Kumogakure Ninja
Posted: 16-09-09
Updated 28-06-11
CH3: The Village of Ritoru Haaku
(Three Months Later: Kumogakure Training Ground Eleven)
Shinobi life turned out to be very different from what Naruto expected. It wasn't as exciting to be a genin as he had hoped it would be. The only missions they were authorized to do so far were mere D-rank missions that could be completed by even a first year academy student. Naruto spent most of his time training with Hari to hone his skills for the day they finally got a C-rank mission.
Currently the two were going at in an intense taijutsu match that had been going on for well over thirty minutes by now. This match was more intense than usual for the stakes were higher today than they ever were before.
Naruto jumped over Hari's palm strike and landed in a crouch, flooring his opponent with a kick behind the knees as he did so. Hari swore and rolled over the ground to dodge one Naruto's notoriously vicious heel drops and scrabbled to his feet, turning the moment on Naruto by bull-tackling him into the tree behind him and following up with a solid punch to the cheek.
Naruto quickly got up and took his stance and danced around lightly as he spat out some blood. ''You know what happens if you lose, right?''
''Yeah,'' Hari gulped almost fearfully with a sense of dread at the prospect of losing this fight. ''No way in hell am I going to pay off Kirabi-sensei's tab. That guy drinks sake by barrel!''
''I'm not going to lose all the money I made with those shitty D-ranks either!'' Naruto charged Hari again and initiated a fierce hand-to-hand battle.
The two traded powerful blows and though Hari was strong, he simply couldn't keep up with Naruto's speed and agility and soon found his legs kicked out from under him and a heel stopped inches away from his nose as Naruto stood over him victoriously with a grin.
"Damn it."
…
''Damn it.'' Hari counted the few left over ryō bills in his near empty wallet as they left the bar Kirabi usually frequented. ''You fight dirty, you know right? I'm pretty that counts as cheating.''
Naruto rubbed a finger under his nose, grinning deviously, ''There's no such thing as cheating in the shinobi world, Hari. No such thing!''
''Oh, so you do know a little bit of the shinobi world.'' Yugito appeared by them, landing in a crouched position on a rooftop close to the pair. ''And here I was thinking you couldn't be any more a failure of a shinobi.''
Naruto groaned, not bothering to turn back and look up. ''What the hell do you want, Yugito?''
''I was sent by Kirabi-sensei to get you. We've got a mission. Meet us at the Raikage Tower in fifteen minutes. ''Yugito promptly disappeared with a puff of smoke.
"Show off,'' Naruto and Hari said simultaneously.
-ooo-
(Raikage Tower)
''Your mission is to deliver the annual quota to the fishermen village Ritoru Haaku,'' a staff chūnin briefed the team. ''We have not received a reply from the mayor and the messenger bird we sent nearly a month ago has failed to return. Your secondary objectives are to inspect the village and submit a report upon returning. This is a C-ranked mission, pack for a minimum of seven days. Dismissed.''
Naruto shoved his hands in his pockets. ''I'll go get my stuff.''
Kirabi looked at the clock in the mission hall. ''Meet up at the southern elevators in one hour. If you're late, you're carrying all the bags.'' Instantly, his pupils took off to their homes to collect their equipment. Kirabi proceeded to climb a few stairs and entered his brother's office.
(AN: Ritoru Haaku – Japanese for 'little catch' is a small village in the Fishermen Islands, under the protection of Kumo that is surrounded by rivers that lead to the sea. Much mystery surrounds this village and its neighbouring islands.)
"You cleared us for an mission out of the village already?" Kirabi asked his older brother as he took a seat, eyeing his brother for any signs of worry. The Raikage wouldn't openly admit it but over the years he had developed a bond with Naruto and could even go as far as saying he was like another younger brother or a nephew.
"Are you sure about this, big bro?"
''Just go,'' the Raikage said, seemingly bothered by something. ''And hurry back, these kids need training for the upcoming Chūnin Exams in Konoha.''
