I own nothing
Authors note: Sorry for the delay, I've been busy.
'Duck!'
Naruto barely managed to get his head down before being hit. He jumped to the side and landed in a crouch, immediately eyeing his opponent.
"Sasuke?"
The Uchiha glared. "One day."
"Excuse me?"
"One day," he seethed. "I go into the Hokage's office for a job and it turns out you already took Kakashi for a mission. One. Day. Prior."
Naruto rubbed the back of his head and chuckled nervously. "Hehe... oops?"
Sasuke rushed forward and grabbed him by the collar. "I had to do D-ranks! Fucking D-ranks!"
'Ashura help!'
'Nah, you look fine.'
Naruto gulped. "Well I couldn't wait... one day?" His tone became a bit awkward at the end.
"What did you do?" he demanded.
"Huh?"
"The mission. What did you do?"
Naruto was silent for a moment. "Nothing... just escorting a few merchants to Flower, fought some bandits... not very tough."
He seemed to accept that nothing good happened when he was gone. "Hn." He turned away. "Are we having our meeting today?"
The blonde shrugged. "Eh, it depends on Sakura."
"She'll milk the whole two weeks," he said a bit harshly.
"Well..." A smirk came onto Naruto's face, "I know where Kakashi lives now..."
Sasuke caught on and matched his smirk.
There was a silence for a few moments.
"So..." Naruto looked down the street as he spoke, "I'm going to get some food, care to join me?"
Sasuke pondered for a moment. "Sure." He was hungry, and Naruto wasn't like Sakura or Kiba, annoying. Or Ino, super annoying. Or Choji, gross when with food. Or Shikamaru, so lazy it's annoying. Or Hinata, who was just awkward.
Actually Naruto was one of the most normal ones of the last Genin class. Shino would be fine if he didn't talk to his bugs out loud, but Naruto, despite hiding things, was alright. Though when he and Kakashi got together...
"Yo Ayame! Teuchi! I'm back!" His call was jubilant, ready for the ramen he loved so dearly.
Ayame smiled. "Naruto! Good to see you! And it looks like you brought a friend!"
"Yeah I did. Come on Sasuke, this place is great!"
Sasuke gave Ayame a formal smile and sat down, while Naruto licked his lips in excitement.
Teuchi turned around from his cooking. "You want the regular Naruto?"
"Yup, two bowls today, I'm not feeling that hungry."
He nodded. "How about you young man?" he asked Sasuke.
Sasuke shrugged. "What kind of things do you have here?" he asked politely, being Uchiha formal.
"Well the menus up there, but tell me what you like."
Sasuke looked up, not noticing the menu before, he blushed in embarrassment at his obliviousness. "Well I like tomatoes a lot..." He eyed what he wanted, "There. Tomato soup."
"Eh?" Naruto looked up at the menu. "You guys serve soup also?"
Teuchi turned around to start cooking. "Variety is the key to success."
Hm. That was a good quote, Naruto mentally committed to remember that when training.
"Naruto? Sasuke?" They both turned around to see Sakura standing there shyly. "I uhh... I heard you guys speaking and..."
A laugh, "Care to join us?" Naruto didn't really mind, they were a team after all.
But he was certain it wasn't just a coincidence she just happened to 'hear' them.
"Sure!" she chirped, happy to not be rejected, "I'll uh... I'll get a chicken ramen. Small."
"You got it," Ayame said with a smile.
"So Sakura," Naruto started as he absorbed his food, "You up for a mission?" At this point it had been a week and a half since Wave, and the two week break was coming to an end.
"I guess I am."
"Well we should go find Kakashi after we eat."
"What time is it?" Sasuke asked.
"Noon."
"Hm... where would Kakashi be at noon?" he threw the question out into the open.
"Right here!"
Unfortunately all three of them were sipping their meals when the loud voice chimed. And all three of them started choking as Kakashi appeared next to Sakura, seemingly smirking at their coughing.
Naruto fell to the ground coughing. "You..." He tried to reign himself, "You bastard!"
"That's not a nice way to greet your dearest sensei!"
Sasuke controlled himself and glared. "You waited for us to eat before coming."
"Maybe I did..."
"Why are you here?"
He shrugged. "The Hokage wants you Naruto. We can go on a mission after you two talk."
Naruto groaned and pointed to the full bowls. "None of us are done!"
"Well those two can still eat, he only wants you."
Naruto grumbled as he left, "Oh! And you're paying Kakashi!"
Kakashi rolled his eyes. "Hey Ayame," he called quietly so Naruto couldn't hear, "put it one Naruto's tab."
The girl giggled and nodded.
"Old man? You called?"
The old man nodded. "Yes, call this Hokage training."
"Oh?"
"Where do you think the Chunin Exams should be?"
"Eh?" That was sudden.
"The Chunin Exams, you know what it is. Konoha is in charge of it this year."
"Isn't is suppose to be hosted here?"
"It is, but I'm not letting nations like Kumo or Iwa send ninja into my village. Only allies are coming into Konoha, but we have some interesting genin this year..."
Naruto got the gist. "You want me and Sasuke to be shown around the nations."
"Not just you and Sasuke, many of Konoha's names from the war have had children, and those children were your classmates."
"In an international exam, you can show that Konoha's next generation is not one to be trifled with." Naruto practically finished the Hokage's thought.
"Yes, and that I'm not at weak as my age says." The strength of the ninja of the village is a reflection on the Hokage's strength. If Konoha dominates then the esteemed 'Professor' shows he still has his stuff.
Naruto thought for a while, which was basically a mental conversation with Ashura. "Two issues though."
"Oh? Tell me." Of course he knew all the variables and answers, he just wants to test Naruto. The boy was to be the Hokage if he had his way, and it was best to get him started younger, because Hiruzen knew he couldn't last until Naruto was thirty.
"One is the location, all of the nations we're allied with has some sort of bad relationship with another country we're allied with. There hasn't been an all nation exam before, the idea was too idealistic when it was made a few years after the second war. We need to find a completely neutral nation if we wanted it to be everyone."
"And the other?"
"The plan of showing Konoha's strength might backfire. There could easily be a Kakashi Hatake type prodigy in Kumo that they've kept secret. We could be smashed."
"True... but I'm confident."
"We have what? Two or three months until the exam? At the moment I personally think we should keep it in home and play it safe, because the only place we have to host is home, and letting the Raikage into Konoha is not a good idea."
The Hokage smirked, "You're a smart twerp. Here." He threw a paper ball at him. "A mission for your team."
Naruto unrolled it. "A C-rank?" he asked, sounding offended. "Where's the B?"
