..
Okay, now that the Hinata mission is finally over, I can move on with the Antique Collectors Arc. Bear with me as plotting the whole story will take some time, at the least this arc will be at least three chapters, but it will probably be more than that. Thanks for all the reviews you guys gave me, it inspires me to write, just like it is write now, so this will officially be the transition chapter to the Antique Collectors Arc.
Enjoy.
Another disclaimer reminding you that I don't own Naruto, because if I did I wouldn't be writing fan fiction, I would be a creepy guy who wants to change his own story.
I will use the Japanese honorific '-Kun' once, however this is just for humor. I might use -sama from the next chapter, it is easier to type than Lord. Look up the disclaimer in Chapter 1 if you don't know what I'm talking about
The Land Of Mangoes was known for two things, its amazing weather that ensured it was almost always sunny, even when it rained, there would be rainbows that would make the whole place good looking and joyful. It was also known for its delicious mangoes, nothing like anywhere else in the world. There were some other places that were worth looking into, one of them was the Elder Club, the popular vacation spot of all the rich people in the world, which had housed in the past such luminaries as Gato, the famous shipping magnate and even Yukie Fujikaze, the famous actress. However today was different, today the mood in Elder Club was anything but joyous, it was more like a feeling of panic, and the reason for that was an upcoming auction.
This auction was for the benefit of rich people, the people who were interested in collecting antiques. This auction however was different, this one was for the first time focused on the weapons collected by the Shinobi.
This is exactly what bothered Otaku Megure. Just as his name suggested, he was an enthusiast, he was also responsible for conducting the auction of the Shinobi weapons, this included a giant cleaver used by one of the Seven Swordsmen of the Mist himself, Zabuza there were some things that were not up for sale, this was what worried Otaku.
The Gold and Silver Brothers from Kumo were well known for their skill and the weapons they possessed, this included one of the weapons they had used in battle. The Banana Palmed Fan, which was apparently a very powerful weapon and was one of the few things that the Kumo hadn't recovered from the brothers, and thanks to sheer luck, the weapon had been recovered by Otaku and Shiro. Also going to be in the collection was a kunai used by the Yellow Flash of Konoha, Minato Namikaze that had just been found by some bandits a couple of days ago, they would reach him in a week, in short a three pronged kunai that was a gold mine for him.
This weapon had been already bought by a missing nin named Hiruko, who was offering Otaku a large amount of money for it. Otaku didn't understand why this was even needed as The Sage Of Six Paths was essentially a myth in the Ninja world, he was not complaining. After all, it was a lot of money for him, and that was good for his business.
Ever since Gato had been killed ,Otaku had begun feeling restless, the Konoha shinobi had taken Gato out, and Gato was one of his prized customers, every rare diamond necklace or painting Otaku had ever found, Gato was interested in. In return he used to supply Otaku with his two obsessions, Opium and women. Now that his lifeline was erased, he wondered how he would get by.
He was lost in his thoughts sitting in his office when the door opened, he wouldn't have noticed it had it not been for the small creaking noise that doors make when they shut. It was his assistant, Shiro.
"What d you want" he asked Shiro, he was tired and it was showing in his voice, it was clear that at the moment he did not want to have a conversation, but if Shiro had bothered interrupting him then it had to be something important.
"The Kumo shinobi we found, he was apparently aware of our auction. He managed to get away before we could apprehend him, I think we should call it off" said Shino, sounding as worried as he looked. This only angered Otaku further, these stupid Shinobi were too annoying for anyone's good.
"Of course you couldn't catch him, he is a Shinobi you dim witted creep" he said yelling, causing Shiro to recoil, however anyone observing this scene could tell that Shiro was used to this kind of behavior from his boss, after all this was the story before every auction that had involved illegal or dangerous (generally both together) items that were up for sale or worse, behind the books, Otaku would turn paranoid. This paranoia was justified although it wasn't pleasant by any means.
"What are you staring at me for, go take some money from the dammed treasury and pump up our security, go. NOW"
Shiro obeyed, glad that he would get to leave the office of his now grumpy boss.
Otaku just stared, they couldn't bring him down this easily. He continued looking determinedly at the wall in front of him, his eyes transfixed at the painting of the whale with blue piercing eyes, this painting was his medium of escape, something he could lose himself in every time he looked at, he got up as he began to move towards the painting, he wasn't too tall, he wasn't too old, but you could say that his job had added an extra ten years.
He smiled as he stared at the painting of the whale, and the blue piercing eyes.
