WAH! Big announcement; 4am, sleepy. Zzz... uh... I kinda forget what I wrote in this chapter, it's been a long day. Quite a lot of you accepted my beta offer a while back, so I'm pretty busy now. Still, a lot of you have surprisingly good ideas, and I'm letting myself get... zzz... sidetracked. ok, I sleep now.
Disclaimer: Ok, I just need to clarify something with you all. Is it just me, or is Fukasaku really Yoda in disguise? I SWEAR, THEY'RE THE SAME PER-zzz...
The mission continues
The compound was quiet that night, almost complete silence prevailed all around. The starry sky shone brightly up above, while streetlamps kept the present plane in view. There wasn't a hint of a breeze, and the only smell was of the disinfectant used to clean up at the end of the day. The compound was almost empty of all life, but not quite.
Yagura peered around the corner of the stone wall, looking into the courtyard with a cautious stance. A mere fifty yards away, two of the four targets stood in heated conversation. Both of them were middle aged men in suits, one a short and stumpy person with dyed black hair and the other a lean man with a grey toupee and square glasses. Surrounding them was a small brigade of mercenaries not unlike the ones they had noticed earlier.
From what he had learned, the four more muscular looking ones belonged to the lean man, obviously the one of higher ranking. The other man however had three weaker looking guards, though they still looked threatening by any means.
Yagura glanced past the group as something caught his eyes. Far ahead, down a street on the opposite side of the courtyard, he could just make out Gaara looking around the corner. Their eyes met and they nodded, they would take on whoever came their way.
Whatever discussion the two businessmen were having soon came to a close as the older man waved away the stout man's words. He then gestured to his guard and the five of them turned away, heading straight towards Yagura. The boy looked around rapidly for a place to take cover, the street was fairly empty. In the end he decided to turn and leap up the wall, landing amongst the shadows of the ledge above. It was there that he waited patiently as the group steadily drew nearer, the clanking of the armour serving to alert him of their progress.
Eventually they came back into sight as they walked down the dark street to wherever the businessman desired. The guards looked more than a little bored, and even seemed a little edgy because of it. One of the mercs nudged his comrade in the arm, drawing the bigger man's attention.
"Why do we guard this person?" the merc asked, with a thick accent that Yagura didn't recognise. The merc adjusted the cloth wrapping around his head, a disgruntled expression on his face, "With so many of us, no one wants to try and kill him."
"Easy money." the other merc replied, looking down at his ally over his thick brown beard. The smaller merc let out an upset sigh, apparently he wasn't pleased by such words, "Someone will attack sooner or later, we just have to wait until then, ok?"
"Sooner than you expected." Yagura thought, leaping high into the air. It seemed no one was expecting an attack at that very minute, and so now was the best time to do it. He raised his hands together and began forming seals, dragon, tiger, hare and ox, "Suiton: Violent Water Barrage!"
A stream of water fired out from his mouth, forming into countless small spheres that tore through the air straight for the opponent. The sphere's joined together and formed into six globules each the size of Yagura's head, and moving with the concussive force to break a horse's neck. The water struck the backs of the two conversing men and exploded, leaving a thick white mist in its place. Yagura landed on the ground before the mist could even settle, gripping his staff and pulling it around before he-
He froze, his eyes widened in shock at the sight before him. The water settled on the ground, but the effect was nothing like he'd imagined it would be. Neither of the targets he hit seemed to have moved in the slightest, both stood perfectly still with drenched backs. They slowly turned their heads, eyes locking with Yagura's, "What?!"
"Speak of a devil and he shall appear, eh?" asked the taller merc. The rest turned to face Yagura, not even the businessman seemed afraid of him. The same merc who spoke before jerked his head to the two in front, before speaking to their employer, "Go with them chief Matosatsu. We'll take care of this boy."
"See that you do." Matosatsu replied, giving Yagura a snide look before turning and walking away. The boy Shinobi watched as his target hurried off, and realised he would need to act fast if he was going to avoid a situation.
"Looks like I'll need Genjutsu." he thought, taking his hand off his staff and forming more seals. He watched as the two mercs drew near him, the shadows casting on them mixing with their bulky appearance made them look more like behemoths than anything else. They gripped their long swords and began a steady charge towards Yagura, their speed increasing along with the pitch of their cries. Yagura finished his seals just in time, and called out quickly, "Kasumi Juusha no Jutsu!"