''You're sending teams to Konoha?'' Kirabi turned once again with an eyebrow raised so high it was visible over his shades. "Now that's surprising, bro. Are you sure it's coo' considering Naruto's past?"
''Yes, now get going!'' the Raikage barked spinning his chair to look out of his window.
''Aight, you don't hav' to be frontin' on me, yo!'' Kirabi quickly ran out of the office, narrowly avoiding a desk lamp his older brother hurled at him.
''Younger brothers,'' the Raikage groaned out loud as he poured himself a drink, turning to the picture of a beautiful lady on his desk, ''If only I knew how you handled us, mother.''
…
Naruto looked sourly at Yugito as they stood on the descending elevator. 'Why did she have to be in my team again?' he wondered.
Yugito caught Naruto's stair and stared back impassively, as if to say, ''I don't care what you're thinking, you're below me anyway.'' Naruto looked away, not wanting to blink first. It was stupid to try to win a staring contest against a jinchūriki with a cat demon in her.
Despite feeling anxious about his first mission away from Kumo, he felt different somehow. As if he had grown ten inches. Here he was, going out on a C-ranked mission with his team, leaving the village for the first time in six years. He was glad Kirabi was his sensei. He wouldn't have wanted to experience this for the first time without his closest friend. Naruto looked at his other best friend, Hari. The teen looked as anxious as he did, yet he had an eager expression on him.
Naruto finally glanced back to Yugito, unsurprised to find her as impassive as ever without a single emotion on her dispassionate exterior. Naruto shook his head, what was wrong with this girl? He didn't expect her to be carrying her emotions on her sleeves but what in the world had happened to her to make her so icy?
''How are you guys feeling about first C-ranked mission?'' Kirabi asked, adjusting his seven swords as they continued do descend the enormous mountain upon which Kumogakure had been settled for years. ''The odds are we probably won't be facing any shinobi on the way there but there's plenty of other scum out there.''
Naruto was anxious but confident. ''I feel fine, great even. It's the first time I've left Kumo in six years but something tells me we're going to be alright.''
''I feel the same way.'' Hari joined in.
''No low life will best me in combat,'' Yugito remarked, to which Kirabi shook his head.
''Don't presume bandits don't know jutsu. They may not know ninjutsu - which is the way we refer to it, but they can still be able to manipulate chakra and use their own techniques. Like the samurai in the north and the east,'' Kirabi explained, to which the team nodded.
Half an hour later, they finally reached the main grounds. They had taken one of the shinobi elevators and at the exit point there were a few dozen shinobi stationed at the registry counter.
''Have a good one!'' a chūnin said as they walked past, ''Watch out though! We've had some reports of bandits being sighted a couple of miles from here. Those bastards are sneakier than shinobi if they have to be!''
-ooo-
(Five Days Later)
''Finally!'' Naruto shouted as they reached the outskirts of the village. The two day trip had seemed so much longer. ''What a dump!'' Naruto added as soon as he noticed the state the village was in.
Hari nodded, ''I imagined this village to be quite wealthy. They are under the protection of Kumo, which should've scared away low lives and be good for business.''
Naruto placed his hands in his pockets, ''Whatever, I just hope they got a nice place we could stay. I can go for a nice, hot shower and a comfy bed.''
''Maybe,'' Hari scratched his cheek, ''It isn't as bad as it looks, and I could really go for some real food.''
Kirabi adjusted his shades. They stood on a tall hill that looked down upon the village. Everything seemed normal from what he could see, but his gut told him something was wrong. ''Kiddies, stay alert. Something tells me that village has seen better days.''
''You've never been here, sensei?'' Yugito asked.
Kirabi shook his head, ''I never travelled this far to the south. But let's just check it out.''
…
As they got closer to the village, they noticed the horrible state it was in. The village had recently been raid. Houses were collapsed and still burning, bodies lay to the side of the road mangled, cut and dismembered, children were crying - the state of the once prosperous fishermen village was truly horrible.
