AN/ A bit of a filler chapter. Got to advance the plot along somehow.
Warning: a bit of mature content in this chapter.
Naruto Wandering Demon
Chapter 11: The Pieces Fall into Place
"I thought your message said you were already through, Zhao." Gatō's grating raised voice came from behind, having to shout just to be heard over the streams of fire roaring ahead. Zhao glanced back at the short, disgusting, pathetic excuse of a man he called a boss before returning his attention to the progress his men were making on the wall of ice in front of them.
"My apologies, Gatō-sama. I had hoped that by the time you got here we would have finished but I guess that was a bit optimistic of me." Zhao spoke remarkably evenly for a man who was standing in such close proximity to the exhaust fumes of the men wielding the prototype fire manipulation suits Gatō's researchers had created. Flamethrowers, they called them.
Gatō came to a stop more than a few steps behind Zhao, the heat almost impossible to bear from his current distance. As inconspicuously as possible, Gatō tried to peek around Zhao's imposing figure to catch a glimpse of the men ahead. The suits they wore looked ridiculous, in his opinion, with the thick material needed to protect the wearer from the heat making it nearly impossible to move and the oversized tanks that contained the mixture that fueled the jets of flame having to be pulled behind them on a hand truck making them impractical for use in combat, which was what he had ordered them for.
"It better not take much longer." Gatō clearly thought himself imposing, standing in front of fifteen of Zhao's men while under the assumption that they were loyal to him. "Time is money and I hate wasting money."
"It shouldn't be long, now."
Inwardly, Zhao cursed Gatō for the umpteenth time for having hired rogue ninja behind his back. If Tazuna hadn't thought his life in danger of assassination in the first place the old man would probably have returned using the proper channels and his Fire Nationalists could have detained him. Instead not only had Tazuna made it back onto the island, he had hired his own Shinobi and had them guarding him and his assistant at all times. Zhao was no fool; no matter how proud he was of his mercenary company, he knew what Shinobi were capable of.
Zhao had almost five hundred men under his command and yet, as things stood, with six Shinobi Tazuna was untouchable.
Now their only hope was to hire more Shinobi. Zhao had considered contacting a few of his buddies from his time in the Daimyo's army but had decided against it in the end. As bad as Shinobi were, a bunch of Samurai deciding they wanted to stay after getting rid of a few ninja was infinitely worse.
Unfortunately, when Zhao had brought up hiring more non-rogue ninja Gatō had thrown a tantrum about how much money that would cost when they still had the rest of Zabuza's lackeys to use even if Zabuza himself might be dead. When Zabuza's lair had been discovered, destroyed beyond recognition and littered with dead bodies Gatō was about to relent to Zhao's request when they received word that Zabuza's Demon had taken over and killed everyone at Gatō's emergency bunker located a few kilometers outside Higashikō.
'To hire rogue ninja is one thing but to hire Demon as well? Tazuna wouldn't even have to build the bridge to get rid of Gatō if anyone found out.' It was thanks to that Demon freezing the entire bunker that his men had spent the last week in a literal frozen hellhole. 'And these flamethrowers were supposed to make quick work of this ice, too.'
The brains had gone on and on about how the mixture that they'd created burned hotter and longer than anything else on earth. Against this ice, however, they may as well have been using matches.
Finally, after a week of nonstop excavation, they finished melting a hole in the ice big enough to enter the main room. Without needing to be told, the men standing behind Gatō ran forward to help wheel the tanks behind the two suited soldiers. Zhao and Gatō were the last ones to enter, only after receiving the all clear from his men.
Unlike the tunnel leading to it, while still covered in ice, the room wasn't frozen solid. Every wall was coated in a layer of ice so reflective it might as well have been a mirror, making the already cavernous bunker appear even larger. On the far side of the room was a single bed, on which lay a human form covered from head to toe in a white sheet.
"You gotta be fucking kidding me! We spent all that time getting here and he's fucking dead!"
"Zabuza-sama is not dead." a feminine voice echoed through the room. "But you, Gatō, are late."
"Haku, right?" Gatō asked, stepping forward. Unable to find the source of the voice he decided to speak to the room. "What the fuck happened? I was under the assumption that Tazuna was as good as dead with Zabuza himself going after him? And why the fuck did you come here and kill my men? What happened to your base?"
"The plan was to have Zabuza-sama attack Tazuna on his own while I waited nearby disguised as a Kirigakure Oinin. If they were weak he'd kill them. If they proved too much I would knock Zabuza-sama out in a way that appeared as though I'd killed him and once he had recovered we would attack together. Unfortunately there was a... complication. We didn't anticipate Tazuna to have a Demon accompanying him. He almost beat Zabuza-sama to death.
"As for our base... I don't know what happened to it. By the time I returned with Zabuza-sama it was already a burning wreck. I came here because I knew you'd come once you learned I was here."
"A Demon?" Gatō asked angrily before a giddy smile spread across his face. "That's perfect!"
"If you're thinking of moving on Tazuna while using the fact that he's harboring a Demon as cover you might as well discard that notion right now." Haku decided to warn them. "The Demon is powerful. Between him and the five Shinobi your army won't stand a chance. You must wait until Zabuza-sama recovers—"
"If Tazuna's Demon already beat Zabuza why should I wait for him?" Gatō demanded incredulously. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just have you burnt to a crisp right now and hire some real Shinobi." At these words the suited men sparked the flame at the end of their flamethrowers. "I hear Kumo's Ninja are just as bloodthirsty and even more savage than Kirigakure's."
The entire time that Gatō had been conversing with the Demon Haku, Zhao had been scanning the room for a glimpse of the source of the disembodied voice. All he could see was the countless reflections of he and his men thanks to the crystal clear ice on every surface. It wasn't until Gatō began threatening Zabuza that Zhao finally saw something. A woman, every bit as beautiful as Tsunami in his opinion, was visible in the reflection of the left wall, walking between his men towards Gatō but when he turned to check he saw no one.