The Hokage just looked at him.
"Fine!" Naruto said after an intense staring battle. "C-rank it is..."
Naruto started to walk out, but froze.
"Yes Naruto?" Hiruzen knew he wasn't done yet.
"Say old man, do you know sealing well?"
"Oh?"
"Fuinjutsu, sealing. I uhh..." He rubbed the back of his neck, "I was thinking about dabbling in it. Variety is the key to success and all..." He also wanted to see if Ashura could jack a Shadow Clone or control chakra limbs, but the seal was too tight.
Hiruzen snorted. "Variety is the key to success... that is cheesy and way too true." He knew that phrase more than anyone, having mastered all five nature elements through sheer hard work, his ability to counter all the foes he went against was the only reason he was so old.
"So do you?"
"There is one... the best sealing expert Konoha has, but he's on a... sabbatical of sorts. I'll see."
Naruto smiled an waved. "Well that's better than I expected! See ya you fossil!"
The door opened slightly. "Hello?" His voice was somewhat timid.
Naruto smiled and waved. "Are you Shibuki?"
"Yes, I am."
Kakashi made himself visible to the small sliver of the door and placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Well we are the ones sent to escort you back to Taki."
Shibuki opened to door fully. "Oh," he said with a bit more confidence, "I see."
Scrutiny time. He still looked quite young, maybe seventeen or so. He had long brown hair that flew down his back and eyes of the exact same tone, his face had the Taki tan to it, which was just a tad darker than a Konoha one (they learned in the academy to identify people from other nations). Notably, he had a Taki headband around his head, with long blue ends that tied his head into a pony tail.
He looked a bit shy though, his eyes drifted downwards.
"I... I am pleased to make your acquaintance."
Naruto gave him a nod. "Likewise."
"Now then!" Kakashi started to walk away from the hotel room they were infront of. "To Taki!"
"AAHG!
Naruto went straight into shinobi mode at Shibuki's scream, creating ten Shadow Clones and making a defensive perimeter. Sasuke had his Sharingan activated and a kunai drawn.
"Eh Shibuki-san," Kakashi pointed to the sky, "That was a bird."
Shibuki, who was hiding behind Sakura, chuckled a nervously at the looks he received. "Oh... good."
The clones grumbled before popping one by one.
"Sooooo..." Naruto tried to do something about the now awkward air. "Are we actually going into Taki?"
Sakura turned to him, eyes shining. "Please tell me we are going into Taki!" she yelled in excitement.
Sasuke looked more emotional also, from what they heard, call it the grapevine of Konoha kids, was that Taki was like a giant amusement park, a never ending place of fun and parties.
Shibuki shook his head. "We'll go close to Taki, as close as any other foreign ninja in years, but nobody goes into Taki. Especially people like..." He looked at Kakashi, who was reading his book, the scarecrow raised his hand into a thumbs up.
"Oh come one Kakashi!" Naruto groaned, "you just HAVE to be all famous and deadly and stuff!"
The Jonin rolled his eye. "Naruto, trust me, I used to think what you are thinking of Taki. It isn't what the rumors in the Academy makes it out to be, it's actually a lot like Konoha, except smaller... and less 'Konoha.'"
"Ah come one! You ruined the dream-" Naruto looked at him confused. "You've been to Taki?"
Shibuki looked equally as shocked. "You have?"
"Yeah," Kakashi still sounded nonchalant, despite saying he went into the most secure place on the planet. "I went with the Fourth Hokage about... 12? Maybe 13 years ago. We went to renew our treaty together."
The three genin looked at each other, all having a silent question in their minds. "So Kakashi," Naruto decided to be the one to speak, "Do you know how to get into Taki then?"
A shrug. "The Fourth did, they figured he could easily teleport in anyways. I, on the other hand, had to be subjugated into a rather nasty Genjutsu that wiped the memories of how to get in from my mind... I was also blind folded and drugged when going in."
"So you and the mother fucking YELLOW FLASH decided to just let yourselves be drugged and mind fucked?"
"Basically." Kakashi sighed at the look he received. "Look Naruto, we were diplomats, not ninja. We came to make peace, not burn the place to the ground. Also they didn't even try to drug or blind the Hokage, he was the Yellow Flash, they wouldn't even touch him. But I was told to abide by their customs."
Shibuki nodded, satisfied. "So you don't know how to get in."
"I know you have to take at exactly 34 right turns in a cave system, after at least 84 to 85 left turns. No offense, but your mind jutsu is admirable, but not as good as a Yamanaka's."
Shibuki shrugged. "The Yamanaka are the masters of the mind. Besides, we took you on the overkill path, there's other ways that are more shady then even Madara Uchiha that we use to get in quickly."
"That's... really shady then."
Sasuke just looked at them plainly. "I'm an Uchiha," he said flatly
"Yes, no need to brag your pedigree." Kakashi looked at Shibuki. "You knew that didn't you? Every nation keeps an eye on the last- completely not bat shit crazy and deadly- Uchiha. The amount of kidnapping attempts from Kumo... my god!"
Sasuke looked shocked, while Naruto pursed his lips. "Are you suppose to talk about that?"
"Who cares? He'll find out eventually that people literally will pay millions for his sperm." Sasuke turned stark white and froze, Kakashi shook with restrained laughter. "There was this one time! Where some backwater village decided to leave a trail of tomatoes in the Uchiha district! Little Sasuke actually followed it, picking one up and eating it, then going to the next one and eating that! I watched amused until he walked into an outhouse all innocently..." Naruto let out a snort trying to restrain himself.
"STOP!" Sasuke yelled. He knew exactly where this was going.
"What? I stopped her before she got to you and the family jewels. At least they sent a girl, there was this one time when they sent a group of men..." Naruto couldn't hold it in anymore.
Sasuke turned a bright red. "SHUT THE HELL UP!"
Naruto almost collapsed laughing. "Look at him! He's red! Like a tomato!" Sasuke glared at him, which only made the laughter increase. "You are what you eat!"
"QUIET!"
"He's yelling!" Naruto turned to Sakura, who was also frozen, "Have you ever heard him so loud before? Kakashi is like a wizard to make 'Grumpy Uchiha' lose his composure!"
Kakashi laughed heartily also. "I am a wizard, watch!" In a puff of smoke he was a Transformation of Sasuke, expect his face was a tomato and his hair was green. "Magic! This is what Sasuke looks like!"
It was honestly a lame joke, but the actual face of Sasuke was what made it funny.
Naruto and Kakashi exploded into more laughter. "They brought him into an outhouse!" Naruto literally fell down clutching his stomach. "Some group of sweaty guys were actually hired to steal the sperm of a five year old boy!"