''Stay behind me,'' Kirabi ordered, as they made their way through the packs of moaning villagers.
''Why did you arrive now and not when they were attacking us?'' a woman screamed, ''They killed my husband and sons!''
''Are you all Kumo deems us to deserve? A bunch of snot nosed kids?'' another villager shouted with his fist waving in anger.
Kirabi ignored their calls, as did Yugito and Hari, but Naruto had a far harder time coping with the anguished looks on their faces. He didn't know why, but seeing the villagers in such sorrow filled him with anger. He stopped to look at a woman on the ground, shielding her baby from the wind and feeding her child some of the edible things she could find. Naruto reached into his pouch and took out a handful of ration bars and crouched next to the woman and gave her the nutritious bars. The woman took them in shaking hands, saying in an even shakier voice, ''Thank you.''
''Take care of your kid,'' he said before catching up his team.
This act of kindness did not go unseen by Yugito, who gave him a curious look when he caught up.
''What are you looking at?'' Naruto demanded rudely, catching her eye.
''Nothing,'' the female jinchūriki replied.
Naruto frowned, stuffing his fists in his pockets. He felt so angry and the urge to help these people was so great, he could barely fight of the desire to find the men who did this and punish them. Kirabi led them to the village hall, where he knew he would find the village leader. He pushed open the damaged and partly burned double doors, his team followed in silence. The city hall was full of heavily wounded men, women and children. Naruto felt sick.
''Are you Hatorri-san?'' Kirabi asked, unusual respectful to an old man tending to the wounds of a softly crying child.
Hattori merely nodded without looking up as his full attention was on treating his patient.
''Can you tell us what happened, Hattori-san?'' Hattori shook his head prompting Kirabi sigh. ''Is there a reason why you can't tell us?''
Hattori finally looked up, revealing his grimy white bearded face that bared many fresh scars.
''He can't speak,'' a teenage girl said, walking up to the team, ''They cut out his tongue because he didn't shut up.''
The purple haired girl with brown eyes and smooth, yet grimy, skin scoffed. She must've been beautiful if she wasn't wearing a grimy red kimono that definitely had seen better days and didn't look like she hadn't had a shower in weeks. ''That's what you get for defying the Akumu Shokō.''
''What did you say?'' Naruto asked angrily, grabbing the girl by the collar, despite the fact she was much at least ten inches taller than him. ''Say that again!''
The girl just smirked at him, ''You going to hit me? Then do it,'' she goaded. Naruto didn't like her coy smile and resisted the urge to comply with her goading but let her go.
''That's enough, Emiko!'' A man dressed in remnants of the village militia uniform, who looked to be in this forties approached them. ''If you got enough time to mess around with the Kumo shinobi, you have enough time to look after the children!''
''Fine,'' Emiko said, as Naruto let her go but still glared at her. ''I'll look after the cry babies.''
''Don't take too much food with you!'' Kungo shouted after her before turning to the shinobi team.
''So, what's her story?'' Hari asked the man who introduced himself as Kungo.
''Emiko, she's…'' he hesitated with an exasperated sigh, ''… changed a lot. She used to be such a lively girl... until her parents were murdered in the attack by the Akumu Shokō.''
''So the Akumu Shokō were here after all,'' Kirabi said, rubbing his chin, ''That complicates things.''
''They took all of our supplies and left. We barely have enough to feed the children. Some of us haven't eaten in days. The last time they were here was two weeks ago when they killed all of our cattle. We didn't expect Kumo to send reinforcement so late, but I guess it's going to be okay now that you guys are here.''
''Kirabi-sensei, are we ready to handle shinobi of that calibre?'' Yugito inquired, taking out her bingo book and showing a picture of the two. The older of the brothers was Seiichi, a handsome blond with an impressive scar going vertically over his right eye. The younger brother was Shinji, also a handsome blond haired man with a smooth face. The brothers had identical black orbs for eyes and eerie smiles on their faces.
