NARUTO
Nox Noctis Ingredior
Fate Meets Death
Elsewhere on the battlefield…
Sparks flew as Tenten and Kin clashed with Yoroi, with Shizune backing them up. Unfortunately for the 'Kabuto-replacement', the medic nin was pitted three against one, and since one of those three was an apprentice of the Slug Sannin, and two of them were some of the best kunoichi of Genin level Konoha could offer, he was kind of at a loss.
Panting, the man back flipped to avoid a cluster of senbon and kunai thrown at him by the two girls, and landed some distance away from the targeted point while clutching the wound in his left shoulder. Frowning, he watched the three person team form up in front of him, causing him to sweat bullets when he saw they were all ready to attack again.
Sealing up the wound with chakra scalpels, choosing not to clean it up as of yet, he held out his right hand, with his opponents watching as the familiar blue chakra took shape around his limb.
"Going three on one here is excruciatingly difficult. I shouldn't have toyed with them from the get-go…" the man thought, frowning deeply. "I'll need to get back to Lord Orochimaru…"
Shizune charged at him down the middle, Tenten launching a barrage of Fuma Shuriken in his direction. Yoroi dodged left and right against the onslaught of massive flying weapons, before blocking the Sannin's apprentice lunging at him. He caught her senbon against his kunai, and held her in place as the two exchanged glares.
The man dressed in the same outfit he wore in the Chunin Exams, but without the mask, grinned at the woman as they grappled with each other.
"I'll have to admit; even Kabuto would be having a hard time against you if he was still alive…"
"I have no idea who that guy is," Shizune hissed, pushing the man back in response.
"Heh… that's good. There's still plenty of time for me to make a name for myself while his corpse can just stew in the morgue," Yoroi replied, pushing off of the woman.
The two of them leapt back through the air and away from each other, Shizune suddenly spitting two senbon from her mouth towards her target. Yoroi was barely able to lower his head, so that his headband deflected the two incoming projectiles, before throwing his own kunai in the woman's direction. The knives were knocked out of the air by a pair of shuriken thrown by Tenten, the bun haired girl unraveling a scroll in the process.
"Disrespectful little whelp," Yoroi growled.
"Wow… very original…" Kin shouted back, reaching back for her pouch and drawing a chain of wire and kunai tied to it. When she drew it, a cluster of bells dangled with each kunai, as the girl strung out her new tools. "Try this on for size!" The raven haired Genin shouted, catching the kunai she drew between her fingers before throwing them all out towards the medic nin at the same time. "Ninja Art: Cascading Sound Rain!"
The kunai tied with bells cut through the air towards Yoroi all at once in a barrage of over four dozen weapons. Quickly calculating evasive maneuvers, the medic neon made haste, turning heel and sprinting for it. He leapt out of the way just in time to avoid the first wave. However, the moment each of the kunai impacted with the ground, instead of unleashing small, high pitch sound waves that staggered the target, the chakra enhanced bells instead detonated with the force and the resonance of shockwaves. The invisible blasts rang through the air at high velocity, and even though the kunai were far from hitting their intended target, the sonic booms did the job where the knives didn't.
Yoroi was smacked back by a simultaneous chain of invisible, concussive blasts, the rest of the kunai thrown landing in front and around him, before his hapless body was sent crash-landing back to the valley floor. After his pin-ball machine of a beat-down, he was pretty much out of it by the time his body began skipping across the grassy hills several times before eventually stopping.
A minute passed since making ground zero, and once his muscles stopped vibrating from being smacked about, the rogue ninja, at a staggered pace, clumsily rose back to his feet, his ears bleeding and eyes seeing sextuple. He quite literally stumbled across the valley for several yards before managing to prop himself up against a large boulder during his slow recovery.
"Damn it…" he growled, clutching the side of his head. "That bitch Kin… I thought she was long dead… how is it she's still alive and this strong now?"
"Ninja Art: Twin Rising Dragons!" Tenten shouted, leaping up through the air with two sheets of scrolls unraveled. Spinning on the spot, she began unleashing a rain of deadly accurate throwing weapons, propelling them down towards Yoroi hunched over at the boulder.
Her opponent, still on the verge of recovery, quickly gained whatever bearings he could and made a run for it, carefully maneuvering through the field of potholes Kin had created with her kunai attack, while avoiding the new rain of kunai, shuriken, scythes, chains and senbon coming at him from above. He danced about clumsily, narrowly missing being sliced to pieces, but still being impaled by some of the smaller weapons. By the end of the deadly shower, the valley was quite literally covered in throwing weapons, and Yoroi, who was unfortunately at the receiving end, was once again lying face first in the ground.
Shizune, Kin and Tenten slowly approached after a few minutes of radio silence, and making sure to keep their distance of the man, went to check on the damage he'd taken. The result of their combined attacks saw that he had about; a dozen projectiles lodged into his back, a scythe lodged into his side and that he was bleeding out all over the place. The bun haired girl responsible for his current position pulled out her Kusarigama from her summoning scroll, and prodded him with the blunt end.
"Is he… dead?" Tenten asked.
"Not quite!" Yoroi hissed, turning over and grinned up at them, both hands igniting with blue chakra. The three of them leapt back at the threat as the man sat up into a kneeling position. Before any of them could take any action against him, the medic nin pulled out a pair of smoke bombs and set them off right underneath him, forcing the three women into retreat.
Making sure to stay outside of the cloud, just in case it was laced with poison, the three kunoichi watched as it faded away, only to reveal a human shaped hole dug straight down into the earth.
"That's Kabuto's technique: Hiding like a Mole!" Kin pointed out, turning her eyes towards the ground around them. "Pay attention to your feet. He could be anywhere!"
"I'm tracking him!" Shizune said, following an unknown path across the grasslands. She eventually followed the vibrations through the earth as it traveled, not towards them, but away from them. Eventually, the apprentice of the Slug Sannin followed it over to where Jiraiya and Orochimaru were battling atop of their summons, Manda and Gamabunta a couple of kilometers away. She furrowed her brow at the sight. "It looks like he's going back to rejoin his master…"
Elsewhere…
Tsunade smashed through a wall of pink crystals, intent on getting at her opponent, with Guren hard on the retreat from the unrelenting attacks of the kunoichi. Spinning around in her sprint, she formed another hand seal, pillars of diamond hard minerals jutting up between her and the blonde. But the medic nin tore through that as well, shards flying in all directions as the woman effortlessly smashed through it.