"Four!" Kakashi fixed. Making them laugh even more at the Uchiha's face
Kakashi actually fabricated some, actually most, of the story. Sasuke figured he was too young to remember...
Sasuke's shock turned into pure anger. "You... you..." he seethed, the temperature in the area already rising. "You... BITCHES!" He fired a giant fireball at them, Kakashi poofed away, but Naruto couldn't get away in time.
Naruto's eyes widened. "Sasuke NOO!"
He laid on the ground a charred mess. "God damn it Sasuke..." he said weakly. "Kudos on the no seal fireball though... impressive."
Kakashi reappeared. "Yeah! Good job!" along with a thumbs up. "That was the plan all along! To unlock Sasuke's hidden abilities through rage! I'm such a good teacher!"
Shibuki looked at Sakura. "Do you deal with this often?"
She nodded dejectedly. "Every time we're together, either training or on a mission... Kakashi and Naruto always do stuff like this..." She sighed heavily, the information she learned about Sasuke was already giving her nightmares, and she was awake.
Shibuki couldn't help but smile slightly at the team dynamics. "Two peas in a pod, and it seems like Sasuke is the perfect target."
"Sasuke is a target?" Naruto questioned as he weakly stood up. "I'm a target! A fireball target!"
"You're an idiot." Sakura said with a head shake. "A complete idiot."
"Speaking of complete, even though the context has nothing to do with this," Shibuki gestured infront of him, "Taki outpost 6, the closest to actual Takigakure we let not natives go, the village is less than a mile from here."
There where two pairs of ninjas at the gate, two of them stepped forward and gave Shibuki salutes. "Shibuki-sama," one of them greeted. "Great to see you back safely."
Shibuki nodded to dismiss the salutes. "It was a safe travel."
The other two ninja stepped forwards. "We are here to escort you all the way back."
Shibuki looked at one of them closely. "Denno, was it?"
A nod. "Yes sir! An honor you know me."
He gave the ninja a smile, "You're the one who caught the man giving Fu bad food, you are a good man."
The man blushed. "She didn't deserve it," he muttered quietly.
Naruto noticed his partner giving him a dirty look, it came at the mention of this 'Fu'.
Shibuki turned towards them. "I thank you for escorting me all the way here, but my men will take it from here. It was a really fun experience to travel with you guys, you really know how to a make a trip entertaining."
Kakashi pretended to pop his collar. "Oh you know, I'm quite the entertainer. Cool guy extraordinaire..."
Naruto snorted. "Asshole extraordinaire, you mean."
One of the ninja's who guarded the gate looked behind him towards Taki. "Shibuki-sama, there is something they can do for us..."
"Oh? Tell me."
He pointed where he was looking. "Some children rode a dumpster over a waterfall, and they managed to leave before we got to them. The waterfall is all dirty and filled with trash..." he trailed off, leaving Shibuki to decipher it on his own.
Which he did, Shibuki nodded. "That is a good idea," ha agreed and turned to Kakashi, "Kakashi-san, may I ask to hire you for another mission, now that this one is over?"
Kakashi nodded. "As a Jonin Captain I can take requests, there's some protocol first." He sarcastically cleared his throat, "First, what rank do you want this mission to be?"
"D."
"What is said mission?"
"Clean the trash from a waterfall."
"Payment?"
Shibuki thought for a moment.
"Minimums?" he asked.
"Okay! These little munchkins will do it for 500 each!" Naruto glared at his teacher. "Oh, and I forgot! The designated time for the mission?"
Shibuki caught onto what Kakashi was trying to do. "I want it done by tomorrow morning, I expect to wake up at dawn and gaze upon the beautiful waterfalls of my village."
Naruto glared at the both of them, "You can't even see that waterfall from the village!"
"How would you know? You've never been in there?" Shibuki was smug, as was Kakashi.
He could tell that Kakashi was smirking underneath his mask. "Now chop chop! Go my minions! Clean for all you are worth... which is apparently 500!"
"Oh you motherfu-" Naruto stopped. Children were approaching.
"Shibuki!"
Shibuki smiled. "Hey there! I'm back!"
The all huddled around him. "Can you play with us?" one of them asked eagerly.
"Sure. But first, why are you guys out here? Because I know you didn't ask for permission..."
They all smiled sheepishly, and Naruto took it as the cue that Konoha was out of the conversation. They made their way over to the waterfall, sighing that even in a C-rank, it was a D-rank.
"What kind of adrenaline rush were these kids looking for?" Naruto wasn't curious, he was upset, upset of having to clean up for somebody else's trash when they should be the ones doing it.
"This is..." Sakura held up a damp chinese food box, "Gross. So gross." She got a whiff of the smell and gagged. "Oh my god... I'm gonna die."
"You're gonna die?" Naruto's face was strained, "I have a heightened sense of smell, I'm literally one moldy box away from going to the Shinigami."
A bird flew close to them, cawing as it span over.
A Konoha messenger bird.
It flew down onto Kakashi's arm, the scarecrow reached to its back and pulled out a not, looking it over.
"Well..." The note burned in his hand. "You guys stay here, I'm off."
"Eh? What?"
Kakashi started to walk away. "I've been summoned back to Konoha for an emergency meeting. You guys just keep cleaning and return tomorrow, I might even be done early enough to meet back up with you guys."
Meet back up? Why would Kakashi go to Konoha, just to go back to them, just to go back to Konoha?
'Obviously he has another mission outside of Konoha, it must be important.'
Kakashi vanished in a swirl of leaves, leaving them alone with a trash filled waterfall.
"Oh wait..." Naruto groaned and slapped his forehead, "I can do Shadow Clones..."
"Are you joking?"
"I wish I was." Naruto crossed his fingers and channeled some of his chakra, in a poof multiple clones of him set off to clean the waterfall.
"You're an idiot," Sasuke said plainly.
"I am, and I-" Naruto's head snapped to his side, "Eh?"
A woman, running towards them. her distress was palpable.
"Help!"
"Hey!" Naruto held a hand out towards her. "We're ninja, are you alright?"
"You need to help!"
"With what?"
"We're under attack!"
Naruto blinked in surprise. Taki was under attack? Taki was under attack.
"By who?"
"There's no time!"
She was right.
Naruto turned to the team. "Alright," he started, taking charge, "We're going to assist Taki out. Can you lead us to the village?" he asked the woman.
"Yes!" She started towards one of the many waterfalls, "This cave is one of the fastest!"
"Shibuki!"
