NARUTO

Forbidden Chronicles

Just Another Day in Paradise

After his battle, Naruto went over to the red-haired girl lying on the sidelines, who was still speechless in response to watching such an amazing battle undertaken by her unexpected savior. Untying her carefully, the first thing the blonde did once she had sat up was check for any critical wounds inflicted on her. Seeing none, he wordlessly stood up and then went around the temple grounds, collecting the shuriken he had used land were laying around the battlefield. To compensate for any lost or damaged equipment, the young ninja scavenged off of the corpses of the dead, refilling his arsenal, as well as giving him the opportunity to pinch several ryo from the open pockets, and anything else of significant worth.

Humming to himself as he searched the Jonin's corpse he had defeated, he found several items of interest, including a gold necklace, several more of the custom made kunai the rogue ninja used, a scroll of unknown content, a small bag of gold pieces and gemstones, and a vial of dragon berries.

It was the last item he found on the body that got Naruto interested, and taking a moment, examined the contents. The boy furrowed his brow at the small, bright red fruit sitting in the glass case.

"Pervy Sage told me that these berries are used as a form of pain killer in places where medic ninjas are rare. Take too many of these raw and they will render you paralyzed. But the juice from these boiled in water leaves the solid pits with the potency to kill the nerves in the body, hence making one invulnerable to pain if consumed…"

Frowning, Naruto pocketed the vial for future study, and stood up. When he did, he pocketed his hands. With nothing else to do, the threat of death removed, and everything he was carrying on hand, he proceeded to leave.

"Wait!"

The young ninja froze at the top of the stairs, turning to see the girl standing right behind him, standing straight up and hands placed atop of each other and in front. As soon as he saw her, she bowed to him low, coming as another surprise to him.

"T-Thank you so much!" the girl said, loud enough so that he could hear her clearly.

"Neh… it was nothing," Naruto replied casually and lazily, rubbing the back of his head and stretching his neck a little. "To be honest, that was the most fun I've had all week…"

He began walking again, only to stop when the girl continued to talk. She looked up, a look of desperation and pleading on her face.

"Please, stranger… uhh… young ninja… I beg of you… I… I… I need your help!"

Naruto looked back at her, a stoic demeanor still in play. Just when he thought he was free of any restraints, out of the blue, this young, snobbish, beautiful red haired girl who had just recently today been trying to kick him out of her personal space was now asking him to stay. In all honesty, the blonde had thought his display of strength would have made him less appealing to be around.

"Hmm?"

She bowed low again.

"The way you fought off those ninja… it was amazing! I have never seen anything like it, nor did I expect someone of your age to be this capable in the heat of battle. I am sorry if I ever looked down upon you, or treated you wrongly earlier. But please… I'm asking you for an ear to my plea… please!"

Turning towards her a bit more, Naruto took a bit more interest in her, blinking in curiosity.

"Oh yeah? Well… you have my attention. What is it that you need?"

The girl looked up at him, eyes shimmering.

"I am not some peasant girl from this part of the country… I am actually from a village south of this land, the Kingdom of the Eastern Winds. I am Princess Konoka, next in line for the throne from High Princess Hirano, my mother."

"Oh… you're a princess. That explains a lot about the way you act of course…" Naruto commented, "…go on…"

"A couple months ago, a band of wandering ninja dressed in white entered our kingdom, assassinating all of our closest bodyguards, and after a week, took my mother hostage. I managed to escape, and tried to find help, but had to constantly keep moving to avoid being found. I didn't know anyone whom I could turn to, nor did I trust anyone. That is… until I met you. Please, I ask of you this… please come with me back to my kingdom, and kill those who have taken my mother as their prisoner, and save our kingdom!"

Naruto blinked, looking at the girl in deep thought. Of course, the proposition was very risky, and seemed highly dangerous. However, his heart told him not to turn down a cry for help, which only feuded with the feeling that 'this was a really bad idea'.