-x-
It had been a week since the team of Konoha shinobi had left the Land Of Waves, they had just arrived back at the Hokage's office and turned in their report, however Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto were still in his office while a somewhat reproachful Sakura had been sent home.
The third Hokage smiled at the scene in front of him, while Kakashi, Sasuke and Naruto each looked at him. While Sasuke and Kakashi had seriousness in their eyes, Naruto who had been asked to stay by Sasuke was puzzled as to why he was even here, and anyone who looked at him could tell.
"So" Naruto said trailing off. "Why am I here, I turned in the report right, I guess I should leave and have my favorite Ichiraku's Ramen" he continued, turning around and trying to leave, however Sasuke and Kakashi both managed to get a hand on Naruto's orange jacket. This caused Naruto to let out a small 'Hey' in a voice that was laced with puzzlement and disgust at having his jacket tainted.
"Okay Okay, I'll stay, but why, what have I done?" Naruto asked no one in particular.
This seemed to have struck a chord with the Hokage too, and he spoke up. "Yes, why do you to want Naruto to stay?"
Kakashi stepped up, "I actually did not want to involve Naruto in this conversation but seeing that it concerns him, I have to be honest here. Naruto, you were drugged by Sasuke a day before the final battle at the bridge, this was why you couldn't get involved"
Upon hearing this, Naruto was understandably outraged, and it showed. His face turned red as he glared at Sasuke, "What the hell?" he asked Sasuke looking at him, to any onlooker this would have seemed really comical. However the seriousness in the fact that Sasuke had drugged Naruto was not lost on anyone. Meanwhile Naruto kept on with insulting Sasuke and saying things such as 'supposed to be my partner' and 'betrayal of comrades' and so on. He kept at it till the Hokage raised his hand. The look on The Hokage's face wasn't the smile that it had been upto this point, it was some sort of a poker face. Expressionless.
"May I ask you why you drugged Naruto, Sasuke?" the Hokage said in a voice that was just slightly laced with coldness. This caused Sasuke to sneer.
"May I ask you why my brother was asked to kill his clan, Lord Hokage" he said, emphasizing on the word Hokage making it sound like it was an abuse. Kakashi had his face covered by a mask, but it was pretty obvious that he had an open mouth, not believing what he was hearing. The Hokage seemed like he had been punched in the stomach while Naruto seemed puzzled, the seriousness of what Sasuke had just accused The Hokage of had gone completely over his head.
"W-Where did you hear that?" The Hokage asked Sasuke, the stumbling of his words made it clear that he was affected, he was trying to cover up a lie that had already been caught. Kakashi still was not speaking. Sasuke just had that sneer fixed on his face. Naruto too had gone silent seeing the Hokage himself reduced to a stuttering heap on his desk. It looked pathetic.
"Guess who told me?" Sasuke said, causing the Hokage to gasp. Even Kakashi seemed puzzled now, as he did not know who told him, and there were some things only the Hokage knew.
"Do you mean to say he told you? Himself?" the Hokage asked with a hint of disbelief in his voice, however Sasuke was only angered further.
"Listen to yourself" he said, practically spitting his words out now. "Of course he himself told me, according to him only four people apart from him knew, one of them is here, who do you think it is?" he asked in some sort of a mocking tone. Naruto looked at Sasuke in awe while making a gesture at the Hokage, as if to say 'be angry at him' while Kakashi continued staring.
"Naruto and Kakashi sensei are here because these two were deemed trust worthy enough by him to know the truth, and now you have to tell them the truth. But most importantly, you have to tell ME the truth" Sasuke said, screaming out the 'ME' part.
The Hokage looked on gravely as he nodded, however he turned around and looked at the window. "Show yourself now" he said slowly.
Suddenly, the greatest pervert of them all Jiraiya materialized in front of them.
"Yes sensei, if I think I know what your question is, the answer is Yes, Uchiha Itachi is my source"
Kakashi gasped, probably two minutes had passed since his mouth had been forced open, it probably wasn't healthy to keep his mouth open any longer.
"That was your source?" he asked Jiraiya, who just nodded. Naruto looked stunned.
"But I thought you wanted to kill Itachi for the slaughtering of your clan, why would you listen to him?" Naruto said, awed at the whole scenario unfolding right in front of his eyes.
"I am not listening to him, yet" Sasuke said slowly. "He had asked me to verify his claims by asking you, Lord Hokage, and you seem to have done that, judging by your reaction. Now tell me the truth"
The Hokage nodded, if Itachi had wanted Sasuke to know, so be it. "This is an SS- Class secret, do you hear me?" he said in a low but commanding tone, "This does not leave this room"
Sasuke nodded, now he would have the Truth.