Shibuki whipped around at Naruto's voice. "You guys?" He was currently hiding in a small area of foliage with the children he was with earlier.
"We caught word that something was going down. We're here to assist you." He knew that Shibuki wasn't happy that they were inside of Taki, but they were allies, and hopefully he'll accept that there could be worse.
"Fine," he said after a moment. "I need one of you to take these kids to safety."
Sasuke looked at Sakura. "Take these kids to where that woman went, the underground storage room. They'll be safe there."
Sakura nodded, secretly happy to be going away from the fighting.
"What is happening?" Naruto asked as the children and Sakura left.
"I've been with the children the entire time, but I have an idea. A man named Suien abandoned the village some time ago, I'm positive that he's the one in the village, and I'm positive I know what he wants."
"Is he strong?"
"Both physically and politically."
Naruto pursed his lips and consulted his inmate. "I think... How deep in have they dug?"
"They're deep. Hostages and choke points, Suien knows this village very well."
"How? Everything was fine twenty minutes ago."
Shibuki gritted his teeth as he spoke, "Suien has friends everywhere. There are many people who don't approve of me, many older, more influential, political people. I'm fine with the younger generation, but..."
"But. Somebody else wants to go in power, and Suien is the best opportunity."
Shibuki sighed. "Yes... shit."
Sasuke, who was observing the area with his Sharingan, finally turned to them. "We need to cattle them away from the hostages, they want something, maybe we can lay a trap using it."
Naruto turned to the Taki leader. "What exactly are they ransoming for? There's hostages for a reason."
Shibuki looked conflicted, he was conflicted. After a few moments of deep thinking he finally sighed. "They want a thing called 'Hero Water', only I know the location of it."
"Hero Water?"
"A special water that increases the ability of the consumer tenfold." He did not look happy relaying hidden Taki secrets to them.
Naruto and Sasuke glanced at each other for a moment.
"So, how do we even start?"
They easily snuck past the sentries place around the main part of the village, Shibuki knew they way around Taki like Naruto knew Konoha. They grew up running in the streets, Shibuki knew his village like the back of his hand.
"Stop," he commanded quietly in an alley, he turned to a window above them and pushed it open. "In here, the roof has the best hidin- recon spots."
'Hiding spots, if you really wanted to know.'
They climbed inside and ended up right next to a staircase, Shibuki led them to the top. The entire place was filed with plants, all types of different plants, each with special lighting or soil.
"This is a botany building," Shibuki explained, "The top of this place is a giant glass dome, the glass is also obscured."
Naruto looked up, the entire glass dome was an assortment of panes, one section looked the same while a lone one out was tinted ghdifferently. Each different pane made the light from the sun distort in their own way, giving the room a... different look to it, more unique lighting that really changed the feel.
"So what does the different glass do?" He had to ask.
"The glass in the ceiling is for the plants. Some of theses plants needs a different type of light to grow properly, some need more, some need less." He left the rest for them to think about.
He led them over to a side of the dome, it had an elevated rafter with a ladder leading up it. It was only a few meters high.
"This place is one the edge of town, and from up there we can get a good view of the city."
Naruto nodded and jumped up. "Right." The window had a cover one it, he moved it slightly and peaked out.
"Oh, that isn't good, is it?"
Shibuki climbed up and peaked out.
"Oh no..."
They had the hostages in the center of town.
"We can't wait!" Shibuki jumped down and went to the stairs.
Naruto jumped down. "So much for recon..." he said flatly to Sasuke.
The Uchiha shrugged. "This is a bad situation..."
"I know, but there's lives at stake."
"Shibuki!" a man yelled. "Come out with the Hero Water! These people die otherwise..." He held a blade threateningly towards a person's throat.
Slowly, Shibuki came out of an alleyway.
"I'm right here... Sensei..."
Suien smirked. "Finally you're not being the coward you are, bring me the Hero Water."
"I want my people free."
"You're not in control here."
Shibuki pulled out a flask. "My people lives are a fair trade for this, you get this when they go free."
Suien dropped the man he was holding. "The only issue though..." A blade stabbed Shibuki in the back. "... that isn't enough for my plans."
To his surprise Shibuki smirked. "I noticed, that's why I'm not even here." He suddenly vanished.
Suien just ducked before Shibuki kicked him in the head.
But Shibuki didn't stay to fight, he jumped away as Naruto and Sasuke jumped into the fray.
That was an issue, Shibuki was meant to stay and fight.
"Team!" Suien yelled as he easily blocked one of Sasuke's punches. "Come here!"
The two genin were surrounded by a group of ninja. Naruto noticed most of them were Taki missing nin, while three stronger looking ones were from Ame.
"Sasuke," he whispered. "Get the grunts, I'll try to get the higher ups."
"This is bad..." he whispered back.
"Shibuki has to come back, he needs to."
"Get them!" Suien yelled as he turned around. "I'm not gonna waste myself fighting these kids." He turned to the Ame ninja's. "Shibuki is going to get the water! Get him!"
Fuck, this was bad.
"Naruto, go."
Naruto turned to Sasuke. "What? No!"
"You only need to hold them off until Shibuki gets the water, if it is as good as they make it out to be then he'll be able to beat of of them."
"We need to stick together with this much.
"I can last easily ten minutes." Naruto had no idea if he was lying or not. "All we need it to give Shibuki time."
Naruto created a large group of clones. "This will help," he said as he took a step forward. "Good luck, Sasuke.?"
"I'll need it."
Naruto jumped in pursuit of the Ame Shinobi.
He rushed through the trees, his mind buzzing on what exactly he could do in the situation he was in.
Shibuki was an idiot. He should have gotten the Hero water then go after Suien, but he was way too hasty in his actions.
They only just managed to stop him before he rushed out without a plan, and the low production gimmick they scraped together proved nothing but a setback currently.
"Water Whip!"
Naruto jumped away before he was hit by the technique.
Great. His advantage was gone...
"A kid?" the man who attacked him said, sounding offended. "Is that all this Shibuki guy sends? A child."
Well he had one advantage, they underestimated him.
But with a three on one advantage, they had the right to.
"Deal with him them," a gray haired man told one of his friends. "We'll continue after the Hero Water."
Naruto threw a volley of shuriken at them, the lead boy and girl both jumped away, leaving him with the masked one with a mouth.
Masked Man cracked his knuckles. "I'm coming after you, kid."
He fired a large glob of water out of his mouth towards the genin, who jumped back onto a tree branch.
He was a range fighter apparently, getting up close was the best bet.
Naruto pounced, the branch he was standing on cracking under the pressure, he drove his fist forward and caught Masked right in the stomach. Masked let out a pained sound as he tumbled back, only just stopping himself from falling to the ground below.