The two mercs came to a sudden stop, their brows creasing in confusion at what they saw. From between the cobblestone ground in every direction, a thick black ooze began to rise up and gather in large black mounds. Those mounds moved and fluctuated as they changed shape, slowly taking the form of the caster. In moments, there were more than a dozen Yaguras filling the street, each wielding their staff threateningly.
"How is he doing this?!" the shorter merc demanded, pressing his back against his comrade's. His small eyes darted amongst the amethyst spheres in every direction, Yagura's eyes had a sinister look that made him uncomfortable, "Is it sorcery?!"
"Nay brother." the taller replied, his brow creased but otherwise unimpressed. He gripped his sword tight in one hand, and took his shield in the other. He and the other warrior stood ready to take on the enemy, "This is what they call ninja arts!"
Yagura was nearly laughing at the primitive way these men reacted to his illusion. They both believed they were surrounded, when in actual fact there was only one of him there. That made things easier; after all, if what Itachi had said about them was true, then they hadn't the means for dispelling Genjutsu. In this case, it would be easy to just slip on by and catch up with his target once more.
"Our senses deceive us!" the shorter proclaimed, forcing Yagura to a stop before he had even begun. He stared incredulously at the two mercs, they had seen through it already?!
"Aye brother." confirmed the taller, smirking as he looked straight into the real Yagura's eyes, "There is only one with the will of a fighter in these masses."
Yagura cursed to himself as the two mercs turned on him suddenly, resuming their charge once more. What the hell did that mean, will of a fighter?! He needed to act fast; his Genjutsu was only slowing them down.
There was only one choice in a situation like this. He would need to take them on himself, and with something stronger than the C-rank Jutsu he'd hit them with before. He whipped out his staff and gripped it in both hands, wondering if Gaara was having this much trouble.
* * * * *
"I guess they decided it wasn't worth it." Naruto said, with a tired shrug. He slipped his hands behind his head and lay back on the floor of the very room Okamoto had debriefed them in. Just like before Kakuzu sat next to him, and was asking him about how things went on his end, "They weren't in your book, so I didn't bother killing them."
The door slid open and Naruto hastily snapped back up to a sitting position. He watched as Okamoto limped back into the room, regarding the two men before him with a secret smile. He sat down in the same place he had just a few hours ago, the expression on his face broadening once he was looking directly at them.
"I must say, I never imagined you would be so efficient." he said, gesturing to the open doorway. The girl who had served them tea walked in with what appeared to be a heavy black attaché case, "My men have succeeded and we have taken control of the Shinuso family's resources and soon their partners will come too. It's only a matter of time before we can spark some light back into this dried up town, and we have you to thank for it."
"Gratitude isn't the reward we seek." Kakuzu replied, showing no reaction to Okamoto's words. His eyes glanced to the attaché case, he had little need of imagination to work out what was inside, "One Jonin, two Genin and a B-class missing-nin. Combined with the initial fee and bonus for your rescue, the amount will come to twenty five million ryo."
"And of course there will be whatever you gain for that." Okamoto agreed, nodding towards the corpse that lay beside Kakuzu.
It was the body of the Jonin Kakuzu spoke of, another Suna nin with a white headdress covering half his face and red fang-like marking on his visible cheek. He wore a large and heavy flak jacket and slacks, stained in his own blood. The girl noticed him and hurriedly put down the case, bowing her way out of the room as she rushed off.
"I think this should more than cover the bill." Okamoto said, as Kakuzu pulled the case towards him an opened it up. Naruto glanced out of the corner of his eye, and his jaw nearly dropped from the sight. Money filled the case in neat stacks, like something out of a gangster story. Kakuzu even lifted one of the wads of bills out of the case and rifled through it, for whatever purpose that action served.
"This is fine." Kakuzu said, placing the wad back in its place. He then closed it firmly and pushed the case towards Naruto, giving the boy a dangerous look, "We'll drop this off with my banker on the way to the bounty station. Until then, don't dare lose this."
Naruto nodded, the look was enough to make him understand. He took the case and lifted it from the table, rising to his feet as Kakuzu did the same. The two of them bowed to Okamoto, their business now concluded. And so they left, Naruto with the case in his hand while Kakuzu carried the corpse over his shoulder.