"Or better yet, why don't I just hire Kiri and offer your heads as payment?"
When Zhao turned towards the wall to see if the reflection was still there he felt his blood run cold when the previously disembodied voice spoke from right beside him.
Between him and Gatō.
"Because I am certain neither of those villages would hesitate to kill you themselves just for having associated with Zabuza-sama." Haku's breath on his ear caused a shiver of fear to run up Gatō's spine. No one dared move a muscle as the beautiful Demon Haku stood up, having had to crouch to be level with the short man's ear, and slowly circled Gatō. "Whereas, so long as you pay us properly, Zabuza-sama would be more than happy to let you live out the remainder of your pathetic, miserable little life in peace."
Once reaching Gato's front Haku turned to walk towards Zabuza, hips sashaying enticingly to all the men in the room. Even Zhao found his eyes glued to the shapely rear end moving underneath the cheap, thin pink yukata.
"Once Zabuza-sama recovers he will take care of the Shinobi and I will handle the Demon. Until then, do not antagonize Tazuna."
While he was in the Daimyo's army Zhao's commander had a saying he would constantly repeat. 'In the face of fear your average man will lose his ability to think rationally.' Gatō always liked to brag about how he was a great man; intelligent, a great decision maker, nobody had better judgement than him. Yet his next words proved just how stupid he was.
"What are you waiting for? Fry that crossdresser!"
Before Zhao could tell his men to disregard that order the two in the flamethrower suits had already released a torrent of fire that spat forward and completely engulfed Haku's form. And before Gatō could even begin to celebrate a gust of ice cold wind tore through the room, causing everyone to shield their faces.
When the wind died down Gatō was left audibly sputtering at the two frozen remains of the men who had attacked Haku. Even the streams of fire had been frozen solid.
Haku was nowhere to be seen.
Perhaps out of sheer luck, or perhaps Haku had intended him to, Zhao caught a glimpse of Haku's reflection, poised to drive a senbon into Gatō's skull and Zhao managed to push Gato out of the way at the cost of receiving the blow in his shoulder.
For the next few seconds all hell broke loose as every one of Zhao's men was quickly reduced to little cubes of meat, falling to the ground in sickening wet splats. Though one might suggest that he and Gatō had survived because he had thrown them to the ground Zhao knew—knew that the only reason they weren't dead was because Haku hadn't wanted them dead.
"Our fee has just quadrupled." Haku's cold voice echoed across the room. Looking up, Zhao saw the androgynous Demon standing beside the bed where he presumed Zabuza was resting. He was unscathed. Either he had moved out of the way before the fire could touch him or it had frozen before it could reach him.
Deciding to take the obvious dismissal for what it was Zhao stood up, ignoring the pain in his shoulder, before pulling Gatō up and ushering the coward out of the room. Luckily Gatō held his breakfast as they stepped over the remains of Zhao's subordinates.
'The last thing we need is for him to leave behind vomit and urine.'
—
Waking up to an empty futon was an unpleasant occurrence for the green eyed girl whom had grown accustomed to waking up in a warm embrace. For a few minutes she just lay there, staring at the ceiling. Finally Sakura reached up to yank her pillow up so it covered her face and released a muffled groan of aggravation.
'He didn't have to stay out all night.' Sakura bemoaned inwardly. 'It's not like I suddenly hate him just 'cause he's got a bigoted view on something.' Idly she noticed that Shadow was missing, too, though that had become a common occurrence since they'd arrived at Tazuna's house.
After several minutes of procrastinating getting up Sakura was just about to sit up when she heard the sound of slowly shuffling feet making their way down the hall outside the door of the room. At first she thought it was probably Tsunami, the woman had no energy before eating, until the shuffling tapered off in front of the door.
Her eyebrows furrowed, Sakura managed to lift herself on her elbows before the door opened to reveal Naruto awkwardly juggling a tray of food between his left hand and his hip. Once the door was finally open he steadied the tray between both hands before entering the room, only then realizing Sakura was awake.
"Sorry, did I wake you up?" Naruto asked as he walked in and closed the door behind him with his foot. Sakura shook her head.
"I woke up a little while ago." She revealed, watching him slowly cross the room to her, clearly trying to keep the contents steady. "What are you doing?"
"Edward said one of the things he and his wife do is make an effort to never go to bed angry but that if they do they'll usually make the other one breakfast. And since last night when I came back from my walk you were already asleep, I figured—"
"You slept here last night?" Sakura asked, glancing towards his side of the futon as well as reaching over as if checking to see if she could detect any trace of him. Naruto paused.
"Of course I did." He seemed confused at first before his ears fell. "Was I... not supposed to?"
"Yes. I mean, no! I mean..." Sakura took a deep breath while Naruto remained fixed on the spot, staring at her, "when I woke up and you weren't here, I was worried you had stayed out all night."
"I just went for a walk to clear my head." Naruto responded before finally resuming towards her. "You were already sleeping when I got here so this morning I figured I'd make you breakfast in bed." He crouched down to put the tray next to her. "I had planned for you to wake up to it but..."
Sakura stared at the food. Nothing fancy, just a couple pancakes, some sausages, two eggs and diagnally cut toast with a small square of butter and some jam on it but Naruto had tried to make a face out of the meal.
Tried being the keyword because while it seemed he had gotten the pancakes right, he had messed up the sunny side eggs, the yolk having run a bit, and he had left the sausage cooking a little too long causing them to inflate somewhat, giving the smile a busted lip look. Even the toast was a little too burnt. Still, despite the fact that the plate looked like Ino's face after their Chūnin exam draw and subsequent emotional reunion as friends, the butter and jam running down from the toast-nose even resembling blood and snot, Sakura found the gesture beyond touching.
"Thank you. It looks delicious. Really." She emphasized when Naruto didn't appear to believe her but smiled at the compliment nonetheless. "Did you eat already?"
