poofing out, they relayed the information gained to the original. Seeing what the clones had seen he told the other in whispers while the clone with the other shinobi got the message as well and told his group… the attack was about to begin. Sensing the enemy approaching the Anbu got ready in their positions and started to make hand-signs while two others and the Naruto clones got their sword at the ready, to move in and take out.
Some sensorial Iwa shinobi picked up the chakra signals and told the battalion to stop, seeing this, a clone poofed, the Iwa shinobi's scattered around the field but it was too late. A great portion of the ground lifted and exploded into pieces, leaving ruble and trees on the ground. The Iwa battalion positioned themselves behind trees and bushes but some already got them, throwing fire jutsus they flushed the shinobis in hiding and got them with kunais but that didn't kill them. Twenty Iwa shinobis were fighting the ten Konoha shinobi and it was a fight to kill, the trees were burning the ground shook and rose, the entire field covered in kunais, shuriken or the occasional sword. Some shinobi were fighting hand to hand combat and you could hear the constant 'clangs' of metal against metal. The majority of the fighting was being dome with jutsus, either fire, water, wind, earth or lightning, elite shinobi were throwing everything they've got to kill the enemy.
The other part of the battalion were waiting orders to annihilate the scum that tried to stop them but one shinobi sensed trouble behind them and yelled it out loud… sadly that was his final sound before being struck in the head with a kunai by an Anbu. Suddenly the twenty rock shinobi were on high alert, one of them made a dome of earth to cover them from attack but Yamato destroyed it by forcing the ground beneath them to open. One Iwa shinobi got out and threw a ration jutsu straight at them but one Konoha Anbu destroyed it with a wind jutsu… and the battle was on. Naruto got the message from his dead clone as he saw one shinobi destroy the clone and the area with a few Anbu with ease, he was about to head there seeing as the ninja was extremely powerful when Neji intercept him.
"Naruto remember what the Captain told you… you mission" Neji said in a stern voice as he looked behind him with his active Byakugan.
"I know Neji… and the direction is that way I'm afraid" Naruto said with a small smile and jumped off "Sorry Neji but a ninja that powerful… can't let anyone fight him" he thought as he headed to fight the shinobi head on.
Arriving at the battle-made field he was shocked, almost every Konoha Anbu was on the ground and he hoped that they were not dead. Running to check for any vitals he sighted in relieve that all of them were alive but in a bad shape, he also saw almost fifteen rock shinobi on the ground as well, creating five shadow clones he ordered them to take care of the Anbu. Looking up Naruto saw three Anbus landing at his sides and saw in front of them a group of seven Iwa soldiers, slowly putting his hand on his pouch he grabbed his knuckle-knifes and glared at the shinobi in front of him.
"So I guess you're the real one?" the shinobi he saw on his mind said "I took out a clone of you before… what weakling" the shinobi said as he made to grab a giant hammer on his back but the smirk on the blondes face.
"Fight us?… you know… there's another team back there fighting your comrades" Naruto smirked at the dark look the shinobi sent him "Besides… I see a lot of your shinobis on the ground with nasty wounds… those would not be good to go to a battle" he taunted with a knowing smirk
"You're right… and even if we outnumber you right now… I see that you can take us easily while you Anbu help the others" the man said "We retreat… for now… by the way… the name's Daigi" Daigi said he ordered his conscious comrades to follow him. They jumped away and headed the same direction from where Naruto came from.
Arriving at the scene the Iwa shinobi were shocked… this end was doing well. The Konoha Anbu and the chunins were on an edge that covered them from any attacks while the Iwa shinobi were out in the open. The Iwa force lost two shinobi while the others were alive and kicking… literally. Various shinobi were performiong jutsus, either earth or fire styles to destroy their defenses while some threw weapons with or without explosives. The rest stood to watch or were injured as well, Daigi arrived at the scene and smirked… their opportunity was at hand.
Konoha hadn't lost anyone but some of them were in almost critical condition while others were on alert trying to find a loop hole so they could retaliate. Yanato and two others were on alert while the other three Anbu were on the ground unconscious after an attack that took out a ten feet perimeter. Neji had blood coming out of his forehead and was grasping his left leg, Lee was holding his ribcage after one shinobi got him in an attack and Tenten had scratches and several mild cut all over her body but otherwise fine. Shikamaru on the other hand was analyzing their opportunities and it looked very grim for the genius. Daigi saw this situation as an opportunity to kill some Leaf scum and was about to form some seals when…
"Wind style: Great Breakthrough" a huge gust of wind so powerful it destroyed the trees behind the Iwa shinobis. The semi-battalion was scattered on the field after the unexpected wind jutsu and the were beginning to pick them selves up when Naruto landed in front of the Konoha shinobi who were beginning to come out of the earth-made fortress.
"I'm Naruto… and I'm the one who's going to end this battle" Naruto said seriously letting a huge killing intent. He saw the man named Daigi getting up and grabbed his enormous hammer and channeled some chakra into it and lightning surround it. He grabbed his sword and channeled some chakra in it as well and charged at the Iwa shinobi.
"AAGGHH" Daigi yelled as he too charged straight forward to meet the blonde shinobi with his hammer. The two weapons clashed and a thunderous sound came, the ground cracked and the two shinobis separated. Daigi was overwhelmed by the power this kid possessed and the chakra he was giving up was too much, the other shinobi behind him were scared or too weak to fight the incredible killing intent.
"Do you give?" Naruto asked glaring and the Iwa shinobi lowered his weapon but at that moment the Konoha Anbu jumped and engaged battle with some shinobi of rock. The five Anbu that remained conscious were on the attack while Shikamaru held back and explained a plan to Neji, Tenten and an attentive Lee.