* * * * *
CRASH!
Dust and brick exploded in a bone crunching blast as one of the mercenaries struck a wall with resounding force. He groaned in pain, his rear end embedded in the building behind him. The stonework crumbled as he pushed himself back out, gripping his large battleaxe tight as he glared at the massive person before him. He and his comrades surrounded their enemy, each wielding unusual and large weapons. Axes, balls and chains, polearms, and a large war hammer. These four men were armed with the sort of things Kisame rarely got to see, and therefore rarely fought against.
"You guys can take a hit!" he grinned, tapping the ground with Samehada. There were several places on his titanic weapon where the bandages had been torn, revealing what appeared to be midnight blue serrated scales creating the surface of his blade, "That's good, it's been a while since Samehada had some fun!"
"HAAAAA!!!" the mercs cried out, as they all rushed Kisame at the same time. The giant swordsman smirked as he rested Samehada on the ground and changed his grip, before swinging it around like a giant mace.
The merc with the hammer countered his attack with a heavy swing, but his wooden weapon had no comparison to one of the seven swords. The hammer shattered like it was made of water, and the owner was hit full in the chest by Kisame's weapon. If not for his armour, he would have been just like his hammer by now.
As he rolled aside, Kisame raised Samehada and defended against the polearm. The tip of the long spear struck Samehada, but this weapon was made to last. Instead of breaking, it recoiled back to the owner's side. This was used advantageously however, as the merc followed up with a much lower jab to Kisame's gut. Kisame was forced to dodge this as the other two mercs attacked from behind.
"I have him brothers!" yelled the previous owner of a massive hammer. He grabbed Kisame from behind and slipped his arms under the missing-nin's, restricting his movement and forcing his arms into the air. Kisame glanced back with a cocked brow, for such noticeable people that one had been very sneaky.
"And yet this is what he chose to do with that opportunity." Kisame thought, with a sigh. Deciding to show the merc the error of his ways, Kisame crouched down and leapt high into the air. The little mercenary called out in shock as they passed over the roofs of the buildings around them, and continued to ascend. Kisame's initially impressed reaction disappeared as he felt the merc's grip tighten. Was he getting vertigo from just being this high?
"ARNI!" the other mercs called out, as they watched their comrade slam into the ground with Kisame on top of him. The paving cracked and shifted into a small crater from the force and collected weight of the large pile lying before them.
Kisame rose to his feet sharply, leaving a possibly unconscious, possibly dead Arni lying still where he'd landed. He then turned to the rest of the party, grinning broadly as he sat Samehada on his shoulder, "So, who wants revenge?"
* * * * *
Across town, in a location far away from the rest of the group, Itachi stood atop one of the many square roofs of the silent street. He slowly scanned the area as he turned on the spot, his red eyes searching for the slightest slither of movement. Out of the four targets they had been given, his was the only one who had not reacted to their ruse that led the others to the business compound. From that he could tell that the person either had no interest in meeting his fellow board members, or their trap had been seen through.
He raised his eyes to the full moon, watching as the orb soundlessly returned his gaze. The black sky was lit up with the countless stars, putting the entire vastness into view. Once more Itachi returned his eyes to the street, if only his destination was as clear as the sky was tonight.
"You make no effort to mask your evil presence."
Itachi took a few steps forward, standing on the edge of the rooftop as he looked down to the street below. There was a single man standing there, a monk by any means. His close shaven head rose to reveal narrow eyes as he looked up at Itachi, his white robes and violet sash making an odd combination of revealing and obscuring him in the shadowy street.
"A monk?" Itachi thought, looking at the man curiously. It looked like while the other board members had taken more direct means of protecting themselves, the one he was tasked with had chosen another method altogether. Though he didn't particularly like the idea of attacking a man of god, this person must have sold his services and therefore wasn't as pure as his title required, "Very well then…"
"Back, ignoble beast!" the monk cried, reaching into the folds of his robes. He whipped out what looked like a small bundle of paper seals, each written in lettering Itachi couldn't make out. The Uchiha slipped off the roof of the building and landed on the ground before the monk, "Sacred sutras!"