"No." Naruto shook his head.
"Eat with me."
"I wish I could but I should really go clean Tsunami's kitchen. I left a mess." When he went to stand up Sakura's hand caught his.
"Eat with me. I'll help you clean up afterwards." Once he relented and gotten into bed with her it didn't take them long to eat the meal—it had been intended for one person, after all—but Sakura couldn't remember a meal ever leaving her so satisfied. Turning to the blond in bed with her, Sakura smiled as she watched him gently gnawing on the spoon. "Still hungry?"
Naruto froze as if surprised to be caught before turning towards her. "A little bit. You?"
Sakura shook her head. "I'm good." She leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder, a contented sigh escaping her. 'This is how my mornings are supposed to start.' Sakura raised her gaze to stare at her Mate, feeling the sudden urge to kiss him but just as she was about to act on it they were startled apart by a piercing shriek.
"My kitchen!"
—
Much later, after Naruto and Sakura had cleaned up Tsunami's kitchen, which had indeed been a mess, and after their morning sparring session, everyone sat at the kitchen table to discuss the teams for the day. Kiba and Hinata would stay at the house, Sakura and Shino would guard Edward and Kurenai and Naruto would accompany Tazuna into Higashīko. The reasoning being that, now that construction of the bridge was well underway, the two Jōnin were the most suited to protect Tazuna when walking into the agitated hornets nest.
"How come we're headed back to this place?" Naruto couldn't help but ask as he and Kurenai trailed behind Tazuna. He was finally wearing a shirt again. While Kurenai walked normally Naruto had his hands clasped behind his head and his eyes were so narrowed they could be mistaken for another set of whisker-like lines.
"Now that most of the construction companies outside of the port cities have pledged their support we've run into an unexpected problem." Tazuna decided to indulge the blond. "While it's great that we can build so quickly thanks to Edward, it won't be long before we're running out of material faster than it can be made. If we can't get the major companies to enter into an agreement with us, it'll be winter by the time we finally finish."
Naruto let out a low whistle, attempting to give off a casual air even if he felt like hyperventilating. 'Six months? I'm already getting jittery staying here this long and it's only been a week.' He thought. Out loud he said, "And if we can get these big companies?"
"If everything goes according to plan, we should be able to cut that time by more than half."
Naruto only just managed to suppress a groan.
"How do you figure that, Tazuna-san?" Kurenai beat Naruto to the question.
"The plan is to have the companies on a rotation instead of just simply having them bring everything they can all at once. That way we won't lose almost an entire week each time while we wait for another batch of materials."
As they approached the slums surrounding the port city the difference from before was like night and day. Where as before everyone had simply sat around, hopeless to their situation, now people were walking around, discussing the mysterious rapidly building bridge excitedly.
"Did you hear?"
"The bridge grew another couple dozen sections!"
"I wish we knew who was behind it. I'd love to help out."
"I'm telling you what Shinji told me; that Kazuma told him that Kyoko said that Michael saw a group of rebels hundreds of people strong building the bridge."
"If I didn't know any better I'd swear it was the work of a skill from my homeland, Amestris."
The small community was abuzz with speculation. No one paid the trio any attention as they crossed through and soon enough they were again in front of the entrance of the grand city.
"Tazuna and two guests."
—
'Day ten.
'Still no sign of the Kyūbi, getting kind of bored again.
'On the bright side,' Ryuk looked down at the lifeless eyes of the young teenage girl who had wandered too close to his hiding spot, 'I had fun last night.'
He eyed her nude form, unmarred except for the bruising around her neck from when he'd gotten carried away and strangled her. 'What the heck; I can still have fun.
'Compared to a rock this is a million times better.'
—
As they walked out of the meeting a few hours later, Tazuna couldn't help but feel like he wasn't doing much to free his Nation. Edward was singlehandedly building the bridge at a rate that simply wouldn't be possible without the Alchemist's abilities and the aged bridge builder was pretty convinced that it was due to Kurenai accompanying him to all his meetings that all his negotiations had gone so well.
Only a few times did they have to give the opposite parties a live demonstration.
Most men drooled over Kurenai's mere presence and those that managed to hold their composure seemed to damn near reach climax once she spoke to them. He was pretty sure the poor representative from Cabbage Corp did reach an orgasm when Kurenai flirted with her.
While Tazuna would be the first to admit that the black haired woman was preternaturally beautiful and made him more than a bit self conscious upon first meeting her, he had never reacted like some of his associates.
"Do I even want to know what they thought you were doing to them under your Genjutsu?" Naruto's question broke Tazuna out of his self depreciating musings and he looked over his shoulder at the two Shinobi escorting him. Beside the blond Kurenai gave a tired sigh.
"No. No, you do not."
"How many of these meetings did you... influence like that?"
"Thankfully not many." Kurenai flashed Tazuna a radiant smile. "Tazuna-san has been doing a fine job of motivating these business types all on his own."
Tazuna instantly felt his cheeks flush from the compliment and his heart rate speed up due to Kurenai's smile. Quickly he returned his gaze forward to hide his flustered state. 'Really, what's up with these Kunoichi? Do they all have to be so attractive?'
Between Kurenai and Hinata's stunning beauty Tazuna had found himself feigning an over exaggerated aloofness more often than not since he met them. Even Naruto's fiancé, while objectively not as hot as her two darker haired comrades, was pretty enough that he wished he was a few decades younger.
Because of facing forward the aged brudge builder didn't see Naruto gain Kurenai's attention and mouth, "All of them?"
"Pretty much." Kurenai mouthed back. "Seeing as that meeting went quicker than we anticipated, is there anything you'd like to do while we're here, Tazuna-san?" Kurenai voiced her question. "Best not to have to come back here too often if we can avoid it."
"We could always get something to eat," Tazuna suggested, tugging on the straps of his new rucksack, "my treat."