-x-
"Can you believe it?" Naruto asked Sasuke, who hadn't spoken for a while now. Both of them were at the Ichiraku Ramen hut, and Sasuke was shocked that he had managed to be dragged along to the store by Naruto, but he decided that it was a pleasant kind of shock. He slurped the last of his miso ramen (he had to admit it tasted great) before he spoke.
"Its true, and my brother probably did the right thing" he said, while Naruto gasped.
"That does not make any sense Sasuke, why would you forgive a guy who killed his whole family off to complete a mission, frankly I am disgusted right now, its unbelievable that the old man was involved in any of this, ya know" Naruto said, causing Sasuke to smile
The idiot had his morals after all.
"What would you have done?" Sasuke asked Naruto, "if you were him, how would you have handled the situation?"
Naruto did not have to think long for that answer, it came to him immediately. "I would convince them to not revolt, I know I would"
Sasuke smiled, his family was not that easy to convince, but the look on Naruto's face meant that he actually believed that he could convince someone like that.
However Naruto had more to say. "Thanks" he said slowly.
"What for?"
Naruto slurped some more of that ramen before answering. "For trusting me with this, I know it must be hard for you, but I am glad you considered me important enough to be told-" he trailed off.
"Idiot" Sasuke said, causing Naruto to scowl. "Stop treating this like its a romantic movie, I just tell my best friend everything" This brought a smile to Naruto's face.
"Ah, Sasuke-KUN" Naruto said in a mock dreamy voice. "I am your best friend, aw" he said, grinning from ear to ear.
Sasuke smirked. "You were my first friend, so it is obvious isn't it?" he asked Naruto, as he threw some money on the counter and got up and started walking away, Naruto did the same albeit a bit more clumsily and followed Sasuke.
"Hey, stop acting so cool Sasuke, come on, wait up" Naruto said as he caught up with Sasuke.
"I wonder what I will do now, I can't obviously kill my brother anymore, I wonder what goal I will set my self now" Sasuke said, scratching his head.
Naruto seemed to have an answer to this too, "Well isn't that really simple, train to surpass your brother, and also-" he stopped. Sasuke looked at Naruto who had a grin on his face.
"What?" he asked the blonde who kept grinning.
"Oh come on Sasuke" he said laughing and nudging Sasuke's shoulder. "You forgot about resurrecting your clan Sasuke, your clan, you know, with Sakura"
Sasuke looked at Naruto in horror. "Or if not Sakura" Naruto said smiling, "How about Ino, or some other girl, or all about all of them? At once"
Sasuke was horrified as Naruto performed his Sexy Jutsu, except he transformed into Sakura.
"Hey Sasuke" Saku- Naruto said in a slow seductive tone. "Wanna resurrect your clan with me?" she continued winking. Sasuke who had white eyes by now fainted. While Naruto transformed back into himself and burst into laughter. "Oh man, that was funny"
"NARUTO"
Naruto turned to look at the person responsible for the voice. It was Sakura. She had seen everything.
Naruto gulped. He was in trouble
-x-
Jiraiya had remained in the Hokage's office along with Kakashi and Sarutobi-Sensei after Naruto and Sasuke had left, they had talked about some things, which included Naruto's learning of the Rasengan. Naruto had made great progress with that Jutsu, having gotten down the first and second stages in a week. He was almost done with it. Jiraiya had no doubt that he would be the one to complete the Rasengan, the way Minato had always wanted it, after all, it was left for him to do it, and thanks to the fox and the large reserves, Naruto had a great chance of accomplishing the infusion of Nature Chakra into the Rasengan.
"So Jiraiya, is the Akatsuki moving yet?"
Jiraiya shook his head as if to indicate a 'no'.
"It was just a scouting mission Sensei, they weren't planning on grabbing him just yet. As far as Itachi told me, they have to capture all the beasts for some sort of weapon, however they are yet to capture a single one"
"How does Itachi know all of this Lord Jiraiya?" Kakashi asked him, Hiruzen nodded at the question.
"Itachi used to work for them, that is until Orochimaru tried to attack Itachi"
There were identical looks of shock on the faces of Kakashi and the Hokage after hearing this.
"Yeah" Jiraiya said smiling. "Itachi was concerned that Orochimaru would move for Sasuke if he couldn't have Itachi, because for some really messed up reason, he wants the Sharingan"
Kakashi gasped.
"When is he going to move?" Kakashi asked him, he had to make sure that Sasuke was ready to be able to defend himself if it ever came to the snake sage trying to capture him.