''These guys are out of your league, but I can handle them. I'll send word for reinforcements to be on safe side though,'' Kirabi said to Yugito before turning to Kungo. ''My pupils are tired, if you can point us a place where we could rest, we'd be quite grateful.''
Kungo nodded. ''Yes, of course, please follow. Should we wait for your last team member?'' Kungo asked as they turned around to find Naruto gone.
''Damn it,'' Hari cursed.
Kirabi face-palmed. "Oh boy."
"I'll go look for him," Yugito said, ''I'll bring him back here, sensei.
''Yeah, thanks.''
-ooo-
Naruto leaned against the wall, a frown on his face, his anger swirling in a violent vortex within his heart. The cries of the children shook his very soul. He had forgotten how cruel life could be, having hurried the memories deep within his mind.
''Come here, brat!''
"Die, demon!"
"Just die! Why did you have to live?"
Naruto shook his head, someone caught his eye. It was Emiko, the girl who had lost her parents in the attack, according to Kungo. Naruto pushed himself of the wall and followed her, curious to where she was going and why she looked so suspicious.
The way she walked, Naruto knew she was up to something. She kept looking behind her and if it weren't for the fact Naruto could hide amongst the masses easy, she would've spotted him. She took a turn to left, entering an ally. Naruto stood still for a second but then decided to press onwards. He walked into the small ally way, it was dark and he could barely see Emiko's silhouette. The raven haired teen opened a door at the far end of the ally, apparently not noticing Naruto, and closed it carefully behind her.
''Naruto!'' a voice hissed behind him, causing him to jump and turn around with two blades in his hands.
''What?'' he hissed back at Yugito, sliding his kunai blades in his holster, ''Why are you following me?'' he whispered.
Yugito raised an eyebrow at his jumpiness. ''I came to get you, fool,'' she explained, ''Kirabi-sensei and Hari are going to set up our camp and call in support.''
''Yeah, well, I'll be there in a second!'' Naruto hissed in whispers, ''Just get out of here!''
Yugito shook her head, ''I was told to bring you -''
''Whose there?'' Emiko demanded, opening the door, only to find the ally way abandoned. She looked around for a bit and then closed the door behind her again.
Yugito looked down and gave Naruto a questioning look. She had jumped and he jumped after her and they ended up with Naruto having his arms around her waist and his cheek on her bare tummy. Naruto realizing their position quickly let go and landed silently in a crouch. Yugito landed next to him.
''Lower you voice next time,'' Yugito told him.
Naruto slapped his forehead and went to the door and placed his ear on it. He could hear voices.
''Who was it, Emiko-neechan?'' he heard several young voices ask.
"No one, just a cat, I think." Emiko's voice said, "Now eat up your food. There might not be more for some time."
"Aren't you going to eat?" a young girl's voice asked.
"No, I'm not hungry.''
Naruto stepped back. She was bringing those kids food and he doubted she was allowed to do it, with her attempt to silently disappear in the crowd of hungry villagers. The blond swallowed thickly and looked to Yugito, who stared impassively back.
''Come here,'' she ordered him.
He was not up for a debate and closed into her and she grabbed his hand as they Shunshined away.
…
''Can't we do anything to help these people?'' Naruto pleaded with Kirabi. ''They're starving and they're sick and they're-''
''I know that, Naruto but we have to receive further instructions first.'' It was one of the rare occasions Kirabi was serious. ''We can't request emergency supplies without the agreement of the Raikage and the council and that can take a while.''
''Fine! Then I'll help these people my way!'' Naruto said angrily, he said, turning around and storming off.
''Don't do anything stupid!'' Kirabi shouted after him, but Naruto was already gone prompting Kirabi to sigh. 'That kid is too attuned to misery. But perhaps it's only natural, considering what he's been through.'
Hari stood up and looked to Yugito, ''Let's keep an eye on him, in case he does something stupid.''