Kurenai stared at the old man impassively. "Do you really think it wise to use that money on overpriced takeout?" The money she was referring to had been given to Tazuna at the meeting after he'd mentioned that while construction of the bridge would cost nothing more than the materials they were provided, a bit of cash could help keep them fed properly.
"Yeah, you're right." Tazuna pouted before turning to lead them back to the construction site so they could pitch in on moving the supplies.
Naruto found himself glad that Tazuna was ready to head back. For some reason he couldn't place, the blond had felt wrong ever since he stepped foot into the Human port city. It felt like he was being weighed down and the air felt thick.
'If I didn't know any better, I'd swear it was a Demon but that doesn't make sense.' It had been a while since he'd come across a Demon that could illicit a reaction from him similar to what he'd generated from Inari.
'The last time I felt this afraid was when I called the Nibi old.'
—
Heavy breathing filled the air of the otherwise quiet clearing as Sakura and Shino lost themselves in their rigorous exercise. Clothing rustled and Sakura shifted so she could push back, earning a grunt from Shino. The young Aburame responded by grabbing hold of her arm and pulling it back with him, causing Sakura to gasp in pain.
"That hurt."
"My apologies, Sakura-san."
"Don't apologize." thanks to the amount of sweat covering her body Sakura was able to yank her arm free of the boy behind her and get back into her previous position. "We're practicing for the real thing."
Shino was still for a few seconds before he went at the rosette as fast as he could with everything he had. Their bodies moved in near tandem and Shino couldn't help but think that he was glad that he had propositioned this idea to Sakura the first time they'd been paired together. The fact that what they were doing could be considered cheating crossed their minds a few times but they were usually quick to disregard the notion. No one was stopping the rest from doing the same.
Finally, after almost five minutes Shino managed to outlast Sakura's stamina and with a harsh impact she fell to the floor where she remained, catching her breathe.
"Fuck!" Sakura's frustration was audible in her cuss. "I still can't beat you!"
Shino stared down at the exhausted blindfolded girl, quite tired himself. While many of the boys in their year had quite the unfavorable opinion of Sakura because of her violent tendencies or enthusiasm to waste time on frivolous activities, Shino could honestly say that after spending a little over a week sparing with Sakura, both in front of everyone and on their own, he had come to respect her abilities as a Kunoichi.
'She might not be the strongest opponent I've ever sparred against,' Shino thought to himself as Sakura pulled the blindfold from her eyes, 'and her lack of any sort of clan techniques might appear to put her at a disadvantage but damn if she doesn't learn at a truly frightening pace.'
In Shino's opinion, if Zabuza were to return right now, this very instant, Sakura would be the only one who had a chance of surviving. She may not have a chance of beating the Ronin on her own, but if Zabuza tried to attack them under the cover of his mist again he was in for an unpleasant surprise from the pink haired Haruno.
"Perhaps not but I can't hit you using purely Taijutsu." Shino tried to placate the rosette.
"No offense, Shino, but you're not exactly a Taijutsu specialist. I can't last nearly as long against the others."
"No offense taken," he was, after all, a ranged combatant, "though I feel you are selling yourself short. You are the only one among us who can last longer than sixty seconds regardless of whom your sparring partner is."
Sakura sat in stunned silence for several seconds as her mind slowly came to the realization that Shino had actually complimented her without accidentally insulting her. "Still, I'd like to be able to do more than just dodge." She said once she'd accepted the compliment. "Should we switch, then?"
Shino nodded, pulling out his own blindfold to begin putting it on until they heard Edward's whistle. "I suppose we'll start with me next time." he said, putting the blindfold away before offering Sakura his hand to help her up.
Together they walked from the hidden clearing over towards Edward, who was waiting near the bridge. At their inquisitive glances Edward tilted his head down the road where the first couple dozen horse drawn carts could be seen headed their way.
"Oh, good. We made it before the supply deliveries did." Tazuna's voice came from the side, from a less worn path.
"That was quick." Edward remarked upon seeing the ragtag group walking towards them. "Please tell me they didn't laugh you out of the meeting?"
"What?" Tazuna's face contorted in confusion. "No. The meeting went better than expected." here the elderly man pulled his new rucksack off to show the rest its contents. "Even managed to convince them to give us a bonus. We eat real meat tonight!"
Edward grinned at Tazuna's enthusiasm and gave an impressed whistle once he saw the contents of the bag properly. Naruto went to give Sakura a quick greeting kiss only to pause once he placed a hand on her arm.
"Ew. You're all sweaty." Naruto complained as he tried to wipe his palm on her shirt only to pull back his hand even wetter than before. "Why are you all sweaty?"
Sakura, at first watching her mate's complaints disinterestedly, grinned at the thought of giving the blond a taste of his own medicine.
"Stop whining and give me a kiss, Naruto." Sakura closed the gap between them, grabbing a fistful of his shirt to prevent him from running. When she tried to pull him down however he resisted by leaning his head back and away from her.
"Nah-uh."
"Come on, Naruto. It's just a bit of sweat."
"Dry off and I'll kiss you as much as you want."
"Naruto."
"Sakura-chan," he said her name as a long drawn out whine, "no means no."
"Fine." The rosette released her hold on his shirt and, because of his exaggerated efforts to keep away, Naruto fell backwards onto the ground with a surprised yelp. "But you owe me."
On the ground Naruto couldn't help but feel like that was more of a threat than anything else but he didn't have much time to ponder Sakura's words before he had to move or risk getting trampled.
Soon enough everyone was busy helping the workers unload and move the supplies to where Edward had already drawn an Alchemy circle. And although he should probably be used to it by now, Naruto still found himself amazed every time he saw Edward Transmute whole sections of the bridge. Sometimes to the point where he was reprimanded for lollygagging.
Every so often Naruto would get fed up with the way some of the men leered at his Mate.