He scratched the side of his cheek, shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not sure about this… (sigh). From what you're saying, there are more of these white cloaked rogue ninja of Jonin skill levels holding your mother, the High Princess, and your people against their will? Just exactly how many are there… I mean bad guys in total? Make it specific."

"In total? It was reported in from the front gates of the village that there were five white cloaked figures, and about twenty other ninja protecting a short man in a white suit… their leader. The five rogue ninja are apparently in league with this man, while the other twenty ninjas are just hired mercenaries…"

"Okay… sounds difficult enough," Naruto replied, rubbing the back of his head, taking everything he was learning into account to come up with a solution. "Did you learn anything else about the rogue ninja, the five cloaked ones?"

"I… I'm not sure. Like the one you just fought and killed, the other four are incredibly fast and strong, armed to the teeth… and each of them wield a different weapon, like a whip, a jian or a kusanagari. But the strangest thing is, unlike the other rogue ninjas, they don't use any of the techniques I've seen you use. They rely purely on close combat," Konoka said, shaking her head as memories continued bombarding her. "It's clear though that they don't need any. The five alone wiped out most of our palace guard when they stormed the building… and their leader… he… he was the most terrifying of the lot. When the guards barred the massive doors of our palace's entrance, he simply raised his hand, and blew it open. It was unbelievable!"

Naruto rubbed his chin, looking around as his mind whirled with ideas.

"The Jonin with high taijutsu and kenjutsu capabilities is hard enough… but this guy… he sounds like he's really packing some serious techniques." Then, a grin spread across the blonde boy's lips, and his eyes flashed deviously. "Interesting… I can further test my abilities, and as an added bonus, get some much needed exercise!"

The young ninja chuckled and whipped out a 'thumbs-up' to the girl, who was slightly taken aback by the positive attitude shown by him. She blinked in surprise.

"Alright then… I'll help you out. After all, Naruto Uzumaki the Demon Fox of Mount Myobokuzan is always up for a challenge," Naruto stated. But then, a frown graced his enthusiastic expression, and he pointed at her firmly. "But this job… it's not gonna come cheap…"

The girl's expression lit up like a Christmas tree, from an upset, pleading look, to one of delight and gratefulness.

She dropped to her knees and bowed to the young man. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" Konoka looked back up at him. "I promise you… you will be rewarded greatly! Anything you wish or desire, I will use all in my power to grant it…"

Naruto smiled and nodded his head. He grinned at her as Konoka smiled up at him.

"What is it you wish to have in return for your services?"

Taking in a deep breath, the young ninja took a moment of thought as to what he really wanted to get out of this. With a blank check open up to him by this little princess, he could ask for anything. It was then, after coming to a decision, he looked back at her and smirked.

"It'll cost you one cooked fish… I'm starving…"

When Konoka heard the boy's request, she couldn't believe her ears. Regardless, it was a request she could fulfill for him, and when she made cooked the one fish she had on her, she tried to make it as tasty as possible. The young ninja was definitely satisfied, and once he had consumed his 'payment', piggy-backed the girl in the direction of her kingdom. He knew it was a long journey, and the distance by foot was long and treacherous, and was especially more dangerous since he had an escort.

So, doing what he did with any other precious cargo he had on him, he carried her. Leaving the wastelands behind after setting fire to the bodies in the remains of the temple, Naruto and Konoka headed south as fast as they could.

Well… as fast as Naruto could.

"OW! Do you have to wear all of your equipment on your back! OUCH! They're hurting me! OW!" Konoka cried her head propped right next to Naruto's ear.

Driven deaf after the third mile, Naruto gritted his teeth and tried to push it all back. He quietly counted to ten, and then let out a sigh, as he launched himself towards the next tree.

This was his fastest way of traveling, and his 'boss' was not pleased with the accommodations.