The monk threw several of the paper seals at Itachi, the surprisingly strong tags flying through the air like kunai. They slipped past Itachi and landed at his feet, but from here he could tell they were not explosive. Before he could react, the monk moved his hand to a single seal and cried out loudly.
In an instant a dark yellow light enshrouded Itachi, though seemed to have no other visible effect. The Uchiha scanned the wall of light with a slight crease to his brow; something wasn't making sense to him here. The monk's voice quietened and he lowered his hand, a self satisfied look on his face.
"Barrier Jutsu?" Itachi thought, surprised. He raised his hand slowly as he looked around, raising it into a single seal of his own. Effortlessly the barrier was brought down, the paper tags all smoking from being suddenly burned out with chakra. The monk took an alarmed step back, his expression worrying as Itachi lowered his hand and pointed to him, "From a monk?"
He didn't pay much attention as the monk suddenly whipped his head around in horror, following dozens of black crows that existed only in his mind. Itachi stepped around the whirling monk, studying him cautiously as he dropped the paper tags and procured from his sash a pair of small paddles marked with several seals. Itachi quickly recognised them as the kanji for the hand seals, and once more had his curiosity raised.
"Come to my aid, Yadokai!" he called, before taking the paddles in each hand and striking them in an odd pattern. Itachi's brow rose as he looked incredulously at the monk, was he performing a summoning Jutsu?!
"So he is a Shinobi who believes he is a spiritualist?" Itachi thought, as he lightly moved his hand through the air. With a guttural cry the monk dropped his paddles, grabbing his shoulder and face as he experienced the pain of being struck with many shuriken, "So this is their ability? Plagiarism of the Shinobi arts. Disappointing."
* * * * *
"HEY, KAKUZU!" Hidan called, waving his arm in the air. He and Utakata came walking down a path leading off the road Naruto and Kakuzu were taking. The large Shinobi came to a stop and looked over at his partner and the Rokubi Jinchuriki, waiting for them to catch up.
"There you are Hidan." he said, as the Jashinist neared them. Naruto gave a grin and nod to Utakata, which was returned with an equally cheerful look. The two parties met up and Hidan tapped Kakuzu on the arm, continuing on past.
"Come on, I'm getting the hell away from this bastard." Hidan muttered, before walking in the direction Kakuzu had just come from. The former Taki-nin glanced at his partner with a raised brow, before giving Utakata an impressed look.
"Seems you Jinchuriki are capable of fairly impressive things." he commented, giving a nod of farewell before turning away and following Hidan.
"Ah, Kakuzu-san!" Utakata called, taking a step forward. He reached into his kimono as Kakuzu looked back, pulling out a rather thick wad of money, "This belongs with you, right?"
Kakuzu frowned as he accepted the money, looking over the messy bundle curiously. He then cast his eyes first to Utakata, then to the distancing Hidan, appearing almost in disbelief, "He actually earned something?"
"What can I say?" Utakata replied, with a smile and laugh. Kakuzu regarded him for a moment, before slipping the wad inside his cloak and following after his muttering partner. Naruto and Utakata both watched as the pair slowly drew away, before the latter turned to the former, "What do we do now?"
"Guess we head back to Ame." Naruto replied with a shrug. With no complaints from Utakata for that idea, the two turned around and continued on the path Naruto had been heading down before.
The thin forests were filled with dry trees, the air as arid as the foliage around them. However the condition was at least improving, these trees had leaves. But nothing much had changed of the dehydrated feeling, which was only emphasised by the morning sun.
Utakata let out a long sigh, rubbing his aching neck discontentedly. Unsure of just how a Jashinist's physiology worked, he had slept high in a tree to keep out of Hidan's immediate range. There would have been no telling of what may have happened if that person recovered faster than expected, so now Utakata was left stiff and sore.
"Looks like my punishment was too harsh." he thought, rolling his head from left to right, "Guess this is my payback then."
"You ok?" Naruto asked, looking at Utakata with a raised brow. The ex-Kiri nin looked at Naruto in surprise; it had been the first time in days his discomfort had been noticed thanks to a certain someone's lack of empathy. He gave a weak smile and nodded, eying the giant blade on Naruto's back wearily.
"If you carry around something like that all day, I have no place to complain about something like this." he replied, straightening up. Naruto glanced back at Eko; he was the only thing Naruto could think that Utakata was referring to.