"That's it!" Guren shouted, flashing through more hand seals. "Crystal Release: The Gods' Crossing Technique!" she roared, slamming her hand into the ground, and transparent crystals spikes began jutting out at high speed towards Tsunade, the wave well on its way to piercing its target.
The Sannin however, seeing the wave, leapt over it and through the air. Spinning through the air, the woman managed to avoid the series of spears and flew down at her target, leg raised high into the air, her heel literally eclipsing the sun in Guren's eyes. The shocked woman had but a second to move as her opponent's leg came thundering down on top of her.
"Go to hell!" Tsunade shouted, her heel connecting with the ground with explosive force. Her hit punched a massive crater into the valley hillside, tearing it to shreds as the shockwave rang out. Guren quickly produced a shield to block out the shockwaves, but even that wasn't enough when the hit was at point blank range.
Even though she managed to dodge a direct hit, she was within a hair-length of the actual impact point, and by the time the hexagonal shield began to cover her side of her body, it shattered when the shockwave hit it. The woman cried out in agony as she was propelled through the air away from the impact point, and landed hard on a hillside, rolling down it to its base.
Tasting the unsavory dirt of defeat, Guren managed to push herself off the ground and glare up to the top of the hill, where Tsunade was standing and looking down in disappointment. Her arms folded, she gave the woman she was fighting her best death glare, which was pretty terrifying from a certain perspective.
"Surrender…"
"No… not to you… bitch," Guren growled, kneeling up and forming a single hand sign. "I may not beat you today, but I will next time! Mark my words!" Just before Tsunade could rush down to take the woman out, four crystal pillars suddenly shot out of the ground around the purple haired rogue shinobi, and slammed together, encasing her in a protecting shell, before being dragged straight back down into the ground.
The crystal vessel was gone by the time the blonde Sannin made it down.
"Dammit!" Tsunade cursed, gritting her teeth and glaring over to where her other companions were fighting.
The results of Naruto's battle were unknown, and she had watched Shizune, Tenten and Kin had managed to drive off their opponent. However, Jiraiya and Orochimaru's battle was still going on.
If there was a fight still out there, the kunoichi knew she had to be there…
With Orochimaru and Jiraiya…
"Damn you, Kisarabi," the Snake Sannin hissed, glaring off over the hilltops as he detected the particular chakra signature disappear off the map. "How can you fail me?" He was knocked out of his reverie when Manda swerved suddenly to avoid Gamabunta, as the giant toad lunged in with his tanto. The huge snake managed to avoid being impaled, and swiftly retreated out of its target's attack range.
"You insignificant maggot! How dare you raise a blade to me?" Manda roared, rounding on the giant toad that stood before it, with Jiraiya perched safely a top of its brow. "As punishment, I hope you enjoy the bowels of hell…"
"If you're referring to your stomach, then I think I'll pass, thank you," Gamabunta snapped back, with his summoner chuckling. "Oye, Jiraiya… hand me a light would yah?"
"With pleasure!" Jiraiya shouted, flying through hand seals as Manda was coiling to strike. Sucking in air, the hermit prepared to unleash his attack, Gamabunta removing the pipe from his mouth and cheeks inflating. Then, all at once, the pair unleashed their collaboration jutsu. "Fire Style: Toad Oil Flame Bomb!"
A jet of hot oil gushed out from Gamabunta's mouth, accompanied by a fireball fired by Jiraiya. The combination of attacks practically coiled around each other, with the fireball technique igniting the oil as it rocketed towards Manda. The massive snake was too cumbersome to attempt in evasion, and took the full force of the blast, much to Jiraiya's surprise as he watched the massive snake get roasted by the attack. Seconds later, and the huge tower of fire died out, all that was left standing in place of Orochimaru's summon was a charred snake-skin.
Gamabunta huffed in annoyance, with Jiraiya scowling suspiciously. "He shed his skin?"
"For a lumbering snake, he sure is quick!" the toad summon muttered. Before either of them could determine what had happened, the ground began to shake, and the two of them looked down suddenly, detecting a huge presence moving below ground. "Oh… there they are…"
"Up front!" Jiraiya shouted, spotting a cave in of ground moving towards them, chunks of earth flying as the behemoth of a snake carved its way through the ground towards them. Gamabunta prepared himself for the worst.
"JIRAIYA!" Tsunade shouted up to the old man, skidding to a stop just short of the battlefield, Shizune, Tenten and Kin not too far behind her. "WATCH YOUR BACK!"
Catching onto the warning, Jiraiya knelt down and patted his summon on the head. "I'll take the front! Swing around!"
"GOT IT!" Gamabunta shouted, spinning around on the spot with his tanto. At that moment, the ground in front of him split open, and a tail came shooting up to strike the frog, but it was met by an opposing, powerful force.
Jiraiya was able to shift through hand seals quickly, and after sucking in air, fired a massive pillar of water towards the tail. "Water Style: Water Bullet Technique!" The shockwave of water struck the tale and knocked it back, just as the ground behind Gamabunta ripped open, and the snake's head came flying up at them. Its jaws opened wide and it hissed loudly, meeting Gamabunta head to head.
Just as it was about to consume the toad in a killer bite, the frog managed to pull one over on its rival, and slammed its tanto blade right up into its lower jaw, impaling not only the bottom mouth, but also the upper jaw, sealing it shut. Grabbing the flat end of his colossal blade, Gamabunta twisted the sword around, with all his might, pulling Manda up and out of the ground, before throwing him straight back into it, landing on top of its neck.
"Stay down you twisting belt!" Gamabunta growled, watching Manda struggle, with blood pouring out of its mouth.
"Damn you… you… insolent… amphibian!" Manda growled through a muffled mouth and clenched teeth.
While Gamabunta wrestled with Manda, Jiraiya leapt off of his summon's head to deal with Orochimaru, who had jumped off of his pet snake to get away from the series of attacks. The Sannin ran for it as the white haired hermit pursued across the valley, ending when Yoroi popped up in front of his master.
Reuniting with his aid, the Snake Sannin spun around to face Jiraiya head to head, smirking when his former teammate also skidded to a stop. Both of them panting, they glared at each other, one sweating bullets, the other one determined to bring down the pale-faced freak standing in front of him.
