Whoohoo! This story is officially my top-reviews story! Thanks for making it happen, everyone! And if anyone went to the website to read the sneak peek and you decided to read this chapter from the very beginning anyway, you'll probably notice some minor changes. If you don't remember, that's cool too, and if you didn't read the sneak peek, that's cooler. Surprises are nice. Ahem, well anyway, without more time-consuming rambling, enjoy the chappie!
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
Last time on Narutoverse no Jutsu...
"I knew it. Just a bunch of brats," Kisame remarked, lifting his sword. "Hold still. This'll only take a few seconds. Eh?" He glanced at Naruto then grinned toothily. "Oh! So it's the little Kyuubi brat! Well isn't this my lucky day? The scroll and the jinchuuriki."
"You mean this?" Kyoko asked, pointing to the scroll in her hand. "You read this trash, Fish-Boy?"
"Fool," Kisame snarled. "You have no idea what's hidden here. Now get outta my way!" He swung his sword again, breaking the cart in half and causing the genin to scatter. Outside, the horses were frantic and the men were beginning to wake up.
Midori skidded to a stop just in front of the tents. She turned around as she heard Nemuru's shocked scream.
"MY SCROLL!"
"Nemuru-san, stay back!" Midori ordered. "We're under attack!"
"NO!" Nemuru wailed. "My precious scroll!"
"Knock it off!" Nami ordered, getting annoyed as she pulled out several kunai. "Who cares about your dirt?!"
"No! That's not what I'm talking about!"
"Then what are you talking about, old man?!"
"There's the Scroll of a Thousand Jutsu in there!"
"WHAT?!"
"Don't stand there gawking at me! Do your job!"
"Gr…Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!" Naruto called, creating five clones that immediately bounded toward the broken cart while the men attempted to untie the horses.
"This is just getting better and better," Kisame said as he fingered a black and white scroll. "Found it already. That leaves a lot of time for some fun."
"Nemuru-san, what do you mean?" Midori demanded. "Scroll of a Thousand Jutsu?"
"I…" Nemuru said hesitantly. "Okay, I hid a forbidden scroll within the feudal lord's imported goods."
"What? How?" Midori gasped. "The cargo was checked before we left!"
"It was genjutsu. One of my men is a retired jounin and he owed me a favor, so I figured I could get away with…"
"Paying less than you actually had to?" Midori finished, narrowing her eyes.
"Heh…sorry."
Nami suddenly knocked against the tent behind Nemuru and Midori and grunted. "Less talking, more fighting!" she shouted at Midori.
"Right," Midori nodded.
Nami made a hand sign only to find that she was unable to draw any chakra. "What the…? What'd you do with my chakra, Fish-Face?!"
Midori blinked, seemingly in a daze. "Fish-Face…" When she heard Kisame's amused laughter, she snapped out of the trance and said, "He can cut off chakra with his sword, remember, Nami?"
Kisame looked surprised. "How'd someone like you figure that out?" he demanded.
Nami thought for a second. "That's right…Hoshigaki Kisame, a missing nin from Kiri!"
Kisame was utterly confused now. How did these Konoha kunoichi know anything about him at all? It seemed he wasn't the only one.
"How'd you guys know all this?" Naruto questioned.
"I don't know…" Nami admitted.
"Well I do!" Midori declared. Time to bluff… "Hoshigaki Kisame-san, you'd better leave this place or we'll unveil your weakness to the world!"
Kisame narrowed his eyes. "You don't know my weakness."
Nami instantly caught on. She put on a cocky and aloof expression and said, "Maybe we do, maybe we don't. Do you really want to take that chance?"
"Kyoko, do it!" Midori called confidently.
Kyoko, who had the blankest look on her face, stared at Kisame for a while until she decided to start moving her hands into a seal. Lady Luck was on her side.
Could it be? Could she possible be starting to perform that jutsu…? Kisame panicked inwardly.
This guy's good, Marieke thought. My breath is getting heavier…Soon I won't be able to hold my own against him. And yet he doesn't look the slightest bit tired. What is his weakness? "You sure live up to your name, Itachi."
"Compliments are meaningless from one who can't defeat me," Itachi answered.
"We'll see about that," Marieke retorted. She tossed a barrage of kunai in the Uchiha's direction while speeding around. Every time, the knives made contact with not flesh, but tree bark.
Itachi jumped onto a tree branch and scanned the area for Marieke who had disappeared. Threads?