Yugito shook her head, ''No, you go,'' she spoke with her usual impassive tone. ''I will stay with Kirabi-sensei and do what is within my orders.''
Hari scowled at her. ''Suit yourself,'' he said, picking up his backpack and running off in the direction Naruto went.
…
''Yo,'' Hari greeted, landing in a crouch position, on a tree branch near Naruto, who had stripped to his boxers and summoned a dozen shadow clones.
''Hey,'' Naruto said keeping his eyes on his clones, ''What are you doing here, Hari?''
''I came to help you out, idiot,'' Hari said, jumping out of the tree and taking of his backpack, shirt, pouches and holsters. ''That's what friends are for, right?'' the teen said, ruffling his gravity defying brown hair.
Naruto turned to him with a grin. ''Yeah...''
''So, why are we standing shirtless again?'' Hari asked. ''I'm assuming you've got a plan- you do have a plan, right?''
Naruto nodded. ''This river is full of fish, but it's been taken as those Akumu brothers' territory. They're too scared to come here and fish-''
''Wait,'' Hari cut him off. ''You do know we can get killed, right? The Akumu Shokō aren't a joke, Naruto. They're psychopath killers.''
''People are dying whether it's by their hand or not,'' Naruto countered fiercely. ''I'm going to catch a huge amount of fish in a couple of minutes, and if I'm lucky, we won't get caught.''
''Whatever it is you're going to do, you're sure as hell not going to do it without me. We're team mates now.''
Naruto grinned and walked to edge of the river, his clones standing behind him. He crouched and closed his eyes, channelling lightning chakra into his finger tips. He flinched, accidentally zapping himself, but pressed on. If Kirabi could literally do this while sleeping, he should at least be able to do this little trick while concentrating. Naruto grinned, finding his centre of control with his cackling fingers and slowly placed it the water.
His clones emulated him.
The river water began to bubble and slowly, as he increased the chakra output, more and more dead fish emerged. Naruto managed to do this for a minute, before giving in and losing control. The loss of control on lightning chakra backfired and sent him flying five feet back, lying on his bare back with a deep, singing wound on his chest.
ZAP!
''Naruto!'' Hari shouted, rushing over to his friend. He took a look at the blonde's wound and felt his stomach churn. The flesh had gone black-greyish and the blood had nearly immediately dried up with the blast impact. ''Fuck!'' Hari cursed, ''Hang in there, I'll -''
''Get the food, those people need to eat..." Naruto mumbled his eyes before passing out.
Hari nodded, carefully placing the blond down and rushing into the river with the other clones and collecting the fish.
-ooo-
(Across the River…)
''Look at that!'' an overweight samurai said, looking through the binoculars in his hands. ''Two kiddies just fried the river!''
''What are you on about?'' another samurai asked. ''You've been hitting the sake early again, haven't you?''
''No!'' the first protested, shoving the binoculars in to his friends hand, ''Take a look!''
With a scoff the second bandit looked through the binoculars and gasped, nearly dropping it. ''The blond one made clones and they're solid!''
''I told you!''
''We need to tell the boss!''
-ooo-
''Of all the stupid things you did,'' Yugito began to lecture as Hari dragged in Naruto inside.
''Just let it go, alright?'' Hari cut her off, helping Naruto on the ground. ''Instead of lecturing us, how about you help us out?''
Yugito scowled. ''I'm not getting involved in this foolishness,'' she said before swiftly turning around, exiting the tent.
''You were right, Naruto,'' Hari said to his unconscious friend as he laid him out on his futon. ''She really is a bitch.''
They were lucky Kirabi wasn't around; he would've surely kicked their asses for messing with lightning chakra. Especially when they didn't have any prior experience with it. Naruto shivered. Hari quickly exited the tent and grabbed his injured friend's clothes. The clones had stacked up the fish in neat piles. Hari went back inside and dressed his team-mate. To his surprise the wound had already started to heal.