Unlike Hinata and Kurenai's baggier clothes, Sakura's more formfitting clothing was certainly more eye catching—especially when she chose to forgo her usual skirt and just walk around in her spandex shorts, her perfect behind on full display.
In those moments, if Sakura was busy Naruto would send a small wave of Chakra over to give the perverts a jolt or, as was the case when she stood talking to Edward one time, unaware of the three men standing behind her, ogling the way her spandex shorts had creased into her ass, he simply went over and wrapped her in a hug from behind to obstruct their view.
Each time Sakura would look at him questioningly and he would shift his eyes in the direction of the man or men that had been staring at her. Sakura would then either roll her eyes at his possessiveness or give him a huff that signified she thought he was overreacting. Still, the rosette appreciated that he wasn't making a fuss over her clothes or getting upset with her but with the men who couldn't keep their gazes to themselves.
—
Guarding Tazuna's house had quickly become considered by most of the teens as a wasted day at best and a punishment at worst. Nothing ever happened. While that was, admittedly, a good thing it didn't mean that the ones stationed there didn't lament being essentially stuck there all day.
Kiba in particular strongly disliked having to spend all day cooped up in the house that was beginning to retain the stench of Demon, which he of course attributed to Naruto's companion, Shadow. He had tried to convince Hinata that they should use the assignment to get in a bit of practice, like he was sure Shino and Sakura were, but she had refused, saying they should remain on alert.
'As if anything's gonna happen!' Kiba raged internally. 'Ever since we fought off Zabuza nothing else has happened. Not even that Zhao guy has pulled anything.'
After what felt like an eternity the rest returned. While everyone else was tired from working all day, Kiba was upset because he was tired from doing literally nothing.
—
At long last, after eleven of the longest days of his life, he was free. Naruto's wounds had finally healed and the young Fox Demon couldn't be any more excited.
The first thing he did was give his back a nice long stretch followed by the mother of all back cracks. After that was out of the way there was something Naruto had been itching to do since the day he woke up and realized that he had to wait for his wounds to heal.
"Wow, you really can't see a thing with this thing on, can you?" Naruto naively commented as he fiddled with the blindfold that had been placed over his eyes. Standing a few meters opposite him was Hinata, the normally shy girl's face set in firm determination.
'I can't treat Naruto-san the same as everyone else. He may be the same age as us but he's a Jōnin like Kurenai-sensei. That means his skills must be impressive.' the Hyūga heiress hadn't had much of a chance to observe the first half of his fight with Zabuza but she'd caught the tail end.
'Despite his frame he was able to physically overpower Zabuza without difficulty but he did get severely injured before that so he might not be that strong normally—an enhancement type Jutsu? Or a Kekkei Genkai, perhaps? That would explain his eyes after the fight.'
Closer to Tazuna's house the rest of the Shinobi stood waiting for the impromptu training exercise to commence. It was late, dinner would be ready soon, and normally they'd be inside resting but Naruto had scrambled down the steps and asked, more like pleaded, for someone to spar with him because his wounds were 'finally' healed.
For a while it looked like no one would take him up on his offer—everyone was tired from working on the bridge all day, Kiba even wondered aloud how Naruto wasn't as tired as the rest of them—and Sakura, one of the ones who had stayed to guard Tsunami, wanted him to wait until morning.
Hinata, whom had been paired with Sakura that day, decided to accept Naruto's request after seeing the kicked puppy expression he wore while Sakura berated him for bothering everyone with his impatience.
Thus they found themselves outside.
Kurenai surprised herself with just how much she wanted to see Naruto's abilities, even if he would be severely handicapped. The blond Suna Jōnin was a bit of a mystery. Based off his everyday interactions with her squad and the client, she would have a little difficulty believing he was a Jōnin. Of course, his display against Zabuza during their fight was certainly impressive but power alone meant nothing in Shinobi rankings.
Kurenai could see that Kiba and Shino were also eager to see if Naruto would be able to hold his own against Hinata, who was the best Taijutsu fighter among Team Eight, with or without her Gentle Fist. Sakura on the other hand appeared... concerned?
'If he isn't that strong normally should I hold back at first to test his aptitude for this?' Hinata contemplated, her body tensed like a coil ready to spring at any moment. 'No, he is a Jōnin at his age. Not even Sasuke-san or Neji-kun, for all their prowess, have managed to even be nominated for Jōnin. Naruto-san must be on another level entirely. I can't afford to go easy on him.'
"So," Naruto began, turning his head in the direction of the rest of the Shinobi, completely unaware that at that moment Hinata was already rushing towards him, "how's this work, does somebody say—oof!"
Almost simultaneously the gathered Shinobi winced as they saw Hinata make quick work of the blindfolded Suna Nin.
A strong double handed palm thrust to the chest appeared to knock the wind out of Naruto's lungs and as soon as he began doubling over Hinata took a step back with her left leg before spinning around to deliver a powerful heel kick with her right leg sending Naruto staggering away. Hinata followed after him quickly, running up behind Naruto before delivering a drop kick to the back of his knees.
As soon as she landed Hinata rolled backwards onto her feet and the moment Naruto's knees hit the ground Hinata was already up. Closing the distance between them, she grabbed a fistful of his blond hair with her right hand before pulling his head back to expose his throat and pulling her other arm back to deliver a finishing blow.
When Hinata went to bring her hand down, however, she—along with everyone watching—was surprised when Naruto caught her hand in his own.
"You think we could start over, Hinata-san? Clearly you win this round though, and I don't mean to downplay your abilities in the slightest when I say this, you kinda caught me off guard."
Hinata was still a bit dumbfounded that Naruto had caught her attack. She had been relentless in her series of strikes and she couldn't have taken more than thirty seconds from start to finish. Still, she nodded before realizing Naruto clearly couldn't see her.
"That's fine."
"Great." Though Naruto was grinning his voice was clearly strained from the initial blow and subsequent assault. "Lemme just... catch my breath."