"If it was that simple, I would have taken some action Kakashi, but since it isn't..I need you to train him" Jiraiya said smiling.
Hiruzen nodded. "That is right, at the moment, Naruto's training is coming along nicely, anyway I was told that you have some plans for him, is it true?"
Jiraiya nodded. "I have to teach him sealing arts, if he is the son of his parents, he should take to it like a fish takes to water, with a little bit of special training, he will be amazing, who knows, maybe he'll find a way to remove that Cursed Seal of Orochimaru"
"Do you think he can do it?" Kakashi asked Jiraiya who nodded.
"Naruto is luckier than he knows, he has to uphold the legacy of some of the greatest names in the Shinobi world, and these include mine, his fathers, yours, Sarutobi sensei's and his mother, I have no doubt someone like him can do it"
Hiruzen smiled, however at this very point the door opened, it was one of his ANBU guards. Hiruzen did not seem too pleased at the interruption, and the scowl in his face was evident.
"Sorry Lord Hokage, but your son is at the door, he says it is really really urgent, he is with his team of Genin, he demands you see him" The ANBU said bowing down.
This was unlike Asuma, his son was a little disrespectful but he would never raise hell unless it was really serious, Hiruzen nodded and asked the ANBU to send him in.
Asuma came in with his Genin team, all of whom looked puzzled, however Asuma seemed to have a look of urgency on his face.
"Asuma, I hope there is a great reason for this interruption?" Hiruzen asked him, Asuma nodded, gravely.
"Yes father, actually there is, we were on a mission. Team 10, it was a C-Rank mission to escort a diplomat to the Land Of Earth" Asuma begin.
"I assume the mission went well?" Sarutobi asked him, Asuma nodded.
"The mission was fine, it was when we were returning we ran into a bandit troop that attacked us" Asuma said. "I decided" he said continuing "That this was a great time for my team to have some first hand experience killing, as you know it is something very important for a Shinobi to be able to kill" Sarutobi nodded while Kakashi gulped. He would have to train his team in that regards.
"Anyway" Asuma said, "We did not really have any problems with the bandits, however a couple managed to get away, and Shikamaru here" Asuma said pointing towards Shikamaru, who nodded and sighed lazily. The kid was just like this father. "Shikamaru here" Asuma continued, "Decided that it would be valuable for Konoha if we were to follow the bandits to their camp and exterminate them and take all their possessions that they had stolen from the innocents" Sarutobi smiled, Shikamaru had inherited more than laziness from his father.
"I don't see any problem, continue" Sarutobi said, Asuma nodded.
"We reached the camp and found the bandits moving, however we also found something else"
He took out a pouch while Chouji and Ino looked puzzled. In the pouch he took out a piece of cloth that was obviously an undergarment, and that too, of a woman. Ino stiffened while Jiraiya began trying to cover his nose. Kakashi had covered his nose with his mask, while Asuma was puzzled as to why the whole room was looking at him, suddenly he saw what he was holding in his hands and blushed, he said something that sounded like 'Kurenai' at the mention of which Ino's ears perked up.
Sarutobi cleared his throat.
The whole room was knocked back to their senses while Asuma said "O-Okay" as he hastily left the delicates back in his pouch, "Sorry, but I had to wrap this in something and that was all I had" Asuma said putting the said object on the table while sheepishly grinning.
"And why did you have Kurenai's panties, surely she couldn't be pleased?" Kakashi asked him. The whole room sweatdropped. "You should be glad Kurenai-sensei is on a mission Asuma-sensei, you pervert" Ino said screeching. Shikamaru and Chouji who were used to it had covered their ears, however the other adults in the room were staring open mouthed-ly at the object.
"T-This" Jiraiya said slowly. Kakashi was clearly gasping while Sarutobi looked grave.
On the table was a Tri-pronged Kunai.
"I thought all of these were in the possession of Konoha" Sarutobi said, coming to his senses, he sighed as he realised he was the first one to do so in the room, Jiraiya had picked up the Kunai and had begun examining it, while Kakashi was still open mouthed, it almost looked as if someone had destroyed his Make- Out Paradise book.
"I thought so too father, that is why I had to bring it here immediately, but there are other things that I found."
Sarutobi looked at Asuma in a way that indicated 'What else could you find?'
"Well, Asuma said taking out a paper from the pockets of his pouch. "It is a contract obviously, you might wanna look at it, you'll be interested in what else is happening here"
"What is this contract for" Sarutobi asked Asuma. "It says here that the payment is a 100 million ryo, but for what?"