"If you're tired, I can call one of the pups over and you can rest on them." he suggested with a raised brow. He raised his hands and almost whistled out to them, but then Utakata stopped him.
"It's ok, I'm fine with walking." he hastily said. Naruto glanced at him in surprise, before shrugging and dropping his hands back to his sides.
"Suit yourself." he said, turning his gaze back ahead again. Silence filled the air in a thick veil, unlike the quiet he had experienced with Kakuzu. Both he and Utakata were as well as alone in their thoughts, though they were quite immersed as it was. Naruto couldn't help but recall his conflict with those two… with Kankuro and Temari.
"Who woulda thought out of all the people in the world, it'd be those two I'd be fighting against?" he told himself, like he had earlier too. Thought at the time he had been prepared to do worse than he had, he was glad that he restrained himself. Even now he could imagine what would have happened had he gone too far. He knew that while Gaara would say nothing, there would be a gap between them that would never quite close again.
"Naruto-san?"
Naruto looked at Utakata questioningly, surprised by the sudden calling. He could see a slight look of uncertainty on the older boy's face, one that made him feel a little uneasy too. But more than that, there was something else that bothered him, something that was probably a lot more trivial and much less important.
"Just call me Naruto." he said, with a faint chuckle and grin. Utakata let out a laugh too, though his was clearly half hearted considering his expression and tone.
"Right." he said, breaking eye contact and lowering his gaze. Naruto waited patiently as Utakata gathered his thoughts; there was much on his mind it would seem, "I was just wondering… what was it like for you, to be a Jinchuriki?"
Naruto blinked in surprise, this was a sudden question he hadn't really been expecting. Well, that wasn't strictly true. He had been meaning to ask something similar for a while now; he hadn't expected the topic to arise this way. He gave a lax smile as he too lowered his gaze, slipping his hands into his pockets as he thought about his own answer.
"I guess it was pretty bad." he said, kicking a stone as he walked, "A lot of people ignored me, or tried to. They wanted to pretend I didn't exist, like I wasn't a part of their world. And for a while, that's what I wanted too."
Utakata listened quietly, his lips parted as he remembered the feeling Naruto described. He too knew what it was like to want to disappear, to be in a world where there was no one else, only him. He looked out of the corner of his eye, in truth this was the first time he had had this conversation.
"But it's like you said." Naruto continued, looking up to the sky and smiling a little more nostalgically, "It's not my place to complain. Gaara's been through a lot worse, and from what I can tell Yagura-san has had it pretty bad too. You're older than me, so I guess you've been feeling this for longer too. I'm the one with no right to act like I've got it worst… I'm the lucky one."
These last words made him laugh a little, even if the laughter was dry. This was probably the first time he'd truly considered himself lucky compared to others. Was that really how bad things were? He shook his head; all these vast thoughts made his skull feel sort of heavy. He glanced over at Utakata, awaiting the other person's response as he knew would come.
"Yeah, my situation is a lot like yours." Utakata agreed, with a slight nod. He slipped his hands behind his head and gripped his neck tight, lightly massaging it with his thumbs, "For a long time I was alone too, my mother abandoned me when I was young and I was left to fend for myself. That is, until Junko found me."
"Junko…" Naruto quietly repeated, looking up as he thought back, "You mentioned that person before, didn't you?"
"Mm-hmm. She was the one that introduced me to Yagura-niisan. And it was because of her that I became a Shinobi, and had a chance at getting some peace in the end. When I found out she was dead, I didn't know what to do. Whatever it was that happened to niisan had already happened, so all I could do was throw myself into training and try to ignore what was going on around me. Maybe it wasn't the best decision to make… but it was all I could think of."
It seemed with that he had lost himself in his thoughts once more. Naruto watched him quietly in case he came up with something else, but it didn't look like that was going to happen. In the end he too was left thinking about the past, further back than he liked to venture.
A sharp jolt suddenly struck his back as Eko struck him with some specialised chakra. His back arched from the flicker of pain and his eyes snapped open, his teeth clenching from the very brief spasm.
"GAH!" he cried out, making Utakata jump in shock. He realised the reason for Eko's sudden assault and roughly rubbed his own head as he leant forward. Then, unexpectedly, he grinned broadly at Utakata, "I wonder if there are any bandits on this road?"