"Well, I'm sorry your highness, but you'll just have to bear with it for another two miles. I'll stop for a rest soon…"

"Oooohh… this is unacceptable! My kingdom is thirty miles due south of our position, and you plan on running and jumping all the way there, carrying me on your back? For a great warrior such as yourself, you sure are kind of lousy at this…"

She was clearly mocking him.

A tick mark formed on Naruto's forehead, and he glanced back at her over his shoulder.

"Very well then princess… how about a change of accommodations? Why don't you try out first class? The shoulders! It's complete with a yellow hair-pillow head rest, away from my ears, plenty of leg room, and gives you a five star view of all your surroundings, especially the tree branches. And since we're moving so high up in the canopy at top-speed, you'll be getting the full experience; twigs, leaves, over-hanging vines, all to the face, and at a conveniently low price! How's that for an alternative?"

The girl huffed and looked away.

"I'm just fine, thank you…"

Making it another couple of miles, and without hearing another peep from the girl, Naruto for the most part, was having a pleasant trip.

However, even though the young warrior was planning on stopping after two miles, he just continued on, covering another four at a surprising speed. While on the move, his mind was a whirl with thoughts. He knew he had to come up with a plan of infiltrating the castle, as well as fighting off against a gauntlet of ninja. The ones he had to really worry about were the remaining four cloaked ninjas, and their leader, who the girl described to have unbelievable strength and power in the palm of his hand. Furthermore, he was on his own, and no longer with the perverted hermit.

Naruto needed to think on his feet for this one…

"Ninja who can't feel pain is an otherworldly thing… they will definitely be difficult to beat all at once. My only chance is to attack with everything I've got!"

"OWW! That's it! Enough! Stop right now! Your weapon's scabbard is digging into my leg, and I don't like it!"

"Hey! Hey! Careful with that! It took me hours to make that blade. It's very fragile!"

"Well so am I! Stop jumping this instant!" Konoka shouted, kicking him in the thighs with the back of her heels. However, one of her 'well' aimed kicks landed in the boy's jewels… hard.

The spiky haired shinobi winced in agony, before feeling his world go black and blue for a full five seconds. In that instant, Naruto's foot suddenly caught onto a broken branch, and with the speed he was moving at, was sent stumbling forward even faster on a randomly placed trajectory thanks to his trip.

Recovering and attempting to control his fall, shielded the girl on his back as they fell, Konoka crying out in terror as they careened through the canopy.

The next thing Naruto remembered was him crashing into several think branches, breaking right through them, bouncing off the ground and shooting out of the forest into a clearing…

SPLASH!

With a giant lake in the middle.

Half an hour later…

"ACHOO!"

Konoka sniffled as she wrapped the towel tighter around her, shivering as she watched her clothes dry over the small fire Naruto had lit to keep them both warm. Now in only her underwear and a towel, she felt a little uncomfortable in her position, especially with the young ninja tasked with escorting her napping not too far from where she was sitting beneath the lake-side tree.

Naruto didn't need to undress, and just decided to sleep off the time it would take for Konoka's clothes to dry, specifically because she was so fussy about a little water in her clothes and wanted to stop for a while. After screaming in his ear for over two hours on their journey, she finally got what she wanted, with an added twist. She was now paying for kicking him in the nads.

"Bless you…" Naruto moaned with his hands behind his head as he stared into the underside of his straw hat.

"It's your fault!" Konoka scolded the young ninja. "If you hadn't fallen into the lake, and just stopped like I asked, we would still be on the road now. But noooo…"

"Well, it's a point down to you for kicking me in the crotch," Naruto replied calmly. "Because of that, I tripped and threw us both into the lake, and now you have to sit close to naked until your shirt and pants dry off. Serves you right…"

Konoka blushed brightly and looked away. "Hmph… you don't need to remind me."

Sitting up, Naruto removed his hat and stretched his back, feeling it creak from ramming into several trees on his flight path, before back-flopping into the lake. He groaned in satisfaction and the much needed breather. Standing up, he stretched some more, his weapons, scrolls and sandals deposited on the ground beside the fire. It was then, when Konoka was glancing at him, noted a strangely interesting aspect about his appearance.