"Protection" Asuma said slowly.
Sarutobi nodded, but he had something to do first. "Team 10, good job with this, you will be rewarded, but right now, you need to leave. Shikamaru can stay, Ino and Chouji can leave, Shikamaru will report to you later okay?" he said smiling at Team 10. Ino scowled, but Chouji cheerfully agreed before leaving the office.
Once they had left, Sarutobi smiled. "You guys have to sit down now" he said looking at Asuma and Shikamaru, who sighed as he took his seat. Sarutobi sweat dropped, this laziness was getting out of hand.
"Go on now Asuma" Sarutobi said.
"Well, the bandits were wanted for protection for some kind of auction, those are quite popular in Mango Country, which is a popular vacation spot for the rich." Asuma said, while Sarutobi nodded.
"Anyway, there is an auction for collectors of Shinobi tools, but what ignited my interest was something else, Otaku Megure, the organiser of this auction has also requested protection for something, and these bandits were in possession of The Fourth's special Kunai, the one person who I interrogated had told me that they had found it somewhere in the wild, I wonder if that is true" he said, directing the last part at Jiraiya, who nodded.
"Minato could do something like that, I mean he used a lot of those and it is reasonable for one or two to be left behind" Jiraiya said, "However, it wouldn't matter, the Kunai was a blood seal kind of contraption, I have never seen something that complex before. No one but Minato could use it, and it cannot be duplicated, because not only is the sealing itself complex, the array can only be accessed by those related by blood to Minato, and well, you know" Jiraiya said, not wanting to give away an S-Class secret.
"So you mean to say that The Flying Thunder God technique is some sort of bloodline that only the Fourth Hokage had?" Shikamaru had finally bothered speaking
Jiraiya smiled. "Well, sort of. Nice analogy there boy, however this can be duplicated, you only need to be a genius" Jiraiya said, proud of what his student had accomplished. With a little more effort, the same could be said about Naruto.
"Hm" Shikamaru said, "So that could mean that Naruto can do it too right?" he asked. Upon saying this, the jaws dropped, even Asuma seemed stunned while Jiraiya had the kind of face that he got when Tsunade punched him, Kakashi was also staring at Shikamaru wide eyed while Sarutobi was wondering if the secret was out.
"If you want to ask me how I know, save it, its too troublesome to do that. Let me just explain it" Shikamaru said. "Whenever Team 10 takes missions, I peer at that portrait of the Fourth Hokage there" he said pointing towards the portrait, "And" he continued. "I wonder how the hell can someone look so similar to him, I mean Naruto" he said in a bored tone. "So when I came into this office today, I peered for ten minutes at the picture, and the more I look at it, the more the resemblance struck, the blue eyes, the same blonde hair, and even the style of hair growth, towards the sides, it was unreal. That is when I made the connection" Shikamaru ended.
"But how-" Kakashi said trailing off, while Asuma was stuck like a statue in his chair.
Shikamaru smiled. "I wasn't sure, I just bluffed by saying Naruto could do the Thunder God Technique, your reactions gave it away I guess" Shikamaru said, lazily flicking his hair.
'This kid' Sarutobi thought.'He deduced an S-Class secret and confirmed his doubts just by bluffing, Shikaku, what did you create here? He can't possibly get anymore clever'
Jiraiya was smiling though. "Clever kid, that was really high class stuff" he said, clapping his hands together. "Sarutobi sensei" he continued, "The will of fire has been entrusted in safe hands it seems" he said, causing Asuma to smile and swell up with pride.
Sarutobi nodded. "Shikamaru, you need to keep this a secret you understand?" he asked him. Shikamaru however sat up in his chair.
"But why, Lord Hokage, no disrespect but even I can see that Naruto is not treated with any sort of respect in the village, he always gets the same cold looks from the villagers and small children are told to stay away from him, but if his legacy was revealed, they would look at him as more than some orphan who loves pranks" Shikamaru concluded. However Jiraiya stepped in.
"You might be right, but Naruto is not the kind of guy who likes preferential treatment, you should know, he works hard for whatever he gets, and he does not want things on a silver platter, trust me Shikamaru, if he realised that the villagers would pamper him if his legacy was revealed, he wouldn't have done it either" Jiraiya finished.
Shikamaru nodded, "But what about his mother, who is she?"
Jiraiya smiled. "S-Class secret kid, S-Class secret. And if you do figure it out, do not blab your mouth alright?"
Shikamaru nodded. He would figure it out, but eventually, this was way too troublesome to think about right now.
"So Asuma, now that that matter has been handled, tell me what kind of tools are being auctioned" he asked.