As Naruto and Hinata got back into their starting positions, all Naruto had to do was stand up seeing as he had never actually moved, a myriad of thoughts ran through the observers minds.
'I know he's blindfolded but still... I guess I was expecting more from this guy.'
'He says he's fully healed but if he gets injured and that wound reappears; so help me I really will find some rope and tie him down until the mission is over.'
'And if we happen to have our way with him...'
'Shut up!'
'Hinata was going all out just now; there was no hesitance in her attacks. That Naruto, who should still have been out of it, could catch her hand so easily...'
Unlike before, this time Naruto brought his guard up as soon as he was in place, dropping into a basic fighting stance that looked far too full of openings to be taken seriously by the amassed Konoha Shinobi. Hinata was a bit taken aback by the reckless stance but recovered quickly.
Footsteps to his left alerted Naruto that the girl was attempting to come at him from an angle. As soon as she was within striking distance he threw a punch, figuring it might throw her off guard as opposed to him simply waiting and attempting to dodge, but a soft hand wrapped around his wrist before pulling him forward.
Though Hinata hadn't expected Naruto to go on the offensive, almost as if on autopilot she caught his arm before yanking him off balance towards her, her other arm moving to deliver a chop to his throat that promised to have not only her strength but his own weight behind it.
A foot connecting with her stomach and sending her crashing backwards was completely unexpected.
"You let me hear you." Naruto stated as he rubbed his neck where he had taken a much blunted blow thanks to his quick thinking. "I hadn't thought of that being used against me."
Hinata found herself being the one struggling to breath air into her lungs this time and because of her labored breathing Naruto knew exactly where she was. Lavender eyes widened when Hinata realized Naruto was running at her and she rolled back to avoid his kick.
Once Hinata was on her feet, though she lamented not being able to catch her breath better, she dashed forward in hopes that going on the offensive would disrupt Naruto's momentum. She parried a punch from his left before spinning on her heel and around Naruto and aiming her left elbow for his ribs only to be caught off guard again when Naruto spun to deliver a heel with his right leg, aimed at her head, that the Hyūga barely had time to dodge by leaning back.
That was all it took for Naruto to grab a fistful of her jacket and allow himself to fall back, pulling the girl with him. Of course Hinata transitioned into a roll to negate the force of the impact but with Naruto still holding onto her jacket it would have been impossible to complete her roll except that was what Naruto wanted Hinata to do.
Before Hinata could think to disengage Naruto's grip on her clothes the blond had rolled with her, ending up straddling her chest before pulling one hand back to deliver a punch to Hinata's face.
"You give up?" Naruto asked with his fist still poised to strike. Hinata gave a disappointed sigh.
"Yes."
"The Hyūga's style isn't suited for unpredictableness of that degree." Shino murmured as Naruto helped Hinata up. "Hinata often struggles against Kiba, as well."
"To be fair, Hinata didn't use any of her Chakra based attacks." Kurenai offered in defense of her student.
"Well, neither did Naruto." Sakura spoke up. 'He also didn't use anywhere near his full speed.'
Kurenai gave a hum of agreement, though to Sakura it sounded a bit forced.
Naruto and Hinata walked over together before separating as Hinata joined her team while Naruto, still blindfolded, went over and wrapped Sakura in a big hug that had her feet lifting off the ground.
"That was fun, Hinata-san." Naruto spoke over Sakura's complaint of 'too tight.' "Settle the score tomorrow?"
It took the purple haired girl a couple of seconds to respond, having been staring down at her hand, the one that she had used to accept Naruto's help getting up, but when she did reply she did so with a small blush dusting her cheeks.
"Sure." Hinata voiced her agreement while inwardly she thought, 'Naruto-san's hand is so... warm.'
'It's been a while since we left the village.' Kurenai thought as she followed the teens under her charge into their client's home. 'I should write a report to Hokage-sama. I also need to request that Sakura be added to the mission list.'
—
It wasn't unusual for Naruto to wake up in the middle of the night. Ever since his mother had died he'd been haunted by the events of that night. As the years passed the numerous atrocities he'd witnessed, committed by both Demon and Human alike, had managed to bury his longest reoccurring nightmare in a tide of bad dreams but every so often it would drift to the front of his mind and he would relive that moment.
Since the moment he'd taken Sakura as a Mate, however, he'd been miraculously bereft of night terrors and for that, among many other things, Naruto was glad that he had given into his impetuousness and asked Sakura to come with him that fateful day. Grateful didn't even begin to describe how he felt that not only had she agreed to accompany him, essentially abandoning her entire life before him, but also consented to being Marked.
He'd never really paid much attention to girls. At least, not in a sexual way. His mother had instilled into him that girls were to be protected, their wishes respected and that he was to be considerate of their feelings and never pressure a girl into anything she didn't want to do. At the time he'd been too young to understand what that meant but in his travels he'd seen many things—too many terrible things—and his mother's words quickly made sense.
After the horrors he'd seen over the years he found it difficult to imagine even wanting to engage in such activities.
But much like his nightmares, Sakura made those particular hangings disappear. Naruto had saved many girls in the past who had been in similar desperate straits but Sakura's pink hair had caught his attention and one look into her gorgeous, expressive green eyes was all it took for him to be completely and utterly smitten with Sakura.
Suddenly he couldn't help but want to experience all sorts of things with his Mate.
Now Naruto had a completely different reason that he woke up in the middle of the night.
Sakura liked to tease him over the fact that while he may be a perfect gentleman while he was awake, his roaming hands while he was asleep certainly made him seem like a pervert. Naruto had no idea why his hands always wound up in such incriminating locations but, in his opinion, him coping a feel while he was asleep was definitely a more innocent gesture compared to what Sakura did.
For some reason, ever since they arrived in Wave, Sakura had started jerking Naruto off in her sleep.