"Why aren't you soaking wet like me? You fell in the lake first and were in it for just as long as I was?"

"Because I know how to use my chakra to dry my clothes," Naruto said, rubbing the back of his head and looking her. The girl crossed her legs and held the towel around her tighter when he looked at her, and she averted her gaze. "It's a trademark Naruto secret, something I learned to do after I fell into the water more times then once learning to walk on it. I have to say, it's quite refreshing too…"

Unexpectedly, Naruto began taking off his clothes, tossing them on the log next to Konoka as he walked towards the lake. The moment she saw the boy stripping, the red headed girl blushed as bright as a tomato and looked away quickly, just as he was removing his fishnet shirt.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"Geez, keep your shirt on…" Naruto looked back at her. He chuckled and shrugged. "Sorry… that's already off. Anyway… I'm going for a swim… and to practice some water techniques I'm learning. Don't want to go slack…"

Konoka huffed, letting him go do what he needed to do, and did not look in his direction in so doing. Smirking, the blonde headed down to the water, walk across it to the shallows, and take a stance. He then proceeded to perform the techniques Jiraiya had shown him, manipulating the water using his wind chakra from his palms and feet. At the same time, he began shadow sparring across the water, combining his taijutsu with his wind chakra, forming waves and cutting slices into the water.

Eventually, after practicing for a good half-hour on martial arts and chakra control, then proceeded with using hand-seals and performing genuine water techniques. His Water Dragon attacks roared up and out of the water to clash with a simultaneous water wall shield, clashing his attacks against each other in a spectacular display of raw power and ferocity.

Bored, Konoka decided to steal just a few glances at the young warrior, and on the inside, secretly wanting to get a 'really' good look at him.

When she did look in his direction, she was actually really, really, really surprised to see just how well-toned he was for his age. Blinking, the girl tilted her head as she admired the boy as he trained across the water. The droplets of water that streaked through the air and down his skin from the lakes splashes and waves, the magnificent display of strength, the very same she had seen from him when he attacked that rogue ninja and saved her life, it was simply amazing from her perspective.

She blushed deeply and smiled as she gazed at him, propping her head on her hands as she got entranced in the young ninja's movements and body as he continued to train.

When Naruto finished, he came back to see Konoka staring at him dreamily. Puzzled, he looked down at himself to see what the problem was. Of course, he was only wearing a pair of training boxers and nothing else, and his skin only held a few blemishes of battle scars and damage, but nothing to have anyone engrossed in him so much, especially a girl.

He looked at the girl, perplexed. "Uhh… is something wrong?"

Snapping out of her dreamy state, Konoka choked on her quest to find words of explanation, but eventually huffed and looked away.

"No… nothing. I'm just glad you're finished already… now we can go," she said, standing up and taking her towel with her. She waked past Naruto, and as she did, secretly glanced at him one last time before both of them went to get dressed.

As they clothed themselves in their separate corners, Naruto decided to take a few peeks over at the girl himself. He was well aware that she had been watching him the whole time thanks to his high tuned senses, but he had no idea why. Well, that exact reason was similar to the reason he decided to take a glance at her. In terms of skin tone and form for her age, she was very pretty, and Naruto smiled a little at the sight.

"She will definitely be a real beauty when she's older…" he thought, shaking his head and slipping his vest over his trench-coat.

Collecting his weapons, Naruto turned and smiled as Konoka approached him. She stopped in front of him and folded her arms.

"Well… what are we standing around for? Let's go!"

Nodding, Naruto turned and crouched, allowing the girl to climb onto his back. Once she was comfortable and secure, he started off once again. This time, he intended not to fall into the anymore lakes.

Meanwhile, as Naruto was focused on getting to their destination, Konoka nuzzled his head a little, feeling the softness of his golden locks rub against her cheek and chin, and at the same time, catching a whiff of his scent. She smiled and blushed lightly down at the young ninja.