"According to the guy I interrogated, not anything serious, just some Kunai that have taken blood, some exploding tags and some things that were used in the Third Shinobi War, nothing much but-" Asuma said, it seemed like he paused for dramatic purposes. "Why Otaku Megure would request for such protection is beyond me, this is not something people will bother about, plus the Kunai we recovered, I am sure that if that had been put up for sale, whole nations would begin wars just to get it, and Otaku who seems to be well aware of the Ninja world would have known this. This would mean there is something there that is being kept under the wraps" he said. "Shikamaru figured it out first and told me, we think that there are other things that are present there"
Sarutobi nodded. "When is the auction?"
"In a month's time" Asuma said.
"Fine" Hokage said, "This was indeed urgent Asuma, and I thank you for this, however this is also a hunch of yours, we cannot really move in on this auction just cause Shikamaru has made some deductions, which are albeit logical" Asuma nodded upon hearing this.
"Any orders then?" Asuma asked Sarutobi.
"Take some rest, all of you, go back and do some D-Ranks for a week, I will look into it, and If I find something, I will move and make sure you are alerted, alright?"
Asuma nodded. "Let's go Shikamaru" Asuma said. "We have that Shogi game remember?" he said. Shikamaru sighed as he was reminded once more of the S-Class secret that he had just 'figured out' as he left with Asuma.
"That kid is smart" Kakashi said, stating the obvious at this point.
Sarutobi smiled. "Jiraiya, get the spy network running will you, find out what you can?" Jiraiya nodded.
"Hey Kakashi" Jiraiya said, taking out a book from his pocket. It read 'Intermediate Sealing Levels 1-3'. "Give this to Naruto and tell him to read and practice, and tell him that he has a week to learn it, and he will be tested, if he doesn't pass, well he knows what will happen-"
Kakashi nodded as Jiraiya body flickered away, "Well, I'll take my leave now Lord Hokage" he said as he body flickered away himself.
-x-
After recovering from the beating Sakura had inflicted on him, Naruto found himself practicing the Rasengan, and he had just dispelled his clones, if he was feeling right, he should be able to do it now.
"Alright" he said, "Chakra Rotation" he said as blue Chakra began swirling in his hands, "Compression" He said as it turned into a blue spiral sphere.
"RASENGAN" he said as he charged and hit a tree. The result was instantaneous, the whole tree was destroyed, uprooted and split in half.
"WHERE THE HELL DID YOU LEARN THAT?" Sasuke screamed, he had been watching the whole thing, Sakura just stared at him in awe, Naruto had mastered a technique like that and she was still not upto scratch. She had to do something.
"Come on idiot, teach me that will you?" Sasuke asked him, slowly. Naruto shook his head. "Sorry Sasuke, but its not mine to give away yet"
Sasuke scowled. "Come on, can't you teach your friend this?"
Naruto looked really downhearted at that, almost torn while Sasuke realised that it was probably the wrong thing to say.
"I am sorry, hey, Idiot, I didn't mean to say that" he said hastily.
Naruto smiled, however it was a weak smile. "Its just that I never had any friends growing up and you guys are probably the closest I have, don't make me chose again you guys" he said.
"Actually" Kakashi said materializing out of nowhere as Naruto thought 'Damn, how does he do it?' "It is yours to give away now you know, you can teach it to whoever you want"
Sasuke and Sakura looked smacked at that, while Naruto smiled. Sasuke turned towards Naruto, almost automatically, he was ready to be taught.
"Come on then, teach me" Sasuke said, while Naruto nodded. "Wait" Kakashi said.
"Sasuke, the Rasengan is an impressive technique, yes, but I have something I want to teach you, I think it will be okay if I teach you, you should learn it easily. But remember, even then, it took me a long time to create it"
"Create?" asked Naruto, "I though you copied everything" he said while Kakashi sweat dropped. 'I am losing my reputation here'
"Yes Naruto, I copy a lot of things, but-" he said as he made hand seals, all of a sudden chirping of birds could be heard as his hand was suddenly charged up with electricity. "I have one technique" he continued over the cackling of the electricity "I created myself, you could say it is my only original technique, I call it, Chidori, or more tedious if you wanna call it, A Thousand Birds, but you can understand why I call it that" he said, as the sound of birds could be heard.
"Sasuke, you have a lightening affinity, I know this, and so for you learning the Chidori will be easier than it will be for Naruto who is a Wind/Water type, so I will teach it to you, you can make it your own. How about it?" he asked Kakashi. Sasuke nodded.