Naruto's eyes snapped open and he took a deep breath clutching his wound. ''Fuck!'' the blond cursed repeatedly. ''It hurts!''
''No shit!'' Hari said, his eyes wide open, ''How the hell are you up? You just electrocuted yourself with lightning!''
Naruto quickly looked at the wound and then Hari. '… shit!'
''Well?'' Hari asked.
''Well what?''
''Are you going to tell me how the hell you healed so fast?''
Naruto took on a serious expression, ''I'll tell you later, when we're not on a mission and I can fully explain it.''
''Is it a jutsu?'' Hari asked confused.
''Yeah!'' Naruto said, capitalizing on the open excuse, ''It's a secret healing jutsu I read up ages ago. It's really complex. I'll tell you how to do it when we're back in Kumo.''
''Sure,'' Hari said with a strange look about him. ''Now that you're up again, we might as well distribute the fish, right?''
''Yeah, the fish!'' Naruto said, putting on his t-shirt. ''Let's bring those the city hall. We must have at least three per villager, maybe more.''
Hari smiled and followed Naruto outside of the tent and grabbed two stacks of fish in self made nets of leaves.
-ooo-
''Alright, don't push!'' Naruto shouted as he gave another old lady smoked fish on a leaf. ''There's enough for everyone, alright?''
The pair had just brought the fish to the city hall and started cooking them when hungry villagers showed up. They had been dishing out fish for over thirty minutes now. Clones were running all over the place.
''Ey, don't cut in line! You'll get your fish!'' Naruto shouted at a shameless bald man who had pushed aside a mother and her daughter. ''Here,'' he said to the mother and child, handing them two big fat salmons. ''Eat up and rest.''
It took the pair, even with Naruto's clones running around the place, nearly an hour to feed everyone at least three fishes. As this was going on in the town centre, Yugito, who stood on a nearby rooftop, scoffed, turning around and disappeared with a swift Shunshin.
…
''Man, I am beat!'' Naruto said, letting himself drop on the ground. ''Who knew there were that many villagers in this place?''
Hari nodded. ''We could try and remove the rocks in the river mouth tomorrow. We can fish all we want but they need water too.''
''Tomorrow,'' Naruto said, lying down with his arms spread, ''Who knew a fisherman had such a hard job?'' he said with a laugh.
Kirabi suddenly appeared in front of the two by Shunshin. ''Yo,'' he greeted, ''Been busy, I see,'' he said, looking at the large remains of fire, sticks and fish bones.
''Where the hell were you all day?''
''I was waiting for the messenger bird to come from Kumo, so I could send answer back about the current state of the village,'' Kirabi said, ''The Akumu Shokō were smarter than we though. They killed all messenger birds in this dump so they couldn't contact us.''
''So, did you ask for assistance, Kirabi-sensei?'' Hari asked, getting up and dusting off his shorts.
''I can ask for emergency supplies when we get word back from the village,'' Kirabi said, ''Where's Yugito? You guys didn't get in a fight did you?''
''Hmph,'' Naruto got up. ''She's not worth the effort.''
''Is that so?'' Yugito said appearing behind him. ''You've got quite the big mouth, Uzumaki.''
Naruto successfully resisted the urge to jump and turned around, giving her lazy eyes.
Yugito just stared back impassively till Naruto had to blink and looked away. ''What are we to do now, Kirabi-sensei?''
''Hmm,'' Kirabi rubbed his chin. ''They should get some rest. These two look like they've just ran a marathon but you and me can go on scout patrol.''
Yugito nodded and said, ''Lead the way, sensei.''
Kirabi instantly disappeared with Yugito behind him.
''Show offs,'' Naruto and Hari said simultaneously.
…
Yugito jumped from tree branch to tree branch gratefully, catching up with Kirabi, who was humming beats to himself while writing something down on his notepad, not bothering to look in front of him.