It was then a large crow swooped through the leaves, forcing Itachi forward. His red eyes were suddenly attracted by a trickle of fire that was starting to spread. The trickle instantly turned into an ocean of flames, and Itachi was about to dive head-first into them.
Marieke watched the Uchiha murderer disappear. After about ten seconds she had finished another chain of hand seals. She blew once more, this time spurting water that rained down on the flames, distinguishing them. "There's no way he could've escaped…"
"On the contrary."
Marieke's eyes widened when she found herself staring into Itachi's spinning eyes. The shinobi was in a crouching position like a statue. "N—!"
Too late.
The two stayed in that position for several seconds until Itachi moved. Marieke was still in a daze, and a kunai hovered dangerously close to her neck when Itachi noticed an explosion. He looked up at the sky where smoke was starting to trail. What's that fool doing now?
"Augh! Nami! Stop using the dang bombs!" Kyoko barked.
"Well excuse me for not being able to use chakra!" Nami shot back.
These genin are crazy, Kisame thought. But there's something strange about them…I'd better get this over with or Itachi will murder me. "Suiton: Bakusui Shouha!" Water started to leak to the ground instantly from Kisame's own mouth, flooding the whole campsite in rising water. In the chaos that struck afterwards, Kisame found the time to find the scroll he was looking for and escape. That jinchuuriki will follow me anyway, I'm sure of it.
"HEY! Get back here and fight!" Naruto roared as he leaped out of the water and started to run atop the surface.
The girls, sans Nami, stood above the water as well.
"I'm gonna kill that guy for taking my chakra!" Nami vowed angrily.
"We almost had him too if it weren't for your recklessness," Midori said, annoyed. "He would've retreated!"
"He still doesn't know if we know his weakness or not," Kyoko said. "But now we have to follow him and Naruto. I'll have to be the one."
"What do you mean you'll have to be the one?" Nami demanded. "Do you actually remember his weakness or something?"
"It hasn't been revealed yet and I can barely remember anything from our world at all."
It's happening again, Midori thought worriedly. This time, even I was too worked up to remember anything other than what's happened here…
"Then why the heck do you have to go?"
"Two reasons," Kyoko explained. She held up one finger, "One, because he's absorbed your chakra with the Samehada and Midori's the only one who would be able to save people with her techniques. And two…Because I have something I have to prove to myself."
Her teammates watched as she left with mixed thoughts.
Something she has to prove to herself? Midori thought. She shook her head and dove into the water. If I do this quickly, I may be able to help her. She made several hand seals, making her crystal and hands glow. As soon as she came closer to the bottom, she pulled back a chakra arrow and shot it straight into the ground. A large crater formed
She's gonna get killed if she doesn't have back-up. Nami scowled. And I can't do anything to help. That guy's gonna pay…
Kisame…his partner is Uchiha Itachi, Sasuke's brother, Kyoko recalled. Killing his whole clan…If I were to run into both of them, I'd be sunk. Naruto, you'd better not attack on your own.
---
"Hand over the scroll Fish-Face!" Naruto growled.
"Sorry, but that's not gonna happen," Kisame smirked. "Last time I didn't have the chance to chop off your legs. Let's try again, shall we?"
Naruto dashed towards Kisame shouting a loud battle cry while creating several clones at his side. As he attempted to do 'Uzumaki Naruto Rendan' he was stopped by the blade of Kisame's Samehada. He immediately leapt back in order to avoid being cut. Time to bring out the big guns… Naruto thought. He created another kage bunshin and then held his arm back.
"What're you gonna do now, jinchuuriki?" Kisame said playfully. "A strong attack, I hope."
"You asked for it!" Naruto shouted. "Rasengan!"
Kisame saw the boy come speeding at him with a bright spinning ball of chakra in his hands. He bent his knees and jumped high into the air, successfully dodging Naruto's attack. "You're finished, boy!" He sliced his Samehada downwards, aiming to cut right for Naruto's skull when a flurry of needles flew out of nowhere towards him. Quickly moving his body at an angle, he fell to the ground harmlessly and the needles soared right over his head.
"Hey Naruto! You alright?" Kyoko called as she jerked her hand back. To an untrained eye, Kyoko would've looked like she was doing some sort of miming routine, but Kisame wasn't so mediocre as to not see the chakra strings coming from her fingers that attached to the cloud of needles floating ahead of her.
"Nice trick you have there, little girl," Kisame chuckled. "But that attack won't work on me."
Kyoko narrowed her eyes. He's right. All he has to do is swing his sword and the strings will be severed…If I was going to do that, that is. "Take this!" She swung her arm again, snapping the needles and forced her chakra strings to break.