"Hey idiot" he said, "I will master the Chidori, and you master the Rasengan, we'll teach it to each other. How about it?"
"That was probably the smartest thing I heard coming out of your mouth Sasuke" Naruto said, causing Sasuke to scowl. "It's a deal then"
"Hey" Sakura said, "What about me?" she asked. Naruto and Sasuke laughed. "Don't worry Sakura" Kakashi said smiling. "Don't you think I would have someone for you too, actually she wants to see you, she is at Training Ground 11"
"Hey Sensei" Naruto said, "Is it that crazy snake lady every one talks about?"
Kakashi smiled, however Sakura began sweating.
"Oh unfortunately I don't want Sakura to suffer that much" Kakashi said, Sakura took a deep breath of relief while Naruto laughed.
"We have a day off today and tomorrow, so while Sasuke and Sakura train, Naruto I want you to read this" he said, fishing his vest for a book and coming out and throwing it at him.
Naruto looked at the book, it was 'Make Out Paradise'.
"Make Out Paradise?" he asked Kakashi, who immediately snatched the book from his hands.
"Don't touch that book, its mine" he snarled while Naruto hastily backed away.
"Hehe" Kakashi said laughing sheepishly, "I always get confused" he pulled out another orange book and threw it at him.
It was 'Intermediate Sealing Levels 1-3'. Naruto saw the book and nodded.
"Also, there is a test in a week, Lord Jiraiya himself will conduct the test, and he says if you fail that you know what will happen"
Naruto gulped. "Did he say something about a toad?" he asked.
Kakashi paused, thinking about it.
"As a matter of fact, I think he did"
"Oh no" Naruto said, cowering in terror. "Not Gamariki, please, I will read this up completely"
Kakashi and everyone present sweat dropped.
"Okay then" Kakashi said, rubbing his hands gleefully while everyone was still looking at Naruto in a puzzled manner.
"What are we waiting for, Sasuke, with me, the rest of you, I'll see you"
He flickered away.
Naruto looked at Sakura, and asked her if she would be alright. Sakura nodded and left for training ground 11, while Naruto decided he had to learn the body flicker technique, but he would do it without the smoke. He would make it look cooler and he would increase the distance, but how would he do it.
As he opened his book and begin reading up on seal arrays many thoughts came to his mind.
-x-
Kumokagure (Village Hidden In The Clouds)
The Raikage was really pissed. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN OMOI IS MISSING?" he shouted screaming and turning over a whole table while Darui and Samui, his team mates cowered in fear. Yugito Nii and Killer Bee looked on.
"Hey yo" Killer Bee began rapping. "It was probably not their mistake, let them go bro" he said rapping.
The Raikage turned towards Bee and flared some Killer Intent. "Listen Bee, if you don't want to bear the Iron Claw, I suggest you shut up and STOP RAPPING"
"YOU" he said turning towards Karui and Samui, "Tell me what happened?"
Samui stepped up. "It was a patrol mission on the borders of Mango Country, however we thought we saw some suspicious activity and Omoi went on to investigate, this was by my orders Lord Raikage, I approved of it, while we would head towards the village" Samui said, while all present in the room admired her bravery for standing up to the man like that. However the Raikage looked worried now
"He is just like everyone in this room, someone who the village will miss" He cleared his throat "We have to find him" he shouted again. While Bee decided it was time to rap again.
"Yo, Brother this is a job for me" he said shaking his hands expressively "You simply have to send Killer Bee. Oh YEAH"
Everybody face palmed, however at this very instant C entered the room.
"Lord Raikage, Omoi just made it to the village. He's on his way, I can sense him"
Karui breathed a sigh of relief. "That stupid idiot, he told us to go back while he would investigate what the matter was, I was so scared when he didn't come back. I thought he was-" she trailed off, however she didn't have to wait for that long as just then Omoi burst through the door.
"Oh my God, Lord Raikage, the world is going to end"
Karui went and glomped Omoi, before getting off him and slapping him, much to the delight of everyone in the room.
"Idiot, what do you mean the world is ending?"
"Omoi" The Raikage said threateningly, "Running off without reporting for back up just because of some suspicious activity is not the thing you do, do you understand?" he said, putting the emphasis on every word. Omoi nodded.
"Lord Raikage, however I think you will be really interested in what I found" Omoi said. "You might reward me too" he said, "And then I will be rich, and all the women will come to me, but what if a man is jealous and tries to assassinate me, and then at my funeral people will-"
"SHUT UP YOU IDIOT" Karui shouted, stopping Omoi, "Stop over analysing things and report to Lord Raikage" she said snarling.
