Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or the related characters, I just am borrowing them for my own delusions.
Chapter 15
"What is keeping that cross dressing brother of yours?" Naruto asked Temari and Gaara. Both the Sabuku siblings shared a look and shrugged.
"Kabuto and Dosu should have been able to keep him out of trouble."
Naruto hated waiting. It was one thing he shared with his kaa-san. Neither had the patience to wait long periods.
He looked to see Kin cleaning her battle flute, Haku was meditating and Ryu was asleep against a log, his headband covering his eyes.
Temari and Gaara were playing shogi, and Gaara was loosing badly.
Naruto was pacing back and forth now as sitting still was eating at his nerves.
"Gaara, what's…"
"Same as you asked me before. Their positions on the map haven't changed. Their all in a sit and wait pattern. The Konoha Genin teams have moved up, but they all seem to be converging on the Uchiha's position."
Naruto bit his lip. "Popular bastard, isn't he?"
"What do you think?" he asked the Sabuku sibs.
"About what?" Temari asked.
"Should we go see what's happening?" Naruto asked.
"You said we should sit and wait." Temari said.
"Yeah, but I didn't think they were going to be dragging their feet." Naruto said.
"HEY!"
they all looked up to see Kankuro, Kabuto and Dosu came around the tower and made for them.
"What took you so long?" Naruto asked.
Kankuro shrugged and went to talk to his siblings. Naruto looked at Kabuto who pushed his glasses up.
"Forgive our tardiness Naruto-sama. We ran into a squad that is aligned with Natas."
"Damn." Naruto muttered.
"They won't be around any longer. Its what took us so long as they proved to be decent fighters."
Dosu nodded. "They identified themselves as Reptile, Smoke and Rain. They were all dressed similar to Scorpion and Sub-Zero, but different colors."
"Yeah, I kicked ass…" Kankuro said and the others sighed at his boasting. "Kankuro did fair well, he lost a puppet as the one called Reptile spat acid."
"Bastard was fast too, he could blend in to the foliage like a chameleon." Kankuro said from where he was raiding his siblings packs for food. "Lost my backpack and two of my puppets."
"You still have Crow?" Temari gestured to the wrapped puppet.
"Yeah. Dosu saved him for me."
"They're dead and we've sealed them in scroll to hand over to Lord Orochimaru." Kabuto continued. "How was your task?"
Naruto went on to explain the other team and how Natas was stalking the Uchiha. He showed them the map. "They're in this area called Dark Territory. It seems like a waiting game, no one has moved according to Gaara's sand eyes."
A snake slithered out of the foliage from the tower. "Lord Naruto."
"Asia." Naruto went to a knee and held out an arm for the little snake. "What are you doing out here?"
"Messsssage from your mother and Anko."
The Oto ninja were on their feet and gathered around.
"Report to tower. Sssscrub misssssion." The little asp hissed.
"Well, that's that." Naruto said. "Thank you Asia." He stroked the snake's head. "I'll make sure nee-chan gets you some mice."
"Thank you Naruto, you are kind."
The snake dismissed itself and Naruto looked at the Oto group. "Well, you heard the orders. Uchiha is out of our hands. Head to the tower."
Kabuto stopped him. "I'm afraid we didn't get a heaven scroll Naruto-sama." He said.
Naruto looked at the others. "Anyone got a spare?"
Shakes of head and Naruto groaned. "And the only teams left are in Dark Territory. Wonderful."
Kabuto straightened. "We will go on and get a scroll."
"We could help…" Naruto began.
"No, Lady Tsunade would…not be pleased. Our team will do it alone and join you as soon as possible. Go to the tower Naruto-sama."
Naruto narrowed his eyes then sighed. "Very well Kabuto. Don't die, my sister would be most displeased."
Kin and Haku snorted and Temari shook her head as well.
After dividing up the supplies to rearm Kabuto and the others, the six genin entered the tower while the last Oto team headed off towards something far more dangerous.
XX
Naruto and the others opened the scrolls and were greeted by Tsunade and Anko. They were ushered to a side room where Orochimaru and Jiraiya was waiting.
"Where's the other team?" Orochimaru asked getting to his feet.
"They didn't acquire a scroll yet. They did run into another team of Natas's freaks." Naruto said.
They reported everything and Orochimaru did not look happy.
"And with them all in Dark Territory, anything can happen." Orochimaru hissed. "He's after the Uchiha?"