The first time it happened Naruto had been so surprised, by both the action and the reaction it was eliciting from him that he'd rolled her off of him, about to demand what she thought she was doing, when he noticed that she was still deep asleep. While Naruto was no stranger to masturbation, his own fumbling had never felt anywhere near as good. If they had, he might not regard masturbating as a chore to be done once a blue moon and it might not take him forever to reach climax.
Of course, what Sakura did to him wasn't a full blown handjob. Sakura's hand would affix itself around the base of his penis, her thumb and index finger wrapped around his shaft while her palm and the rest of her digits pressed against his scrotum. Her movements were minute, she mostly just kneaded his balls but because of her grip on him, the movement of her hand created the slightest of jerking motions.
If he were able to wake up as soon as her hand settled on him each time, it probably wouldn't be much more than an embarrassing event each night but because he was asleep when it started the subtle stimulus gradually built up over time. He had yet to reach climax from his Mate's sleep ministrations, always waking up before he got too close and removing her trespassing hand because the idea of allowing himself an orgasm from Sakura's subconscious efforts felt wrong. She clearly had no idea what she was doing and, besides that, he knew the rosette was just as frustrated as he was. It would be unfair for him to achieve release while Sakura continued to endure, unfulfilled.
But damn if she didn't have the softest hands.
A few times Naruto thought about telling Sakura about what she did in her sleep to see if maybe it would embarrass her enough to stop but in the end he always decided against it, for the moment.
Knowing Sakura, she might demand he let her try it, awake, and he was trying to keep them from rushing too fast into the more intimate part of their relationship not give the rosette an excuse to dive into it.
What woke Naruto up this particular night however wasn't his Mates odd sleeping habit. He was on his back and Sakura's hand was on his stomach, her fingers splayed over his abs so it probably hadn't been long since they'd fallen asleep if she hadn't snaked her way into his pants yet.
His eyes blinking rapidly as if protesting his being awake when he so clearly needed to sleep, Naruto focused his hearing in an attempt to figure out what had roused him in the first place. He quickly tuned out the constant buzz from Shino's bugs as well as the rhythmic breathing from the numerous slumbering inhabitants of the house.
"Master Naruto." he picked up Shadow's voice coming from outside. "Open the window."
As gently as he could Naruto performed a tuck and roll to maneuver Sakura off of him without waking her—'As if she'd wake up. Sakura-chan sleeps like a rock.'—before going to open the window for his fellow Fox Demon.
"Finally." Shadow huffed as he jumped onto the window sill. "Why the heck was the window closed, anyways?"
"Sakura-chan said she was cold."
"Of course." When Naruto turned to return to bed Shadow stopped him. "Wait, Master Naruto, there's something we need to take care of."
"Hm?" Naruto paused, turning to looks at Shadow, confused. "What is it?"
"There's a pair of Demon artifacts in that Human city nearby. We need to go get them."
"Why?" Naruto asked mid yawn.
"They're Fox Demon artifacts." Shadow revealed, as if that was all the reason they needed.
"Oh. So?" Naruto asked, though he was already beginning to get back into bed.
"The humans stole them, we have to retrieve them."
"How do you even know about them?"
"Because unlike you, I pay attention when the Guardians show us the history of the Hand Signs you collect."
Naruto rolled his eyes. "I pay attention."
"Listening to my summary at the end isn't paying attention."
"Who cares about every little detail of the Demon who created a particular Sign's life?" Naruto snarked. "So Jin of the wind Demons, creator of Libra, had a tendency to fall asleep while he was flying; who—the hell—cares?"
Shadow gave a heavy sigh. "Master Naruto, these artifacts are immensely powerful—"
"Great," Naruto had already turned to drape an arm over Sakura's middle, "let the humans keep 'em, not like they'll ever be able to use 'em."
"—and there is an S-rank Demon nearby, waiting for the right moment to take them."
That caught Naruto's attention. "An S-rank?" he sat up, disbelief on his face. "Bull. I would have sensed it. Better yet, an S-rank would have just destroyed the city."
"Are you willing to risk an S-rank Demon getting his hands on a pair of powerful Demon artifacts just because you aren't willing to believe me?"
"I swear, Shadow, if there's no Demon..." but Naruto was already getting back up.
After getting dressed Naruto crouched down beside his Mate. "Sakura-chan." he shook her shoulder. "Sakura-chan."
"Mmm?" Sakura moaned groggily.
"I'll be right back. Me an—Shadow and I are going to check something out, okay?"
"Wha...?" Sakura struggled to understand, her mind hazy. "Whe-where are you going?"
"Shadow says he sensed a Demon nearby. We're gonna go make sure it doesn't become a threat."
"A Demon?" Sakura moved to sit up only for Naruto to hold her down. "I'll go with you."
"No, you stay here. We don't plan on fighting it." He leaned down to give her a quick kiss. "I'm just letting you know so that you wouldn't worry in case you woke up and I wasn't here. Alright?" When Sakura finally nodded he gave her another kiss. "Be right back. I love you."
Before Sakura could even register his last words, Naruto and Shadow had disappeared through the window before speeding off into the night.
—
"A little dramatic, don't you think?" Shadow asked as they sped through the small patch of forest between Tazuna's house and Higashīko.
"Last time I visited that city my instincts were telling me to flee." Naruto replied as the emerged from the tree line. Higashīko was now visible in the distance, bright lights and everything. "Do you have any idea who it is? The S-rank?"
"No clue." When Naruto gave a defeated sigh Shadow added, "Don't worry, Master Naruto. If all goes well it won't even matter who it is."
"Why haven't you stolen these things yourself if they're so important?"
"Besides the fact that I don't have thumbs?" Shadow couldn't help himself. "I can't reach them. The humans' security is pretty good."
"Is this what you've been doing since we came to Wave?"
Shadow nodded. "There will be no sneaking tonight, Master Naruto. We're going in by force."
"No killing unless we have to then."
Once Shadow had nodded his agreement they bolted forward.