However, Orochimaru would once again proved to be slipperier then a snake himself.
"I've… suddenly had a change of heart… Jiraiya…" the one-armed man hissed, earning a raised eyebrow from Jiraiya. "I'll let you all live today… after all… what good will it be for me to kill you off, when I have bigger problems to worry about that you could simply deal with…"
"What bigger problems?" the Toad Sannin questioned impatiently.
"You'll find out soon enough," Orochimaru sneered with a wide grin. "There's more then one way to regain what I have lost… and more. Once I've fully recovered, mark my words… Konohagakure will feel my wrath… as I burn it and everyone in that Kami-forsaken village… to the ground!" Without another world, the snake then began sinking into the ground, vanishing from sight a few seconds later.
Aware that his summoner had fled the battlefield, Manda followed suit as well. After cursing his attackers one last time, the massive snake vanished in a large cloud of white smoke, Gamabunta's foot eventually coming in contact with the floor.
Yoroi followed his master's lead, disappearing in a shunshin just as Jiraiya made a rush for him. Unfortunately, as soon as the Sannin tore through the cloud of white smoke to grab at the medic nin, he stumbled through, falling flat onto his stomach with a loud thud and a yelp.
Groaning, he looked up, looking more disheveled then ever.
"Why does that always happen?"
When Jiraiya dispelled Gamabunta and eventually rejoined with Tsunade and the others, the Konoha shinobi then went off to find where Naruto was at. It didn't take them long to find him when they came trotting up the hill where his battle took place, and they ran into the Jonin. Naruto slouched up the hill side, his face looking down, and in his left hand, he was carrying a rag of some sort, or what looked like a rag.
The team looked at him with great patience and consideration, watching as the boy stopped in front of them, and looked at each of their faces with a half-smile. However, the gleam in his eyes told the better part of the group who knew him well, that he was experiencing suppressed grief.
The sight of recently wiped away tears told them everything…
"Naruto-kun?" Kin murmured, walking up to him slowly. The blonde held up what he was holding, which was a piece of Kisarabi's trench coat, blood and mud coating the long strip of material.
"Baa-chan… could you do me a favor?" he asked. Tsunade blinked, nodding her head as she and the others awaited his request. "Could you heal Kisarabi's wounds? I don't want to bury her covered in blood…"
Although a little bit odd coming from Naruto, Tsunade and the others did understand one thing. Somewhere over that ridge, the best bounty hunter to ever walk the ninja plains was laying face-down in the ground, defeated by someone way below her league. Only Kin and Tenten could comprehend this fact.
But for Jiraiya, Tsunade and Shizune, it was a completely different story to them.
Just from reading his expression, they were aware that the blonde knew her on a profoundly personal level, so it was understandable to the seniors that he wanted his opponent to look her best before he said his last goodbyes. So without a single question as to why, Tsunade followed Naruto over and down to where the woman was lying, letting him navigate his own footsteps back to her.
The others followed in their stead.
Once they arrived at the sight of the battle, those who didn't participate in the one-on-one conflict found it scorched with magnesium burns, craters, splits in the earth across the valley, and other scars of battle alike. The sight could only be described as a result of a hail storm of fire that just made landfall, and those who had battled on the sidelines of this one could only imagine what actually transpired here.
However, focus turned to the center of the valley where, shockingly enough, Naruto could not find his defeated opponent. Instead, all he found was a large patch of red against the green where she was lying minutes before, and a discarded cigarette sitting in the middle of it. He jogged around the patch and started searching the horizon line, the others also looking around in confusion.
"W-What happened?" Tenten asked. "Didn't you kill her?"
"I…I thought so…" Naruto murmured, his sorrow slowly fading away, to be subtly replaced by a sense of relief and joy. "But I… when? How did she…?"
"Apparently, she survived," Shizune commented while looking a little bit surprised herself. With the amount of blood she could see, there was no way the person Naruto managed to wound could have gone far. However, looking at the expression of delight on the boy's face, it didn't really matter. She just smiled and walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You okay?"
"Y-Yeah… never better…" Naruto chuckled, rubbing his eyes, as well as covering up unshed tears. "That woman… I swear…" He started laughing, earning a giggle from Shizune.
Jiraiya scratched his head, sighing. "Well… though we didn't catch any of them today, I'm damn well certain we've got that old snake bastard on the run."
"We sure gave them the fight of their lives," Kin giggled, turning to her friends and comrades. Tenten also shared a small smile with her, high fiving her, before the two of them rounded on Shizune and her superiors. "So… what do we do now?"
"Don't know," Tsunade murmured, folding her arms and sighing. "Guess… now we go back to Konoha, appoint me as the old codger's replacement up in that boring old tower, and carry on business and booze as usual. Ugh. I bet that chair is still as uncomfortable as ever."
"I'll put you in for a new one as soon as we get back," Jiraiya exclaimed, patting his female teammate on the shoulder and grinning at her when she glanced back at him. "How do you like one of those personal massage chairs? It's great for the back, legs, neck and bosom! We've got to keep you in great condition for the paperwork and that gorgeous figure of yours fine and firm for the public's viewing pleasure."
Tsunade smiled. "I'd like that." She then kneed him in the stomach, earning a cough and a groan from the letch, who hunched over her leg when he almost lost consciousness. The blonde woman grinned and kicked him back up into a standing position, while he clutched his abdominals. "Always good chatting with you, you old goat."
Kin and Tenten giggled, and Shizune just smiled in amusement on the sidelines. Naruto on the other hand, just smirked at his teachers' antics, as he clenched the piece of cloth in his hands tightly, before ringing it out and stitching it up to his trench coat. Once the memento from the battle was secure, he admired the adornment on his arm for a moment, and turned to stare off onto the horizon.
"I should have known from the beginning… it's physically impossible to kill Kisarabi…"
Some ways out…
Back in Tanzaku Gai…
Passers paid little mind to the woman with the heavily bandaged left shoulder or stump of an arm leaning against the side of a random building and staring up at the sky. Still donned in her famous trench coat and hat, and still possessing each and every single tool of the trade she started the day off with, the battered bounty hunter grinned as she analyzed the wide open expanse of blue above her.