Mask created another whip of water and slapped it at him. Naruto ducked under a swipe and launched forward again.
The blonde jumped on the same branch as his foe and hastily ducked under a kick, before grabbing the leg swung at him and pulling it towards him.
Nut shot, cheap and effective.
Mask instinctively huddled into a ball to protect his assets, and Naruto took the opportunity to slam his fist into the man's temple, sending him to sleep.
"That was too easy."
'He's arrogant, just wait for the other ones. They'll be sober when they see you.'
It was morbidly accurate, the next too won't give him as many openings as their ally did.
His nose twitched, he could smell a distinctively different smell of plants than the usual forest. It was the smell of the greenhouse they were in, the scent lingering on Shibuki.
Naruto rushed towards it, it wasn't that far.
Naruto landed in a tree, trying to be subtle as he eyed his surroundings.
There was a pond, with Shibuki carefully filling a flask in it.
That was the Hero Water, but where was the Ame nin?
'Look ou-'
Naruto was thrown forward out of his hiding spot, a kunai in his back.
"Naruto!" Shibuki yelled in alarm as the blonde rolled to the edge of the pond. "What are you doing here?"
Naruto let out a pained groan as he slowly stood up, pulling the knife out of his back.
"Saving your ass," was his strained reply. "You led them right to the pond..."
"I... that was a mistake!" Shibuki tried to rectify. He wasn't thinking clearly, only caring about getting his people out of danger.
"We can't fix that now! Just get the water and go!"
"What?"
The two remaining Ame nin jumped towards the village leader, Shibuki ducked and covered his head.
But before they could hit Naruto used his chakra arm to smack them back.
"Shibuki you need to go, I'll hold them back. All you need to do is get to Sasuke, he's fighting a lot of them all at once."
"What about you?"
Naruto tried to give a reassuring smile. "I'm gonna fight."
The blonde rushed towards the Ame duo, his wound already healing.
Naruto fired a gust of wind, the two separated before it wind could hit them.
Shibuki took the cue to get away from them.
Naruto launched his chakra arm at the female, but a wire wrapped around it before it could impact. Naruto glanced at the male who did it and made his limb dissipate.
'I need a plan Ashura.'
'You need to get them together,' Ashura replied. 'You can't take attacks from both sides.'
Naruto fired two Gale Palms from each hand. He noticed how the girl jumped away far quicker than the man did.
But both of them were fast though, a bit too fast for Naruto's own opinion.
The two missing nin fired Water Whips in unison. Naruto swiped his chakra arm to counter.
The whips, however, wrapped around the fingers of the arm and tugged him forwards.
Naruto pulled a kunai out and sharpened it with wind chakra, he threw it at the man and then fired a blast of wind to redirect himself towards the girl.
The girl was faster and the man was stronger, it was best to overpower the girl and outpace the man.
Naruto reared his fist back and threw a powerful punch at her, she brought her arm up to block.
She let out a yelp as the force of the punch blew her back a few feet, a few cuts on her arm from wind chakra.
Naruto didn't have time to celebrate though. He could smell the approaching scent of the man behind him, dried blood and steel filled his nostrils as he back flipped over a stab of a knife.
Naruto threw a punch towards the mans side, but he brought his arm down to block it. He then elbowed Naruto right in the top of the head, sending him tumbling to the ground.
A kick met the blonde to the head that made him fly a few feet back.
Shit.
Naruto panted as he slowly started to lift himself.
But his opponents showed no mercy, a Water Whip wrapped around his ankle and pulled him backwards.
The girl slashed him across the back with a kunai before the man was quickly upon him as well. Giving him a hit to the jaw, breaking it.
Naruto could only make out a smirk on his foes face through his blurry vision.
But he wasn't done yet.
Red chakra exploded from him, making his enemies fly back...
And as fast as the chakra came, it went.
Naruto stumbled away from the puddle of his own blood. He was outclassed so easily, he was suppose to be better than this.
The man quickly recovered and approached the stumbling Naruto.
"No running kid," he said coldly. "You picked this fight, finish it."
Naruto collapsed onto his knees, he could feel the warmth of his own blood as it traveled down his face.
'Give me a few seconds, I'm healing you.'
The man drove a kunai into Naruto's sternum and then gave him a powerful punch to the face. Naruto went flying into the pond of hero water.
Fuck.
"Ah shit!"
"I just fixed your jaw, don't complain."
Naruto rubbed his jaw, it wasn't painful, but he could feel his jaw set back into place from his mindscape.
"Well now my face will look great on my dead body once I drown."
There was something wrong with the pond of hero water, it was pulling him down at an alarming rate.
Ashura rubbed his chin in thought.
"This is strange Kurama, right?" he asked.
One massive eye opened slowly.
"It is saturated in ancient chakra," he commented. "It is like there is- oh."
"Oh." Ashura repeated.
Naruto looked lost. "Oh what?"
Ashura poked Naruto in the nose, making his figure disappear from the mindscape.
"Wake up Naruto, Hamura saved your ass."
Naruto, who couldn't swim up due to his injuries, simply let the power of the water pull him down. The water became darker and darker, yet he wasn't drowning as he descended to seemingly impossible depths.
It was like he was meant to be down here, like something was dragging him downwards on with an objective.
And he met it, as he grabbed a disc in the darkness.
"Wake the fuck up!"
Naruto gasped as a foot met his side. He started coughing uncontrollably as the pungent tasting water flew out of his mouth.
"Wow kid," an unknown female voice said to him. "I thought you'd be dead. Not many people take a dive into hero water and live."
Naruto tried to roll from his stomach to his back but couldn't. So he simply replied with his face in the ground.
"I think I might be the only person to swan dive into that nasty shit..." He slowly rose until he was propped up on his hands and knees, panting heavily.
"So..." the female voice asked. "What's ya name? I can call you orange pants. I doubt you'd like to be called that, but who cares? I pulled you out of that damn puddle at my own risk, I think I own you, right?"
"Naruto," he coughed out as he fell onto his back. He looked at his savior, his blurry vision identifying.
Definitely not the assholes who almost killed him.
The most distinguished feature was the green hair. Call it mint if technical terms were to be used.
But he almost just drowned, so screw technicalities.
Tan skin. White outfit. Orange eyes. Taki headband.
Straight the point, Sasuke needed his help quickly.
'Ashura how long was I out?' He thought to his friend.
No response.
'Ashura. Hey Ashura! Asuuuraaaaa-'
"What are you doing kid?" the girl asked.