'Tsuchi.'
As they neared the base of the Wall Naruto performed a handsign—fisting both hands before slamming his knuckles together, his thumbs bent atop his index fingers—and upon reaching the wall he jumped up before slamming his feet on the ground, posture sturdy and his hands facing downwards before he rose them up above his head. Instantly a patch of earth rose up with enough speed and force to send the two Fox demons flying up to the top of the wall.
As they were ascending Naruto performed another hand sign, his left hand flat with his palm facing down while his fisted right hand rested on the back of his left.
'Kaze.'
At the top of the wall their sudden appearance startled a couple of guards but before they could make a sound and alert anyone Naruto thrust his left arm forward, palm flat and a gust of wind swept them off of the wall. Between the force of the wind knocking into them and the shock of falling off the wall the two guards were unconscious before they hit the roof of a building below.
"They're... probably alive." Shadow commented, looking at the sprawled bodies beneath them. "This way." He led them along the wall to the right. Along the way Naruto knocked out any guards they came across with quick strikes unless they were noticed.
One guard had heard them running up behind him and made to turn around only to receive a knee to his throat. Another simply had his feet swept beneath him when Naruto slid into him, knocking him off balance, the sudden impact when he fell on the back of his neck enough to knock him unconscious.
One pair of guards had been having a card game when Naruto ran past them causing them to stand up, ready to protest his being up on the wall only for Naruto to double back and punch one man in his stomach so hard he knocked the air out of his lungs, and his lights out, before dropping and delivering a sweep of the legs to the other guard and, as he was falling, grabbing the man's face before slamming him into the concrete with enough force to create fissures. That man might have died.
Naruto must have taken out at least a dozen guards before Shadow finally stopped them.
"Down here." was all the midnight Fox Demon said as he jumped off and onto the roof of a nearby building. Naruto followed his companion across a few rooftops before they again came to a stop. "You see the building across the street? They're in there. In the back somewhere."
Before Naruto could even begin to wonder how Shadow knew where they were the smaller Fox Demon had already jumped down onto the street and Naruto was forced to follow him. They made a straight line towards the doors of the building, a museum by the looks of it, and with a grunt Naruto kicked the heavy wooden doors clean off their hinges.
"Dammit." Shadow growled out when the alarm went off, the ringing piercing the silence of the night not unlike how Naruto's one set of disgustingly bright orange clothes pierced his retinas whenever the blond wore them. "This way."
Naruto followed Shadow through the corridors, kicking open any more doors along the way until they reached an expansive room, mostly bare except for a few displays and a single pedestal, atop which sat an ugly stone mass.
"This is what we're here for, Master Naruto." Shadow stated, raising himself by resting his front paws on the pedestal.
"This?" The skepticism was clear in Naruto's voice as he stared at the crude stone swords sitting atop the pedestal. "These things don't look—"
"Just grab them!"
"Okay, okay. Don't have a heart attack." Naruto went to pick up the stone artifacts only to struggle due to their unnatural weight. "Damn, these things weigh a ton!" When he finally managed to drag them off the pedestal he yelped as he was pulled to the ground by their weight.
"Master Naruto." Shadow cautioned. They could hear quite a few guards heading their way.
"I'm trying!" Naruto shouted in frustration as he tried with all his might to lift the stone swords. "These things aren't exactly feather li—whoa!" Naruto stumbled back and fell on his rear as the suddenly much lighter artifacts lifted off the ground. "'the fuck?"
"Let's get out of here."
"How?"
"Knock down the wall!"
"With what?! The cum out my dick?!"
"Taurus, you idiot!"
"Oh," Naruto had the decency to look sheepish, "right."
He dropped the stone swords before slamming his fists together, 'Tsuchi,' before turning and raising one leg before dropping it down forcefully. From where his foot impacted the ground splintered before a wave of earth sped towards the wall and caused it to collapse. Picking up the reason they were there in the first place the two Fox demons barely made it out before the guards swarmed the room.
It didn't take them long to find their way onto the roofs and make their escape over the wall.
As they made their way back to Tazuna's house Shadow turned back and caught a glimpse of a silver haired figure watching them.
—
As he watched the two young Fox demons disappear into the forest Ryuk made up his mind.
—
Quietly jumping back into the room he and Sakura shared at Tazuna's house Naruto dropped the two ugly stone swords onto the ground by the window.
"There's your stinkin' Demon artifacts." he grumbled as he began to undress.
"Could you not toss them around like that? They're not junk."
"They just look like junk?" Naruto deadpanned, an eyebrow raised and a smirk on his face.
"Admit it. That was fun."
Naruto's response was to make a noncommittal noise with his throat. Once he had finished removing everything but his pants he dove onto the futon, pulling his cutely snoring mate into his arms. It wasn't long before Naruto joined Sakura in blissful slumber.
Once Shadow was sure that Naruto was deep asleep he padded over to the stone-like lumps near the window. When he was close enough he reached a cautious paw to touch the one propped against the wall before rearing back in pain when it shocked him.
"Stupid... You always were temperamental, Shiro." He muttered before reaching for the other one only to receive the same reaction. "No, huh?" Shadow heaved a sigh. "Very well."
Closing his black eyes Shadow concentrated on extracting the tiny amount of Chakra stored inside the stones. Resembling ink on water the pure black Chakra radiated out from the swords before being absorbed by the Fox Demon.
After he had absorbed it all Shadow released a shuddering breath. His eyes opened, revealing blood red irises with three black tomoe connected to form a circle and three lines extending out from between the tomoe. Inside each tomoe was a single red dot.
"This is all I wanted, anyways." Shadow spoke as he willed his eyes to return to normal before turning his gaze onto the slumbering blond. "I gift Shiro Kinsei and Kuro Kinsei to you, Naruto." shifting back towards the swords he added, "Take care of them."
With that Shadow left.
To be continued...
AN/ Next chapter: 'They All Fall Down'.