Pulling out a cigarette from a random pocket and a lighter, she cracked open a small flame and lit the stick, inhaling the smoke as if it were her lifeline. Breathing out the fumes, Kisarabi then took it upon herself to stand under her own power, using the wall as her support. Despite the pain racking at her body, she hid it well, shrugging her shoulders of any inconveniences as she lowered her hat over her eyes for concealment.
"What a bloody day this has turned out to be…"
A good old beat down, an infliction of minimal injuries upon her, and getting her arm blown away, was just yet another ordinary day in the life of a common bounty hunter.
Turning heel, the woman took her leave, and proceeded down the main road leading out of town towards the South. She ignored everybody she passed, smiling to herself as she trailed a stream of smoke from her cigarette in her wake.
"I hear the Land of Demons is lovely this time of year…" she mumbled to herself in contemplation, looking up slightly with a smirk. "Time for me to retire…"
Before she could officially leave the town, she turned back briefly in the direction her battle with Naruto had taken place. Removing the cigarette from her mouth, the white haired woman let loose a laugh of amusement, flicking the ashes to the ground. In spite of being beaten fair and square, and in spite of it costing her dearly, she was still happy. She knew she had taken it easy on the kid, aware that she could have beaten him had she wanted to, but in their fight, she had seen how much stronger he had become.
It was this quality she admired in the boy that drove her to allow herself to get beaten by him. So, if you were to look at it from both ends of the field, it was a victory for both of them.
Her racing heart told her only one thing.
She couldn't wait to meet him again.
"But not yet…"
Against the backdrop of a black and white world, Kisarabi stood prominent and noticeable, yet remained a ghost at the same time as the crowd moved around her. In the next few minutes she stood there in thought, and in all that time, couldn't stop smiling.
"I'll join you on your path one of these days, Nightwalker-kun," Kisarabi thought out loud, before turning and heading out the main gates. "After all… we won't be able to couple properly until you've come of age. I'll wait for you then…"
Soon enough, she disappeared over the horizon…
The days following…
After recovering from their own wounds suffered in the battle, Naruto, Jiraiya, Tsunade, Shizune, Tenten and Kin began their long trip back to Konohagakure. For most of it, it was relatively uneventful, save for the quick stop off at the hot springs where the girls got massages and Jiraiya tried another desperate venture into the mixed bathing area, only to get the unpleasant company of old men and fat guys. Naruto stuck it out by wandering the outer fields instead and soaking up the vibrant atmosphere, thinking back to his battle with Kisarabi and how he had won.
Though he didn't let it show, the experience had changed him a bit. It made him think back to the days before, where he killed through calculation and without question. It was a trait he had picked up from the bounty hunter herself. However, when he looked back, he realized how much he had evolved from that cold-blooded assassin he was, to the more lax ninja he was today. It was real food for thought, which allowed him to come to the conclusion that if he was to get stronger, then maybe he should retrace his steps with the help of his friends.
Eventually, when the time of relaxation and thought had come to pass, the group then went on their merry way.
It took them fewer days to return to Konoha then it did traveling to Tanzaku Gai and since leaving the village, the young Jonin Naruto had become as professional as he could possibly be. He made certain that his team's condition was in its prime and placed the safety and wellbeing of both his escort and clients above his own for the remainder of the mission. However, despite his brave face and uncharacteristic show of authority, Tsunade made a little note to him that she preferred his new, boisterous character, and that he could be serious in his own time. His presence as that funny little kid she knew quite well always…'lightened the mood', as the Sannin so eloquently put it…
"Lets me know ahead of time that I'm descending into hell…" Tsunade spoke, commenting on Naruto's usual unpredictable personality as soon as they were in sight of Konoha's main gate.
As soon as they were seen in through the main gate, the team escorted Tsunade up to the Hokage Tower and into the main office, where Hiruzen Sarutobi welcomed her back with open arms. When she questioned on where the elders were, he simply stated that they were off 'digging holes'. Taking that as simply a political term of keeping busy, the kunoichi simply let it slide and allowed herself to be inducted into the role of Hokage of Konohagakure by its present one. In the meantime, Shizune began establishing herself as the new secretary to the new Hokage, becoming familiar with the office, and following her master around as she was given the low down by the Third.
After being congratulated for a job well done and dismissed shortly afterwards, Naruto and his friends headed home. A run in with Konohamaru slowed them down a little though, as he was a tad bit upset that his grandfather was retiring, and was feeling strongly against his decision, which he expressed through moping and pranks. Naruto had to slow the kid down, and after a quick chat with him assuring the boy that his grandfather would always be remembered for what he's done, sent him on his way.
Because it had been such a trying period for the three of them, all they wanted to do as soon as they got back to the estate was crash in their allotted beds. However, unbeknownst to them, they were to get quite an interesting surprise the moment they entered the place.
While Kin and Tenten went up to their rooms, Naruto decided to make a trip to the kitchen for a light snack, only to find his kitchen being raided by Kankuro, with Temari talking to Sakura animatedly over a cup of tea on the sidelines, and Gaara playing poker with Little Haru. He blinked in surprise and fingered the newcomers out when all attention turned to him.
"Oh! Naruto-kun, you're back!" Sakura exclaimed.
"'Uod, u 'ee 'u," Kankuro exclaimed, his mouth stuffed with a bread roll. Gaara acknowledged his best friend's presence with a smile and a polite nod, before returning to his game, while Temari rose from her seat along with Sakura to greet Naruto face to face.
A warm hug and a kiss was all the time the pair had before Naruto returned back to the matter at hand.
"Why are you guys in my house?" Naruto asked, before pointing to Kankuro, who had his arms loaded with chip packets and various other assorted goodies. "And why are you Grinching on my TV snacks?"
Swallowing the roll in his mouth, the puppeteer grinned. "Oh, Seinfeld is about to start, and I don't wanna miss it!" The man quickly vacated the room before Naruto could even sputter another word of question or complaint. He instead, directed his confused look towards Temari.
"My earlier question still stands…"
"Oh… well… after the Chunin Exams, my brothers and I decided to hang around a bit longer till everything back over at Sunagakure has been settled. What with the casualties and damages our village had sustained in the invasion a week ago, it's a real mess at the moment. Of course, we've been keeping ourselves really well occupied since you left; doing all that we could to help around the village such as cleaning up, reestablishing commerce and fixing up the buildings." Temari shrugged with a small smile. "We're allies now, and since we knew you wouldn't mind, we decided to crash over at your place till everything blows over. You did mention to Gaara during the Chunin Exams that we were welcome to stay over at your place whenever we were in town."