Naruto sat upright instantly.
"Kid?" he asked incredulously. "We look almost the same age!"
"And?"
Naruto tried to stand up to further the confrontation, but when he got onto his feet he stumbled.
"Hey!" The girl said as she grabbed the shaky Naruto to stabilize him.
Naruto looked around. Same area as his battle, but there was one big issue.
The sun. It was much earlier in the day than his battle, which meant he must have been asleep for WAY to long.
"What's your name?" Naruto asked bluntly.
"Fu," she replied.
Naruto stretched his back, groaning as multiple pops came from it.
"Well Fu, you trying to kill me?"
Better he knew now than when he has his back turned. There was no way Suien would let the lake of hero water go unguarded for an entire night, and if Fu retrieved him he must have been floating.
But why didn't she stab or chain him yet? If she was working for Suien she must know one of the three enemies they had to face.
Fu looked at him strangely.
"What?" she replied confused, before gasping. "Wait! You think I'm a monster too!?"
"Hey calm down!" Naruto yelled back. "You don't look very threatening to me, but I didn't go into the lake voluntarily. I was fighting an enemy and I fell in."
She seemed to calm down slightly, yet she was still on guard.
"You a Taki nin like me then?"
Naruto touched his forehead.
His headband must have fallen off during the fight, which wasn't actually a bad thing.
"Uhh... yes! Yes I am a Taki nin, my headband must have fallen into the lake."
"I don't recognize you though," she muttered with her eyes narrowed. Naruto gulped and was about to run away when her expression lightened. "But I'm not the most popular one either!"
Naruto rubbed the back of his neck nervously.
They didn't teach him how to start a cover operation of a friendly nation in the academy.
If he ever became Hokage, that would be issue number one.
"So how's Shibuki?" he asked.
Fu smiled a little sadly. "He's really bothered that his dad is sick, he's trying to hide it but I know..."
"What?"
"Shibuki's dad has had a mortal sickness for a while, Shibuki had told him..."
Shit.
Well Sasuke didn't need him, he was still in the academy in Konoha...
One thing he really noticed about Fu:
She didn't have many friends.
She was a bit too excited to be talking to him. And whenever she said anything remotely offensive to him she got worried and apologized.
That made him wonder.
His cover was that he was a Taki chunin that went on a sabbatical to his original family home, a rite of passage of his family. Being a chunin meant there was no team or mentor to have to make up, and chunin's were relatively independent which would explain why many people didn't know him.
"Wow a chunin," Fu said admirably. "I'm just a genin, they have issues finding me a team."
"That's a shame," he replied.
Fu was his best bet to getting any information. He felt bad having to trick an actually nice girl for his own gain, but Hamura gave him this chance and he couldn't waste it.
Fu wanted a friend, so Naruto would be that friend.
She seemed to be treated kinda like how he was treated back in Konoha. He could remember when his team and Shibuki got to outpost six, Shibuki and the ninja there talked about her.
She was treated badly, something he could relate to. Which only made the fact that he was using her more painful.
But that was the ninja life.
Hamura's disc had sent him to the past, how far back was most likely four to six months.
There was a reason he was sent here, he just had to find out why.
"-and can you believe he would does that!?" Fu's sudden exclamation shook him out of his thoughts.
"I really can't," was his reply, barely listening to the story as he pondered.
"Yeah! And then..."
Naruto zoned out again as he felt something.
Something dangerous.
"Hey Fu," he started, cutting her off. "Not that I'm not thoroughly enjoying your life story, but do you sense that?"
She looked confused and looked into the forest."
"Actually I kinda do feel it."
"Do you recognize it?"
"Nope!" she chirped happily.
Naruto sighed.
"Shh!"
Fu complied and stayed behind him, Naruto slowly peeked from around a tree towards whoever was in the forest with them.
It was... a fish?
"Fu, what is that?" he whispered quietly.
Fu peaked around him and stared for almost half a minute before finally she retreated back behind him.
"A fish man? Mermaid?"
Naruto looked at her straight in the eyes.
"What? I have no idea."
Naruto ignored her and continued to look at the man. He had a large bundle on his back wrapped in bandages, the hilt sticking out probably meant it was a sword or club. He also had a distinguishable black coat with red clouds on it.
"I can't see his headband," Fu said. "what does it show?"
"Kiri," a voice answered behind them.
Naruto and Fu whipped around, the former holding a kunai.
It was... Sasuke?
The man stared at them blandly, his dark eyes emotionless.
"Are you not satisfied with my answer?" he said in total monotony.
"I'd be satisfied with your name," Naruto countered with a bit of bite to it. Only to freeze when he noticed something.
"Notice the headband?" the shark man said from behind them again, Fu looked but Naruto kept his eyes on the assailant infront of him.
"No wonder you look like Sasuke," Naruto said while trying to hide his fear. "You're his brother, aren't you?"
The shark man chuckled from behind him. "Oh? Looks like he knows you Itachi."
"Itachi?" Fu questioned.
"Itachi Uchiha," Naruto answered. "Call him the fucking bogey man if you'd like, there's no difference."
"I'm flattered," the dark haired man commented dully.
"Why are you here?"
The fish man behind them answered. "We were just taking a stroll, but them we noticed little Naruto Uzumaki in the area. We had to make sure, now that we answered you, how'd you get into Taki?"
"I walked," was the blondes sassy reply.
Itachi's eyes morphed into a Sharingan.
"Care to give me a better answer," he asked as he suddenly became 100 times more terrifying.
Then the ground exploded.
"Holy shit!" Fu cried as Naruto dragged her through the forest.
"How did I do that!?" Naruto yelled more to himself than anything. Fate was doing a lot more than smiling at him, he had just happened to pull out a kunai with an explosive tag on it.
A figure appeared a few meters in front of them.
"You have to run faster if you want to escape," fish man said amused. If he could appear in front of them so quickly there was no way they would escape.
Naruto and Fu just turned to their side and continued to run.
"Why are we running!?" Fu yelled to him.
"That Itachi guy killed over a hundred people in a single night! He's fucking crazy!"
Fu seemed to run a lot faster.
Naruto felt an energy.
"Fu! I can distract them as you escape!"
"No!"
Naruto stopped running, Fu looked and him and stopped as well.
"I have a way out," Naruto panted. "But I can't take two. You get out of here and I'll have them follow me."
"What is it?"
Naruto thought for an appropriate answer.
"Magic."
Fu seemed to accept the answer. "Stay alive," she told him, "Your my only friend!"
Naruto nodded and started to turn.
Then he heard the humming.
He looked back at Fu and his jaws dropped.