''You know,'' the jōnin said, not looking up from his notepad, ''You should try to get more along with your teammates.''
Yugito scoffed, ''They will only hold me back. They are below my level.''
''True,'' Kirabi said with indifference. ''At the moment, you're the strongest out of the three.''
''At the moment?'' Yugito questioned, making a large leap from a tree branch next to her sensei. ''What's that supposed to mean.''
''What I said,'' Kirabi said evenly. ''At the moment, you're the strongest pupil of team Kirabi.''
''Why the emphasis on 'at the moment', Kirabi-sensei?''
''Because, that's what you are at the moment.'' Kirabi repeated.
Annoyed, Yugito made an indignant sound and jumped in front of her sensei, taking the lead in the scouting mission whilst thinking, 'What must he be thinking? I'm superior to those two fools in every way.'
'If only you would see your foolishness from perspective, Yugito,' Kirabi thought, looking at his female student's back. 'You would see that being cold and indifferent will not shield you from your fears.'
Yugito suddenly stopped and held up her hand. Kirabi landed soundlessly next to her and looked down to her crouching form. She pointed to the east; there was a pack of samurai huddled in a group near the far end of the river they were scouting.
They were arguing.
The shinobi grabbed their binoculars and looked closely at the group. They could barely hear what they were saying, since they were a few hundred feet away.
''I'm telling you! I saw two kids frying up the river and collecting fish!'' a fat samurai with a black beard hair and scars over his face said. ''They've got to be Kumo! We have to tell the bosses!''
''No,'' another insisted. ''Why would Kumo be here? No!''
''I told I don't know why they're here, but it's probably because we've been stationed here for a damn month! This village is under Kumo's protection, right? Something about their river- ack!''
Another samurai had appeared behind him and swiftly decapitated the man. It was so fast Yugito could barely distinguish the silvery-white glow of the blade.
''That fool should've known not to speak of our masters' plans out loud. We may not the only ones in this forest.''
The rest of the samurai took a step back in fear. Some of them quivered and looked to the samurai that killed the other.
''S- Saturo-taichō!'' one cried. ''What do you suppose we do?''
Yugito shifted to get a better look at the samurai; she blushed slightly.
Saturo wore a pure white kimono with a black haori over it. He had snow white hair and intense yellow eyes, smooth skin and, from his evil grin she could see he had sharp teeth, with his fangs being nearly as long as Naruto's. He had his katana stored in a black a scabbard he had strapped to his back, with its hilt looming over his left ship, indicating him to be right handed. He had several glaives holstered to his left leg and had the kanji for ''Inner Darkness'' in white lettering on his black haori.
''Ask Takeshi, I have no time for this,'' Saturo said before disappearing in an instant.
Takeshi, who turned out to be the far less handsome other captain wore a blood red battle armour, similar to that of an traditional samurai but it seemed to be of an lighter material. It was covered by black bears climbing over the torso and a white eye was painted on the helmet. He had a scarred, rough and tanned skin, black eyes, a scar over his left eye, a lightly trimmed black beard and two swords on his back. The swords were in blood red scabbards, which also had bear prints on it.
''Alright, get moving back to the camp. Shinji-sama ordered us to be back before dark and the sun is setting.''
The rest of the samurai nodded and two grabbed the corpse of their fallen comrade and dragged him into the forest with them.
Yugito turned to her sensei who merely pocketed his binoculars and grabbed his notepad and pen again, saying, ''That was informative. Now let's get back to the camp. We need to discuss this.''
Yugito nodded and jumped after her teacher.
Author's Notes
The first original arc of Kumo Nin starts this chapter and I'm quite pleased how it kicks off. This arc will have great characters, but perhaps some will be disappointed by the way I downplay Kirabi's power- which is necessary for this fiction. This story is not about an over-powered ''Naruto and incredibly strong friends'' of any sorts. Just a different kind of Naruto and a different kind of story I hope you will enjoy reading.
Please express any support/criticism/thoughts in a review!