"Look you guys… my place may be big, but it isn't a hotel…" Naruto scratched his head, scrunching his face in deep thought. The moment she sensed a moment of objection from the blonde, Temari gave him the puppy dog look, with Sakura following suite for her friend. The blonde was hit full on at point blank by their expressions, and he immediately caved in. He sighed a second later and threw his hands into the air. "Of course, if you need a place to stay, feel free to lounge about. But stay away from my meditation garden. You can't use it without my permission…"
Temari smiled brightly and hugged him in gratitude.
"You're a great friend, Naruto-kun!" Temari exclaimed, nuzzling his face. In response, he simply smiled and hugged her back with equal affection.
"Full House! Pay up!" Little Haru giggled happily, slapping her five-card winning hand down on the table. Gaara's left eye twitched and he lowered his head, glaring across the table at the girl who had won the last thirty games in a row.
"Seriously, how do you keep doing that?" he asked in his usual, monotone voice, despite the fact he was obviously agitated at his continuing losing streak.
The next day…
Naruto was slammed full on in the face by a rock solid fist and sent flying back several feet before skidding to a stop. Shaking his head when he stopped, he showed off a pretty bruised and cut up face, with blood pouring from his nose, mouth and right eye. Grinning, he spat to the side and took another stance, with Anko standing in front of him with a grin on her face, and blood also leaking out of the corner of her mouth.
After a brief stand off, Naruto lunged at the woman, sending punches in her direction. His sensei backed off step by step, blocking hit after hit, while smirking as her student let loose. However, she was forced to take him a bit more seriously when he started trying even harder then before, slapping aside blows to her chest, and ducking under a jump kick. The two began dancing back and forth across the back lawn, skidding along the ground and kicking up dirt.
In the background of the rather serious spar session, sat Sakura and Hinata, who were wiping themselves down with towels from their own spar, and had taken to watching Naruto fight their sensei in a pure taijutsu battle. From the expressions on their faces, they were surprised that Naruto was able to fight on par, particularly after laying off several other opponents.
Earlier that day Naruto went around Konohagakure calling up volunteers or anyone willing enough to spar with him, and not to mention give him a challenge. As the situation asked for it, he not only pulled Neji and his own sensei up for a challenge, but also Kotetsu and Izumo, both of which were lying unconscious against the bench next to Sakura and Hinata. Next to the two girl members of Team 7, Neji also sat, drinking a bottle of water and looking beat from his battle with the blonde.
Gaara was also standing under the shade of the nearby tree, accompanied by Little Haru and Temari, both of whom were watching the fight with great intent. In the heat of the sun and battle though, Haru was looking a bit terrified, and twitched with every mind-boggling blow Naruto and Anko took, respectively.
Hearing her whimper, Temari chuckled and glanced over at the little girl sitting next to her.
"Hey, if you're scared so much, why don't you go inside and watch TV?" the Suna kunoichi asked. Little Haru just shook her head in defiance.
Naruto ducked a casual punch from his opponent and did a three punch combo, Anko blocking all of them and elbowing out at him in response, only for him to side step and block an incoming hook. He swiftly flailed his arms around her arm, expertly moving into her defensive range, jumping in an attempted knee, which she blocked. He then spun through the air with a right roundhouse kick, which the woman ducked timely.
Sweat flew between the two of them, mixed with blood and fury. The sight of Naruto pressing home his assault had Haru awe with delight, only to whimper again when he started receiving blows in return. The sight of the little girl had Temari giggle in amusement.
Anko thrust a kick out at him, which he blocked, but was propelled several meters back from the force. The moment he was back in a proper fighting stance, his sensei laughed and called for time out.
"Damn gaki, you've gotten stronger," she laughed, walking back over to where Sakura and Hinata were. She was tossed a bottle by Neji before she sat down, where she happily drank her fill. "I hate to admit this, but you might even be the same strength as your teacher now…"
"Perhaps. But this was an all taijutsu match. Things could change if you threw ninja techniques into the battle…" Naruto chuckled, stretching out.
Gaara smiled on the sidelines, before stepping out of the shadows and onto the grass. Nobody really noticed him moving till Naruto turned to face him curiously. Everyone blinked in surprise, even Neji, as they watched the sand user take to the grassy lawn.
"Uhh… Gaara?" Naruto began, blinking. "What… umm… what are you doing?"
"Spar with me, Uzumaki," Gaara replied, untying the gourd on his back and throwing it to the side, where it rolled to a stop in front of Little Haru, who put her arms around it and looked over towards the two combatants curiously.
Naruto was dumbfounded, so was Temari and Sakura. Nobody outside of the entire group had ever seen the red head ever use taijutsu, outside for brief defensive maneuvers whenever somebody got by his defense. To toss aside his sand gourd willingly was truly a shocking turn of events as he began stretching out, his arms and muscles literally creaking. In that instant, the sand armor covering the by simply fell away into a pile of sand around his ankles, which he stepped out of.
"G-Gaara…" Temari rose to her feet with concern, setting her fan aside. "Y-You…"
"Don't worry about me, sister," Gaara replied, cracking his neck while smiling calmly at his sparring partner, who was still gawking at him. "Taijutsu may not be my specialty, but I've learned a lot from watching. I have to step out of my comfort zone every once in a while and face my opponents on their level…"
Naruto, drinking in this information, smirked and assumed a basic fighting stance. "Using sand for most of your life, I'm not really sure your physical strength is up to scratch…"
"My sand armor and gourd are heavier then they look, Uzumaki," Gaara replied with a small smile. "You'll be surprised…"
The red head charged him, displaying surprising speed for someone who was usually stationary in battle. Naruto took a stance, and blocked the flurry of well-timed combinations heading his way. He backed down, knocking aside one blow after the other, before responding with a jab across Gaara's face. The blonde was astounded when his attack actually connected with his friend's real skin for the first time ever. The Suna Genin was staggered, but not stopped, and returned to the battle.
"This… is… inconceivable," Temari stammered, blinking out of sheer astonishment. "I've never seen Gaara go hand to hand before…" Gaara leapt after Naruto when he back-flipped away, and began maneuvering to avoid punch after punch, and kick after kick thrown at him.