"You have wings!?" he yelled in shock.
Fu nodded, the insect like wings sprouting out of her back flapping at incredible speeds.
"How?"
"Magic," was her reply as she flew off.
If she had wings, why the hell was she running with him?
Naruto shook out all unwanted thoughts as he started to head in the opposite direction of Fu, making sure he was flaring his chakra for Itachi and fish man to feel.
He suddenly jumped to the side as a fireball flew past him, landing in a bush.
As he crawled out he noticed a foot in front of him.
"Hello Naruto," Itachi said.
"Hi?"
"We were not planning on taking you now, but such an opportunity cannot be wasted."
Naruto suddenly became amused. "Why would you want a single Shadow Clone?" he asked.
"Ah, I see." Itachi said as kicked Naruto in the head, making the clone disappear, before moving away.
Naruto knew what the energy was, it was Hamura.
He just had to put the disc in and it'll teleport him away back to the future... right?
Naruto really missed Ashura, he made things so much easier to understand.
There it was, a rather nice looking altar that was clearly taken care of by some sort of worker. There was a small lake, some nice flowers, even the stone of the altar was clean of moss or blemishes from anything other than age.
And there was the indentation that would fit the disc perfectly.
Naruto smirked as he ran over to it, jumping up the stairs quickly.
All he had to do was put the disc in the ho-
Naruto patted breast pocket of his coat, and then his pants. He pulled his utility pouch from his waist and sifted through it.
Did he not pick up the disc? Did he drop it somewhere?
"It seems like you had a plan," fish man said from almost ten meters behind him, "and that plan went to shit."
Naruto turned around and gulped. "That's an accurate explanation," he said
They weren't approaching, they probably thought he had a contingency plan.
Or he was going to do something with explosives again, which was more of a suicide attack than contingency.
"So why are you after me?"
Fish guy smirked. "It's big, it's dangerous, and it's inside of you."
"Oh... wow... well then... shit."
Itachi stared at him intensely. "The question is why you are in Taki with the host of the Seven Tails when you should be in Konoha."
Seven Tails?
Holy shit, no wonder people treated Fu like they treated him.
"I uhh... it's... complicated. Complicated actually might be too simple actually..."
Shit, Naruto's best bet was that he somehow shits the disc out in the next ten seconds.
The fish man took a step forwards.
"Hey! Hold up!" Naruto yelled, pulling out an explosive seal and placing it on his chest. "Take another step forward and I blow! Taking you and the Kyuubi with me!"
Actually from that distance they were pretty safe, but they couldn't risk the chance that he had a high powered tag instead of the standard issue one.
They were at a standoff.
"I could stand here for days," Naruto said with faux confidence. He made sure the last thing he would do was look at Itachi's eyes.
"And we can wait a few hours for backup," Itachi countered.
Naruto weighed out his options.
Option one: explode.
Option two: get caught.
Option three: explode.
Option four, five, six, seven...: explode.
And by the time he got to option 20: explode. He felt something.
He looked up just to see a rock hit his face.
"Fuck!" he cried in pain, and then quickly realizing the situation he was in. He picked up whatever hit him with one hand and quickly returned his other hand to on top of the explosive tag.
Itachi and his fish friend had approached to nearly five feet away from him. Close enough to where the fish guy can grab his weapon off his back and be able to reach him, but far enough that the attack would not hit in time.
"Hey Naruto!" Fu called from above him, "You left this at the lake! Nanabi said to give it to you!"
Naruto smiled.
It was the disc!
"Thanks Fu!" he called as she flew off.
He slowly put the disc into the altar.
"Hah! Take that Itachi and fish guy! I win!"
"Fish guy?" the fish man said confused. "My name is-"
The world flashed with a bright light and Naruto was gone.
Naruto wanted to say he stuck the landing, that he landed on his feet and went right on his way.
But he'd be lying.
He flew out of the lake like an idiot, landed like an idiot, and then laid there in pain for a little while like an idiot.
He'd still give himself a ten though, if he was the judge.
'I'd say a .5,' Ashura said after he laid there for a few moments, Naruto smiled brightly at hearing his voice.
'Why only half a point?' he thought.
'I got to give something for the effort.'
Naruto sat up. "Good to hear you Ashura, the hour without you was absolute hell."
Ashura chuckled in his mind. 'Me and Kurama were wondering what was happening, we couldn't see what you were doing or where you were.'
"I was in Taki, in the past... and it was decent."
'Decent as in..."
"I met a really cool girl who had a tailed beast in her, and then a psychopath and his fish friend tried to kidnap me for the fox."
'Ah.'
Naruto suddenly gasped.
"Oh shit! Sasuke!"
'Crap. How long were we out for?'
"How should I know!?" Naruto cried as he quickly got up and ran back to the village.
Naruto quickly noticed how fast he was going, and how everything was clearer.
'You did take a dip in hero water, after all. You didn't consume any, but it does absorb through the skin.'
He felt absolutely fantastic, like he could take Kakashi and win.
Maybe they did have a chance.
Naruto flew into the village, immediately honing onto the man with gray hair; he was one of the two who almost killed him.
Payback was going to hurt.
Naruto jumped high into the air and created a clone. The clone flew toward the man who turned at the last second, his clone Punched the man square in the face and landed in a crouch, before driving his elbow deep into his foe's spine. Naruto followed by landing on the man's gut and punching him in the face.
Fighting to not kill was impossible in the situation they were in.
"Sasuke!" Naruto called as he jumped towards his friend.
Sasuke wasn't looking to good. Nothing major, but he was bleeding from a few cuts all over his clothes, and he was clearly sore.
He probably didn't spend an entire night fighting, the blonde was probably gone for half an hour or less.
"Naruto," Sasuke said in relief. "When those guys came back..."
"Yeah," Naruto said grimly, "I thought they got me too, but fate had other plans."
Or rather Hamura did.
Naruto created a ring of about twenty clones around him and his teammate.
"Take a breather Sasuke," he told his friend. "I'll buy you some time."
Naruto could feel Sasuke wanting to protest, but the Uchiha managed to subdue his pride and kneel down, ready to join the fight at any moment.
Naruto rushed into the fray, homing onto the girl who almost killed him literally a minutes prior in real time excluding the Hamura shit.
Naruto ducked underneath a kunai slash and grabbed the girl's wrist. He slammed his head into her and as she stumbled back the blonde swiped her legs out from under her.
He reached into his pouch to pull out a kunai...
But growled in irritation and decided to slam his fist into her forehead instead.
Even when they were trying to kill him... he still couldn't finish the job.