"Oh yes, I forgot, the world is ending because the place I went to in the Land Of Mangoes is some kind of a camp"
Everyone looked at Omoi with a dead pan expression.
"How does that end the world?" Samui asked him.
"Oh, they have one of The Treasured Tools Of The Sage Of Six Paths with them" he said.
"WHAT?" The Raikage shouted, however the table was upturned already, there was nothing else to upturn, so he smashed the table.
Everybody took a step back while Samui simply stared. "Lord Raikage, surely not another table you just ruined. How many more will you smash?"
The Raikage did not react to that. "That's it" The Raikage said, he had completely ignored Samui's remark. "We simply cannot afford to waste any time, we have to take the weapon from that camp, it rightfully belongs to us" he said.
Omoi nodded. "They have an auction in a month Lord Raikage" he said, "In Mango Country, they will auction off the tools there, they do not know that I have seen the Banana Palmed Fan there, we can move then, apparently there are a lot more things on offer" he said.
The Raikage nodded. "Fine, C, form a team" he said. C stepped forward and bowed. "Samui, Omoi, Karui, all of you are on this mission, find out where this auction takes place. We will take whatever valuables are left, this is a great opportunity for us to improve our weapon arsenal"
Everyone in the room nodded. "What about me? Bee?" Bee asked the Raikage.
"Bee" The Raikage said. "I don't trust you, how many times have you tried running away from the village for a 'vacation', just sending you out of the village is going to be the death of me, both you and Yugito need to be kept safe here" he said. Bee scowled while Yugito nodded, agreeing with the Raikage.
"We have to prepare for this mission as soon as possible, we have to be ready for everything. Everybody, move"
The room emptied at once, leaving only The Raikage in it. He looked at the smashed table and sighed. 'Every year, I guess I have to add a separate fund for the tables I buy after smashing the previous ones' he thought.
-x-
Konoha
It had been two days since Naruto had read up on that book Jiraiya had sent him, and he had begun practicing sealing. He was amazed that sealing was not something that was practiced and taught as avidly as Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Genjutsu. When sealing was done, there was not many things that couldn't be accomplished. He realised that even nature Chakra could be sealed onto the body, that could come in handy some time.
Sasuke and Sakura had all but vanished. Sasuke was training with Kakashi and learning the Chidori while Sakura was with Kurenai, working on some high level Genjutsu techniques. She was also working on the low reserves of chakra she had.
Naruto was still busy with practicing sealing, after all he had a test to prepare himself for.
"Naruto" Jiraiya had materialised while Naruto groaned. He had to learn that technique.
"Come on, The Hokage has called us, its a mission"
-x-
Somewhere close to the Border of Fire Country and Earth Country.
The whole camp had been obliterated, there were dead bodies strewn apart here and there, and Otaku's platoon had chanced upon it.
"Look out" one man had cried, "It is a kunai with three prongs, we have to find it. Lord Otaku has uses for that, come on"
They had searched for hours on end, but hadn't found anything. They were regrouping again when someone had shown up.
In a flash there were bodies strewn everywhere, the leader of Otaku's platoon was the only survivor, and he wouldn't live for long. This was because of the sword that was placed against his neck.
The man who had placed said sword against his neck had a look about him that indicated he was completely crazed.
"Where is this auction taking place?" he had asked the leader.
"Mango Country" the leader had whimpered.
"Do they have a giant cleaver?" he had asked the man.
The leader had nodded.
The man smiled. "Thanks for helping, in return, I will tell you my name before killing you"
The leader had tears in his eyes and piss rolling down his pants.
"Suigetsu Hozuki" the swordsman had said. "Remember it in the after life"
And with that, the head had been chopped off.
-x-
So what sinister plans does Suigetsu have for the auction, I guess we'll find out soon enough. I have to say I am impressesd by the length of this chapter, I hope everything I write from now on is as long as this, you can expect it.
Read and review as usual, tell me what you thought about the story. Lets make this work out, and as for the antique collector's arc, you can say that the only reason I am writing this story is because I want to work in a Lot of action, and by a lot, I mean a lot.
I don't want to hear about complaints from people who think I made Naruto and Sasuke too friendly, tough shit. I think if Sasuke has normalcy around him, that's what he would have become anyway. It's better than the bashing the guy receives in some fics (no matter how well written anyway)
I would like to thank The Beatles And U2, I listened to their albums (Sgt. Pepper,and The Joshua Tree) while writing this, maybe they inspire me to write longer chapters, who knows.
Expect the next chapter in a week or so.
Later.