"Makes you wonder what else he can accomplish under his own power," Anko exclaimed as she analyzed the boy's fighting style. It was a bit rusty, clearly Genin level, but he was obviously trying his best, yet did not allow this piece of information show on his face.
"This day has just gotten more interesting…" Sakura exclaimed, with Hinata nodding her head in agreement.
Somewhere…
In Konohagakure…
Naruto looked up and down from his shopping list to the street, an arm wrapped around a grocery bag filled with goods that were to replace the empty spaces Kankuro had created when cleaning out his kitchen. Fortunately for him it wasn't a total loss. They were only chips. So now, in his arms, he had grain waves, kettles, thins, smiths and all a manner of assorted potato chips, not to mention toasted pizza, to replace those lost to the unusual cause of a 'Seinfeld' marathon.
Right now, it felt like he was shopping for Choji, which out of all good intentions, he wasn't gonna let into his kitchen without a tour guide. He didn't want his snacks pilfered twice in a row.
Naruto wandered through the streets looking for his favorite deli Jiraiya, Anko and Iruka often took him too to get ice cream and what not whenever he was feeling peckish. When he eventually did find it, running down the steady incline of the hill leading into the lower districts of Konohagakure, he found the most peculiar sight sitting on the side of the road.
Since getting back home, the young Jonin had not seen Mia anywhere over the past couple of days. Understandably enough, a couple of his other friends and guests were nowhere to be seen either, as they had gone out on long-term missions, including Ryoko and Haku, leaving the house shockingly quiet and, without a doubt, tidier. For that matter, a lot of other people seemed to have disappeared, including Gai, Lee, Zabuza and Isarabi… they just… up and vanished. However, that wasn't of major concern. The absence of the Sage of Six Paths on the other hand struck him kind of strange.
That was until he spotted the said red head sharing a split Popsicle with a strange, raven haired woman wearing a black cloak right next to his frequented deli. The pair were giggling and chatting animatedly, and if Naruto's lip-reading skills were accurate at this hour, they were talking about a farmer and his long lost crossbow.
Wait… that wasn't right…
No.
They were commenting on each other's hair.
Naruto watched Mia suckle on her treat like it were a lollipop, and playfully giggle, while the raven haired girl just smiled back at her in kind. Since they were distracted so, they didn't notice him till a couple minutes later when they felt a pair of eyes locked onto them. It sure as heck came as a jump start for the both of them.
"N-Naruto-sama!" Mia exclaimed, smiling brilliantly, as she always did in that all too familiar manner. "Shopping?"
"Oh… y-yeah…" Naruto smiled, before turning to look at the dark haired woman Mia was talking to. When he recognized the distinct outline of nose, chin, and lips to be frighteningly too familiar to the once common Uchiha, he also took considerable note of the eyes. Black irises, with red pupils flashing under the shadows of hair; the sight literally had him drop his bag of shopping. "YOU!"
"Uzumaki…"
Before the woman could even continue, Naruto was on top of the bench, grabbing hold of the collar of her cloak and holding a hidden blade right over her eye.
Mia was quite stunned at the speed and sudden aggressiveness her savior had towards her new friend, while Yukari was looking as though she had been expecting this, and didn't flinch at all. The blonde, in the meantime, was seething so much; he was dangerously close to actually killing the person sitting right in front of him.
"Give me one good reason for me not to rip those eyes of yours out of their sockets," Naruto growled.
"I haven't finished my popsicle," Yukari simply replied with a small smile, pulling her treat back up to her lips and licking it casually. She then offered it to him. "Want to share?"
"Don't joke!" Naruto snapped, earning a giggle from the woman when she felt his grip around her tighten.
"I expected you to be a lot more unperturbed at this point in time Nightwalker, and perhaps a little bit more open to discussion before taking action to unsavory situations. Maybe I dropped back a little bit too far in your life for you to be acting like that," Yukari replied as though it were an ordinary thing for her. She simply shrugged, taking another lick of her dessert. "But… that's a mistake I am willing to live with."
"Too many people already know who I am and what I do in secret. I don't need another one running around, particularly a rogue Uchiha," Naruto stated, moving his blade in an extra millimeter to enhance his point. "You've been interfering in my affairs for some time, haven't you? I'm not sure exactly how long, but that's an irrelevant question. So… let me ask you this, how much do you know about me, exactly?"
"Well, I know you were: born on October 10th, are thirteen years old, blood type B, height 148.5 centimeters and that your weight is 41.0 kilograms. I also know that you: graduated from the Ninja Academy at age 12, by which point you were already of Chunin level skill and higher, and are presently a newly appointed Jonin of Konohagakure, the jinchuriki of the Nine Tailed Demon Fox, and are a part of the Uzumaki Clan, now thought to be extinct. You yourself have restarted the clan, and are happily married to Sakura Haruno, Hinata Hyuuga, Anko Mitarashi, Tayuya…"
"Wait! Married?" Naruto blinked in surprised. "I'm not married!"
"Oh, whoops! Sorry! Three years too early," Yukari double backed clumsily, and giggled feverishly in an effort to cover her blunder. "See… time jumping isn't always accurate… I could have ended up back in the Second Great Shinobi War…"
Naruto gritted his teeth and, rather reluctantly, withdrew his arm and weapon. "You are an Uchiha, and formerly a member of my father's team. But other then that, I know nothing about you… or whether you are a threat to me…"
"Naruto-sama!" Mia butted in lightly with a cute smile, catching the boy's attention. "Yukari-chan is a friend. She doesn't mean us any harm…"
"Really?" Naruto queried before looking back, and was shocked to find that Yukari was no longer sitting in front of him or in his grasp.
He looked around wildly for a second or so, eventually turning around to find Yukari walking towards them out of the deli, carrying a couple of cartons of milk and self-frozen ice cream. She took her time getting back to them; gathering up Naruto's dropped grocery bags and items, and carrying them over to the bench. Despite the confrontation they had just had, she offered the blonde an ice-cream with a cheerful smile and a nod, ignoring any ill will or action.
Prospects of winning a head-long battle with the Uchiha vanishing in an instant, the blonde took the ice-cream he was offered with a grin of his own, and plopped himself down right next to Mia, making room for Yukari to sit on his other side.
"Like I have a hope in hell in winning against one of Jiraiya's best students," Naruto exclaimed, unwrapping the cornetto. Yukari giggled, while unwrapping her own ice-cream and pocketing the trash.