"Yes, he's admitted as much as did the one called Kano."
Naruto looked at the others and turned around. "I'm going…"
"No." Tsunade, Anko and Orochimaru said at the same time.
"We need to stay here."
"But what about…" Naruto started to complain.
"We need to trust their abilities." Orochimaru said sadly. "Konoha is watching us carefully. If you go charging back out there…"
Naruto spun and kicked a chair across the room. "Damn it Uncle, Natas is out there. Kankuro, Kabuto and Dosu are going to get annihilated."
"We need to trust them Naruto." Orochimaru said. "I hate it as well, but right now we can't go running around like a leaf nin with one of Jiraiya's stupid books. We need to play smart and keep what we know close. Sarutobi has admitted that many in Konoha would like nothing more than to kill you."
"Fucking fox." Naruto muttered resting a hand on his stomach.
He looked at Anko who looked unsettled as well. They remembered Natas and how strong he was.
XX
"Bad idea." Kankuro muttered as they leapt from branch to branch. "Did I mention this was a stupid idea?" he asked louder.
Kabuto sighed and adjust his glasses. "Numerous times. But we have our mission." He said.
"Abort." Kankuro said.
"Too late, we're committed." Dosu admitted. "We're nearly there."
Kankuro sighed. "This has clusterfuck written all over it." He muttered fingering the kunai Naruto and Temari had armed him with.
"There." Kabuto said as they landed on a branch. Down in a clearing they saw The Uchiha's team laid to waste. Natas was holding the Uchiha up by his throat.
"What should we do?" Kankuro asked.
"How about die?"
the three Oto nin scattered as Kano landed with a grin, his knife buried deep into the branch where they'd been a second before.
"We have no quarrel with you." Kabuto said. "We just need a scroll to enter the tower. You kicking the shit out of Konoha is none of our business." The usually quiet medic said. He was nervous. The amount of killing intent coming from the clearing was at levels nearly making them sick, even at this distance.
"You killed our comrades." Kano said as he licked the blade of his knife.
"They attacked us, we have not quarrel and want none." Dosu said.
"Oh you got a quarrel mate. Cyrax hates loosing those he considers clan."
The oto three scattered again, as the acid net slammed into the tree and started to dissolve the bark, scorching the tree.
Not good. Kabuto thought seeing another nin join the knife wielder. A woman wearing an outfit similar to Anko's with green hot pants and halter top and a mask joined them, she was holding a staff.
"About time you joined us Jade." Kano snarked. "You leave us with all the work."
"Poor baby." She said tossing her long black hair over her shoulder with a snap of her head. "Natas says leave one alive to deliver a message to Uzumaki." She said holding up a scroll. She pointed. "Leave that one. Kill the other two."
Oh shit.
XX
Natas smirked as Sub-Zero shattered the pink haired girl into hundreds of pieces and the Uchiha's other teammate was burnt alive by Scorpion.
He looked at the Uchiha in his grasp. "Don't worry boy. Your suffering is about to end. I just want your eyes. Even without the sharingan activated, I can use them, Uchiha DNA after all will be valuable to the highest bidder soon." Natas paused. "I suppose we'll need more genetic material." He snapped his fingers and another ninja appeared, she wore the same marks as Sub-Zero. "Frost. Take him to the doctor. Once he has all he needs, kill him and dispose of him."
The female ninja like the other two was silent as she froze Sasuke Uchiha in a block of ice up to his neck and then vanished in a blast of cold air.
He looked over his shoulder as Jade, Kano and Cyrax disposed of the Oto-nin. He considered killing the other Konoha nin, but they were like frightened rabbits hiding in the brush.
"Let's go. I wish to see how Naruto-kun handles the next round."
Natas and his team leapt away, the sign of slaughter all around. In the bushes Team 8, Team 9 and Team 10 were being sick at the wholesale slaughter they'd just witnessed, too afraid from the Killing Intent to even move to help Team 7.
Neji Hyuga the first able to move saw the Oto team and found a survivor amidst the carnage. He saw the scroll stuffed into the Nin's clothes and read the name.
Uzumaki
It was a name Neji would remember. It was a name he would blame for the slaughter here in the forest. It was a name he'd report to the Hokage as soon as possible.
AN: Well, second round comes to a close next chapter. What does Natas have in store for the Uchiha? Which Oto nin survived? Who will be facing who? Find out next time on the Little Sannin.