"Your plan is rather risky Shikamaru" Neji said voicing his opinion "This shinobi are not going to make it difficult and they foiled one plan before" the prodigy said reminding the genius of why they were in the current situation.
"This shinobi are good… the one that got me was rather fast" Lee said panting since his wound made it difficult for him to breathe.
Caught off guard by the aggressiveness of the five Anbu the first rock shinobis on getting up attacked as well, grabbing weapons or performing seals. The seven shinobi who got up first had to dodge a fireball coming at them as an Anbu jumped and performed the jutsu. The Iwa shinobi got out of the way but the fireball burned a few of the ones that didn't move in the shinobi were dodging Yamato made a seal making appear several wood branches from the ground impaling them or grabbing them but a Iwa shinobi not from the one that first attacked appeared suddenly in from of Yamato sword already coming to kill… TUNK!
"What the…!" the shinobi was shocked to see the Anbu he killed turning a brown and his features shifting and then a sharp wooden blade and pierced his chest. Looking from his wound he saw the mass of shifting wood connected to the arm of an Anbu which had with his free hand an extended finger pointed at him... the wooden blade coming from it. (like terminator 2)
"Fool" Yamato said and looked up to see two familiar blades going to were the rest of the Iwa shinobi were standing. Landing on the ground and more specifically on the shadows of two shinobi the blades made it impossible for the two to move… but they didn't notice because they were more focused on the attack. Naruto who put his two cent on the plan made shadow clones and all of them were on each's shoulders to form a large shadow and that made Shikamaru's shadow unnoticeable until it reached the blades. Reaching the blades the shadows divided themselves into dozens trapping each shinobi in reach and the only ones left were tow jounin and Daigi who was seeing the phenomenon in shock Neji and Lee got the message and charged at full speed to the trapped shinobi and one by one knocking them out… rendering them useless.
"We had it… and just like that… gone" Daigi said flabbergasted as he saw the trapped shinobi being knocked-out "Enough!… we will go" he said seriously and honestly but in a defeated tone.
"You better leave the area immediately" Yamato said with authority "Or we'll end you" he threatened using the voice of an elite, full-fledge ninja who wasn't afraid to kill.
Nodding the man and the ones that were still conscious gathered as fast as they could all the shinobis on the ground while the Konoha Anbus watched. Finished in there they went to the other place that a battle broke off and gathered the injured or dead and one of them summoned a large mole big enough for all of the injured battalion could fit and left. Seeing them leave the Konoha shinobi sighted in relieve, after what happened they were glad that none of them got really injured and all of them could be stabilized after quick check up some Anbu did with medical jutsu.
"That was close huh Naruto?" Shikamaru said in relieve and looked to his side to find… nothing. Naruto was nowhere to be seen, to traces, no nothing "Troublesome"
X.X.X
At top speeds
Naruto decided to leave when he saw the sincerity and honesty in the man's voice and eyes. When he saw that every Konoha shinobi was completely focus on the Iwa shinobi that were gathering their injured comrades, he maybe a straight line and bolted out of there. If his calculations were correct he was half a day away from the border of Suna at the speed he was going and maybe a few hours more until he found the village. The great news for him was that it left him almost an entire day behind because he was suppose to arrive at Suna in three days and by the time he arrive it would only took him one… added the setback with the enemy forces.
Going at top speed without the gravity seals on his arms and legs it felt like he was able to almost fly, the liberty he had at this moment, the incredible lightness he felt as his body moved across the forest. Even if the time was wrong he enjoyed the little peace he had in this moment because he got the feeling he was going to be angry when he arrived at the village. Increasing his speed slightly by channeling chakra to his leg muscles he jumped with more speed than ever before… so much that someone with Sharingan or Byakugan could only se a blur of colors.
Hours passed and Naruto finally took a break when he saw the unmistakable dessert in the distance and felt the air was a bit hotter that a half hour ago. Smiling as he made a more excellent time than he hoped he went at the shadow of a big tree and seated in one of its big roots that bulged from the ground and began to rummage through his bag for a food. Finding only ramen he went out t find some bits of wood and opened a bottle of water he carried, crating a small fire he boiled the water and waited the accursed three minutes until finish. He began eating until he sensed a presence, doing the best he could at the moment he jumped to the trees branches and hid there but a bit too late he forgot about his backpack and silently cursed himself for his stupidity. Realizing there was nothing else he could do he waited until the person arrived and saw… a kunoichi.
"Humm… it's still very warm… a few minutes even" the kunoichi said who was dressed in black and had a large artifact on her back. Naruto waited until she could move away from the tree to get his bag when he saw her grabbing it and inspecting it and the blonde wasn't going to let that happen.
"It's rude to do what your doing you know" Naruto said as he appeared behind her holding a kunai by her throat. What the blonde jinchuuriki didn't know was that the kunoichi had incredible reflexes and in an instant she was facing him with the large artifact opened and it looked familiar to him… like a fan.
"Wind style: wind scythe jutsu" the kunoich said fanning her fan and pushing the blonde away making him crash into a tree. Not letting the enemy get up the kunoichi grabbed four kunais and was about to throw then when she felt her wrist being grabbed.
"Temari?" an uncertain voice reached the kunoichi's ears. Twisting her neck she saw the blonde locks and blue piercing eyes of Naruto Uzumaki… the savior of her little brother.
X.X.X
There you have it, another chapter. I was going to release it on new years eve but... lazy. Anyway DID YOU SEE THE MANGA!!! AMAZING although the robe Naruto's wearing... the color sucks (orange) are you kidding me?... thanks again for the reviews... keep at it XD
Next: incredible enemies, almost impossible odds