"Student. Genin. Jiraiya-sensei… heh. All that seemed so long ago now…" Yukari mused, while getting to work on her frozen delight. "Jiraiya-sensei… Minato-kun… Jin-kun… I haven't seen them in ages…"
"You knew my dad best," Naruto said suddenly, looking up at Yukari while Mia enjoyed the rest of her Popsicle in the background, the expressions she was making obviously out of sheer enjoyment. "Now that I've confirmed you are the perverted hermit's previous apprentice, I just have to ask. What was my dad like? I mean to you?"
"Well…" Yukari began, looking up in thought. "I remember… back when we were Genin, I thought he was the most handsome, carefree boy I had ever laid eyes on. Actually, he kind of reminds me of you now…" The woman looked down at him with a grin. "Without Kushina's little quirks of course…"
"Quirks?"
"Yup: the Red Hot-Blooded Habanero's little quirks that made her famous all across the lands. The outbursts, the constant denials whenever you are caught with your pants down, the arguing, the 'too nice' aspect about your personality, the cooking… the ramen…" Yukari thought a bit more, digging up everything she knew. "Actually, both Kushina and Minato loved ramen. There's also the blabbering, the dattebayo catch phrase, the peeping…"
"Hey! I don't peep!" Naruto argued back.
"Wait. That's about a few months early for you. Don't worry. It'll start coming naturally. Trust me, you'll love it," the woman grinned back at him. He was about to protest, but was effectively cut off from an argument when the Uchiha started speaking again. "It was about a few months into our time as Genin on Team Jiraiya that we really started to connect, particularly your father with the three of us. He made the biggest effort to make peace amongst us, and quickly formed the bonds that held us together."
"Of course, there was also the influence of our team leader that helped us become the shinobi that we were to become, and are today. Jiraiya-sensei would teach us things we didn't know about the shinobi world, have us learn the values of teamwork in completely different ways, as well as take us down to the hot springs, and teach us about researching and writing… and not getting caught while doing both. It was… the most fun I had ever had in my entire life."
"My team was the closest thing I ever had to a family… and your father's sensibility and kindness helped that feeling of belonging along…"
"Mmm… so I've figured out for myself this far into my life…" Naruto chuckled.
"You know what it's like, Naruto-kun," Yukari smiled. "Your mother and father died protecting you when you were little, and as a result, you never had the chance to meet them or spend any time with them. Yet… you still found people who you could call family, and were closer to them then anyone else. Your team, Jiraiya-sensei, Anko-sensei… even Mia-chan…" She gestured to the girl chewing on her ice-cream stick.
Naruto considered the red-head, who childishly giggled and, after hopping off of the chair, began chasing after butterflies. Of course, that little line between childishness and screws-loose with Mia was kind of transparent at the moment, making the young Jonin rethink his statues of thought of the young woman.
"I still think she's just a figment of my imagination…" Naruto shook his head, returning to his ice-cream. "However, I see your point. Everyone I know, my friends, my teammates, my comrades… they are people I really care about. But that doesn't mean I don't love my parents, I do… and I am grateful for all their sacrifices."
"I loved your parents too. Heh… more then you would ever know. However, on the other hand…" Yukari chuckled, flashing her Sharingan at him. "After your father and mother's deaths, and after Jin went off in search of a new purpose in life… I wasn't able to find anymore time to make anymore friends… yet got lost in the days that passed me by…"
Naruto looked at her eyes for a moment, giving them a one good go over before shrugging his shoulders and turning away. "The eyes of the elder student, hmm. I can see why Mia has grown so attached to you…"
There was a brief moment of pause, with the pair just sitting comfortably on the bench, finishing off their ice-cream, while Mia continued to try and catch butterflies. The free spirited girl eventually lost interest in the little winged critters, and instead, dropped down on all fours and began following ants as they crawled along the ground. Though people were a bit perplexed by the sight, it wasn't an uncommon occurrence.
Shino was often seen around town crawling after ants, trying to get back one of his friends they had taken from him in force.
Anyway, back to the main plot…
"Who exactly are you, Yukari?" Naruto questioned, furrowing his brow at her. "You know so much about me, inside and outside of my life. You're not on an opposing side of a chessboard, yet you were one of Jiraiya's disciples, and you certainly aren't a pushover."
"To be honest I have no clue as to who I really am," the woman shook her head, looking at him with a teeth-biting-the-lower-lip expression. "I guess, if you want to find out who I am, it is determining my purpose in life, and that I believe is to prevent the Day of Judgment from arriving too soon…"
"Judgment?"
"The end of the world, Naruto," Yukari murmured, leaning in a bit so that she could whisper the last part to him. Her amusement and calm expression dropped to a more serious tone that had Naruto listen more intently. "The coming of the Akatsuki's storm…"
"Ah…" Naruto nodded his head in understanding. "You're not one of them are you?"
"Did you read that scroll Miki gave you? Of course I'm not…"
"W-Wait. Back up! The scroll?" It took a few seconds for him to summarize the details from her snappy reply. "Y-You gave that to her… to give to me?"
The Uchiha nodded affirmatively, confirming the boys shock.
After giving the woman a puzzled look, Naruto considered her and her words for a moment, not completely set with the idea of trusting her so readily. However, there was still a lot to drink in.
He turned back to look ahead of him, ignoring Mia as she crawled passed them. "Hunting down the Akatsuki was one of my main goals in life, and was a huge chore for me for the longest time… taking me months if not years of scrounging and infiltrating. I've done things that nearly got me killed on more then one occasion, yet… in all that time, was only able to find trivial things, like shoe sizes and mission specifications for particular individuals, most of which had been censored. However…"
Naruto pointed at her. "…you were able to get all of the Akatsuki's names, details and ranks just like that!" He snapped his fingers.
"Consider it a gift for years of blood, sweat and tears," Yukari replied. "You wouldn't believe how many rules I had to break to get a hold of that information…"
"By the way… thanks very much for it." The blonde shrugged his shoulders and turned away. "I relayed the Intel to Ero-Sennin. He told me he would be taking a closer look into it and to those involved in their organization," the young Jonin informed, the pair sharing a quick glance in their discussion. "Not to recap on past details intentionally, but I have to say… Itachi… Kisame… Deidara… Sasori… Kakuza… all these people aren't ordinary shinobi. They are legendary ninja, incredibly powerful; capable of taking down entire battalions of regular ninja, yet hide in the shadows in spite of their tremendous power. Heck, I'd even go so far as to say each one of the Akatsuki's members I've read about from that scroll so far, are even more powerful then Orochimaru."