"He smells so nice… and he's so gentle and warm…"

Placing her head against his, she suddenly started drifting off to sleep.

Later that day…

Naruto finally covered the remaining twelve miles between his starting point of his journey, and the Kingdom of the Eastern Winds. By this time, the sun was already beginning to set over the horizon, and from where he stood atop of a hill overlooking the kingdom, he was greeted with a magnificent sight of the sun's rays creating that heavenly haze of orange, yellow, purple and pink over the land, illuminating the large village far below.

It was almost as big as Konoha, with the differences being that there were actual ports leading out to the ocean to the East for this Kingdom, and that a large castle (resembling that of the Forbidden City in China), seated right in the center of it all.

Taking some time to absorb the entire setting before him, Naruto then headed down the hill towards the village that surrounded the castle. Before entering the city, he used henge to throw off the guards, thinking that he was some weary old-man with a large sack of potatoes over his back. The stunt worked well, and he entered without any troubles.

Knowing that entering the castle during night would be more troublesome, since the guards were most certainly on high alert, Naruto decided to take himself and his 'sack of potatoes' to an inn. Ordering a room for one at the East End lodge, a relatively small place ideal for him because it was really affordable, he went up to the room, locked the doors behind him, and dropped the henge. Konoka was remarkably still fast asleep.

Gently, he rested the girl on the bed and tucked her in.

Placing his weapons and scrolls on a nearby couch, he then headed over to the window, and lying across it, took watch over the village and the room they were staying in.

Aside from the fact that the leader of this village was under arrest, and probably locked away somewhere in the castle, he noted that all of the villagers were continuing on business as usual, same as the guards. It was surprisingly peaceful here, and not at all cluttered up like other villages that had their leadership severed. This got him thinking as he quietly sat at the window and looked down at the night time environment of the streets one story below.

"The leader must be using High Princess Hirano as a puppet leader, while they secretly run the village in the shadows. Seeing as that her daughter is missing, and the fact that they are still on the hunt for her, have gotten the village's leader to cooperate under bargain for her daughter's life…"

"Fear is a great motivator, kit," the Kyuubi spoke up in a low voice, her presence indicated by the light glow of the necklace around Naruto's neck. "It's not just the fear of getting hurt yourself… it's the thought of the ones you love getting hurt that really gets to you."

"I know that, Kyuu-chan," Naruto replied, looking down at his chest, seeing the necklace glow. "I felt that pain inside every time I thought of what would happen to Ero-Sennin, Tsunade-baa-chan or even Shizune-nee-chan! I'd be far gone if I ever lost either of them…"

"I understand why the girl ran away in the first place. It wasn't the choice she made for herself; in reality, it was the choice her mother made for her. Her mother must have thought that if her daughter left the kingdom, she would be able to prevent the invaders from taking over the kingdom completely by, not only saving her one and only daughter, but by also getting rid of a bargaining chip, as well keeping at least one heiress of royal blood alive…"

"But one thing that confuses me is why the High Princess would go along with their demands when she knows she can sacrifice herself for the sake of her people and daughter…"

"They must have bluffed that they had managed to snag her daughter before she got out of the city… that… or they are using a doppelganger in her place…"

"I see. Well, one way we can be sure is by taking out the leader, and freeing the city then. A sneak attack will be most unnecessary, since we don't know where they are hiding Konoka's mother hostage. I need to be able to see she's alive before making a move…"

"The only way you will be able to win this battle is if you manage to get through those perimeter walls and entice the four Jonin into a fight, and defeat them all single-handedly. If you challenge them correctly, then you will not only save the Princess's life, but free the Kingdom as well. Leave me to deal with the small-fry…"

Naruto grinned, looking up towards the sky as an idea popped into his head.

"Are you thinking what I am thinking, Kyuu?"

The Kyuubi grinned, although Naruto couldn't see it. "I think I've got the right idea…"

TO BE CONTINUED…