Kisame quickly slammed his sword in front of him to deflect the weapons. It was then he sensed the second barrage coming from behind. Thinking fast, he made several hand seals and blew water again, stopping the weapons in mid-attack. He placed a hand on the hilt of Samehada and with a strong swing, he severed the chakra strings. Close one.
By this time, Kyoko and Naruto had regrouped. The two were now standing together a distance away from Kisame, preparing for their next attack.
"Okay, Naruto! Go!"
"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!"
A total of seven Naruto clones charged at Kisame from different directions. The Akatsuki member spun on his heel, destroying the seven clones with one attack. He was then ambushed by another wave of clones, then another. It wasn't long before he was covered in kage bunshin from head to toe as if showcasing a new fashion: orange-clad jinchuuriki boys.
"Gotcha!" Naruto declared triumphantly.
"Get off me!" Kisame was annoyed now. And who knew when Itachi would pop in? If the Uchiha murderer saw him like this…
"Ninja Art: Senbon Cyclone!" Kyoko called. She threw a scroll left and another right, each painted with a line of fresh blood. Instantly she started a chain of hand seals in a breakneck pace, ending in the dragon sign. The scrolls she had tossed suddenly erupted with white smoke and from the smoke shot thousands upon thousands of needles. The deadly weapons snaked into the shape of a tornado, rushing straight towards the vulnerable Kisame.
"Damn!" Kisame growled.
"We're gonna have sushi tonight!" Naruto bellowed.
Kyoko's victorious grin quickly turned into a frown when she noticed her needles stopping. Something was wrong. "What the…!" Before she knew it, her weapons had turned on her, literally. The senbon cyclone quickly spun in her direction, and she found herself being stabbed with millions of needles at a speed she couldn't comprehend. She tried to let out a scream, but it's hard to scream when a needle is stuck in your neck.
---
"Ah!" Midori burst from the four-foot shallow water. "Well…this is getting somewhere. Wait a second…" In a few seconds, Midori found she could touch the ground easily.
"Hey! What's up with the water?" Nami called from a tree.
"I…think it's evaporating," Midori said. "Maybe when the user is a distance away, it disappears after a while. And after all that work too…"
"You did well, Midori," Nami shrugged. "At least now we can follow Kyoko and Otouto!"
"Yeah, but now travelers will have a harder time with all these craters in the ground…"
"Eh, they'll live. Enough chit chat, let's move it!"
"I don't know if it's a good idea of you go, Nami. I mean…your chakra's been absorbed and there isn't—"
"Hey, even if I'm chakra-less, it doesn't mean I can't fight," Nami retorted stubbornly. "I'm going."
"Well…I guess there's nothing productive about arguing with you."
"'Atta girl."
Midori sighed and turned to Nemuru. "Nemuru-san, you and the others can handle things here by yourselves right?"
Nemuru looked utterly miserable as he started to shimmy down the tree. "Now that they have the scroll, they won't have a reason to come back. All is lost…"
"You're really bugging me with that talk," Nami frowned. "We'll bring back your scroll. Then you can pay the real charges."
The supervisor didn't look too happy about that.
"First thing's first," Midori said as she made a few hand signs and touched the ground. She caught the attention of her teammate when smoke rose from where her hand had been.
"Summoning?" Nami raised an eyebrow.
"It's about time I caught up with you and Kyoko with summoning," Midori winked.
An average-sized raven appeared made its presence known by squawking a feminine "Hello!"
"No time for pleasantries," Midori said quickly. "I have a job for you, Raven-san. Please go out and send for some backup from Konoha. It may take a while for them to come, even if they're fast, but if we can get away from these guys and hide out, they'll be needed. And I have a bad feeling someone else will have to complete the mission." While she was talking, Midori had been writing a brief note on a tiny slip of paper. She tied it onto the bird's leg and said, "Hurry!"
"My, my," the raven said scratchily. "I get the picture. Oh, and for future reference, my name is Kurayami." Without another word, the raven took flight.
"Kyoko had better saved some butt for me to kick when we get there," Nami said as she and Midori took off.
"She left on her own with Naruto-kun…I have a feeling they'll need a lot of our help," Midori said worriedly.
She had no idea how right she was.
DUN DUN DUUUUUUUN. Is Kyoko DEAD? What happened to Marieke? And will Midori get charged for destroying all that land? Find out next time on NARUTOVERSE NO JUTSU!
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Until next time!
-HM