"Yup. Not even I would consider facing off against all of them," Yukari stated, glaring ahead of her from underneath the strands of her hair. Her eyes reflected her seriousness on the situation. "I may be one of Konoha's Elite Four, but there's no way I can take on more then three of them at once… I'd be killed. Heck, fighting both Itachi and Kisame a few days back had me worried…"
"Wait, you fought them both?" Naruto asked, blinking in astonishment.
"Don't get me wrong, it would have been a pretty even fight if they went full pelt at me from the get-go. Although I still would have won, the fact that they didn't want to start a war with Konoha meant that they were holding back so not to draw attention to themselves," Yukari smirked. "I doubt the other members of Akatsuki, if they had been present at the time, would have shown that exact same courtesy…"
"Well, from all the ninja I've met so far, you're one of the only one's out there capable of dealing with them. Other then you, there's Pervy Sage, probably Baa-chan after some serious drilling, Kisarabi, though she is kind of off the shogi board for now, Killer Bee, and Old Man Third. If my mum and dad were still alive, then that would make eight, including you, geez," Naruto sighed, rubbing his face as he looked around. Knowing how powerful the most well-known duo on the Akatsuki were, he knew he had a steep mountain to climb before he even had a chance of taking them on. "I nearly died fighting against the Three-Tailed Giant Turtle, yet to these guys, the tailed beasts are nothing! They hunt them down for a living for crying out loud!"
"Still, to be able to take down a Tailed Beast… that's impressive," Yukari chuckled, leaning forward a bit, smiling at the kid. "I hope the information I was able to give you was insightful…"
"Yeah, sure. It was a real giggle," Naruto muttered sarcastically, his head dropping animatedly, "As if I didn't have enough on my plate to deal with already. Now, instead of four people out to get me, I now know I have ten of these insanely powerful psychopaths, out to get the thing sleeping in my stomach…"
"Well, you'd better keep training hard, because it's going to be one hell of a hike for you," Yukari patted him on the back, and rose to her feet. "Bare in mind though; don't try going after any of them. As I told you before, they will eventually come for you…"
"Huh?"
"They hunt in pairs, and are more effective against huge groups of ninja when fighting together rather then apart," Yukari informed, reaching up and pulling her hood over her head. "Each one of them is worth an army and they are the most seasoned shinobi you will ever encounter in your lifetime. Some of them use well-honed skills alone in combat, others use techniques that defy nature, but ultimately, they aren't invincible."
Naruto looked up at her, watching as the woman smiled comfortingly from underneath the shadows of her hood. "They are breaking up at the moment, apparently from problems arising amidst their ranks. That should give you and your friends some time to prepare yourselves…"
"…"
Yukari grinned at him and saluted.
"I've got some other business to attend to. Glad I got the time frame right," she said while turning heel, preparing to march down the road. "I'm sure to enjoy our next encounter…"
"Wait, Yukari…" Naruto rose to his feet, rather hastily. His actions caused her to stop for a moment. "Why are you here… really? You know so much, yet you're still withholding important facts from me."
The woman remained silent for a minute, letting the atmosphere sink in. Eventually, she turned to look at him, her eyes flickering.
"There's one other thing I am allowed to say to you before I go. But I can guarantee, you will not like it," the Uchiha began, enticing the blonde's curiosity even further. When she did speak several seconds later, the answer shook the boy from head to toe.
"The one, who will carve the paths that will either lead to the destruction of the world or its salvation, will not be me, or Akatsuki, or the man who walks in the shadows… it'll be you…"
Naruto blinked, seeing the half-smile from the woman.
"You'll be meeting yourself soon enough…"
She then suddenly faded into nothingness right before his very eyes, as if she never existed.
Elsewhere…
In the catacombs of Otogakure…
The Snake Sannin chuckled and hacked out coughs in excitement, as he watched the tube in front of him empty of its contents, before slowly rise, revealing the figure kneeling limply at its base. His main base's experimental and cloning chamber was a bubbling with a mixture of excitement, curiosity, fear and uncertainty. Though Orochimaru was certain of his success, the Sound Four, Yoroi and Misumi, who were all present, weren't as enthusiastic about the project as he was.
The mists clouded around them as the heat of the clone feed gushed out all at once, the silhouette of the figure from that tube staggering to its feet. While the others were still dormant, this one was alive and well, and caused the Sannin to grin all the more.
"Ahh… she is ready…" Orochimaru chuckled, brushing strands of hair away from his face to better assess his first subject. "A promising candidate…"
The person staggered out of the fog and steam, and came to stand, in all her naked glory, before the black hearted villain. While the man marveled his prize, Yoroi smiled with relief that the subject was able to stand, and Tayuya elbowed Sakon and Jirobo in the stomach when they started getting a bit too frisky.
Misumi stepped forward and checked the girl over for the Sannin, testing her eyes, checking her throat and testing her reflexes. The would-be medic gave her a once over, before stepping back to give his report.
"The clone is physically fine, however… I recommend that we first give her a field test, before we decide her fate," Misumi spoke, smirking. Orochimaru considered the young man's suggestion, and nodded in agreement.
"Why yes. We wouldn't want a defective unit guarding me, and posing as one of my best when she has some unsavory defects, now would we?" Orochimaru stepped forward, running his hand through the young girl's hair. She was only thirteen years old. However, the Sannin made her out to be a Goddess in human form by how he admired her. "Yes… I'll give her a task… a simple one…"
Licking his lips, he then reached back into a pouch and pulled out a kunai. Twirling it once in his one good hand, he then held it out to the young girl, who took it without hesitation, and weighed it in her own grip.
"Now… Naruko… I have… two errands I need you to perform for me…"
The young girl with the blonde hair, tanned, flawless skin, shapely figure, and whiskers crossing her cheeks, looked up towards her master. Piercing blue eyes framing a emotionless faze, gazed up at the Sannin for but a moment. That was before they suddenly flashed red, and a sly smile crossed her lips.
"I am at your service… Lord Orochimaru…"
TO BE CONTINUED…