Naruto had no time to ponder, however, as he ducked underneath a roundhouse kick and jumped back. He rushed the grunt who hit him and took a punch to the chest, using the proximity to grab the man by the collar and pull his face right into the blonde's knee.
Naruto felt something flying towards him and turned.
Shibuki hit him directly with his body.
"Ah!" Naruto cried. "Shibuki?"
Shibuki groaned from on top of him.
"Is that it!?" Suien cried from where he threw Shibuki. "I expected more from you!"
Suien then picked up the flask of hero water and downed the entire thing.
'That's not good.'
Naruto pushed Shibuki off him and stood up, approaching Suien.
He took a deep breath.
And then his senses flared.
Naruto whipped around to see Sasuke smash the masked Ame ninja, the same one Naruto had knocked out earlier out of the air.
"Thanks Sasuke!" the blonde called.
Sasuke gave not acknowledgment, but Naruto knew he could hear.
"Now," Naruto started as he looked at Suien, "Where were we?"
Suien rushed forwards and Naruto only had a split second to bring his arms up to block a punch.
He was sent flying back with what felt like a broken arm, Naruto waited for a few moments while it healed before surging forwards. He ducked underneath a punch and punched Suien in the chest, before karate chopping the man's throat.
Suien showed no signs that he was hit at all, he slapped Naruto, sending the blonde stumbling to the side.
Naruto managed to recover before Suien could hit him and flipped away.
"Come on!" Suien called. "Fight me!"
Naruto growled and drew a kunai, the blonde took a deep breath and charged again.
Suien sidestepped Naruto's first slash, before grabbing the blonde's right arm and twisting it painfully, Naruto let out a pained noise as the arm that was just damaged was dislocated.
Naruto let go of the kunai that was in his right hand and caught it with his left hand. He stabbed Suien in the stomach, the older man let go of Naruto's arm and kicked him in the ribs to send him rocketing away.
Naruto laid on the ground for nearly ten seconds while his ribs healed, thank the gods that the Kyuubi recognized the danger that was Suien and decided to heal him.
'Naruto, he's high on the hero water, he isn't thinking straight.'
"I know. I need to outsmart him."
Before he could make a plan Suien suddenly changed strategies and rushed the blonde. Naruto tried to dodged the hits instead of blocking them and was sent into a mad dance, him weaving through Suien's viscous punches and kicks.
Naruto found an opening and threw a punch towards Suien's neck.
There was a silence as the usually deadly hit was rendered useless. After a few moments Suien started to chuckle as she slapped the blonde in the face and sent him flying.
He then rushed Naruto again, Naruto tried to get away but he grabbed the blonde by the head and and smashed him into the ground.
"Well kid," Suien started as he drew his sword, "you did dece-"
Suien stumbled to the side as he was hit and Naruto felt someone grab him and pull him away.
"Hey kid!" Fu's excited tone said to him. "That's twice now I saved you! I deserve a medal, right?"
Before Naruto could even speak Suien beat him to it.
"Fu!?" he yelled. "Why are you here? You were taken months ago!"
Fu smirked. "Actually Naruto here saved me and I was traveling around few a few months until I suddenly felt him.
Naruto shakily stood up.
"Here," Fu said as she threw something at the Uzumaki, Naruto looked at it. It was his headband.
"You left it at the lake, I found it the day after you vanished," she explained.
Well there goes his first cover identity, it served him well.
"Do you care that I lied?" he asked as he tied the headband around his forehead.
She shrugged. "Kinda, kinda not. I have no idea why you were in Taki a few months ago, but we have more pressing issues right now."
Was that why he was sent back in time? To save Fu so she could come and salvage the dying situation they were in?
'Don't complain.'
Naruto silently agreed and flipped his kunai into a sword grip.
"Ready Fu?"
"Born ready."
Suien rushed forwards. Naruto ran up and jumped into the air over the traitor. He landed behind him and shoved him forwards, Fu used the opportunity to slam her fist into Suien's temple.
Apparently she was really strong if she could hurt Suien.
'Nanabi's a beetle, they're strong.'
Suien growled and started weaving through hand seals.
"Takigakure Stlye: Watercutting Sword!"
His blade became surrounded by a torrent of water. He got into a stance with it and prepared.
He was starting to think, they needed to end this quickly.
Naruto chucked his kunai at Suine, the older ninja brought his sword down and sliced it out of the air, Suddenly Fu fired a Chakra Thread and grabbed Suiens arm, pulling him forwards and making him drop his sword.
Naruto jumped in the air and attempted to axe kick Suien, but he dodged to the side and elbowed the blonde int he face, sending him stumbling back.
Fu rushed forward. "Taki whirlwind!" she jumped in the air also and started to spin,putting a massive amount of momentum into her fist, Suien didn't dodge, however, but merely met the fist head on.
The two fists collided and Fu was sent flying back.
But Naruto took the chance, he rushed Suien from behind.
Suien whipped around and attempted to slap the boy out of the way, but Naruto ducked and slid underneath the man's legs. He pulled a shurken out, stabbing Suien in the calf and dragging it down.
He wanted to do it with a Kunai, but Suien had cut his last one in half.
Suien roared in pain and took a step back. Fu came up right behind him and kicked him in his back, making fly towards Naruto, who had Ashura's chakra saturated around his fist.
"Take this asshole!" Naruto cried as he slammed Suien into the air with a brutal uppercut.
Fu flew into the air grabbed Suien, throwing him higher into the air before slamming him downwards with a kick.
Naruto simply stepped out of the way and let gravity and cold stone win the fight for them.
"Hero water my ass," Naruto said triumphantly.
'I am pretty sure Shibuki weakened him significantly, plus he wasn't thinking straight.'
'Let me have my moment,' Naruto thought angrily. 'I deserve it.'
"So," Fu said once they finished tying up the last of the grunts. "Konoha..."
Naruto chuckled nervously. "I thought you would attack me if I said otherwise..."
She smiled and laughed a little.
"I'll attack you now, if you want."
Naruto clutched his sore ribs with his even sorer arm.
"I think I'll pass," he said honestly as he looked back at his team.
Kakashi, who had returned about a minute after they beat Suien, was talking to some ninjas, which was most likely about if they could leave even if they now know a way into the village. Sasuke and Sakura were being praised by the village people and children, which was strange since Sakura did nothing at all to help.
They give him a wide berth, most likely since he was with Fu.
"Hey," Shibuki said as he walked up to them, he had his arm in a cast, something Naruto desperately wanted. "I just want to thank the two of you, I tried to fight Suien, but he was just too much for me."
"It's okay," Naruto told him.
"More than okay!" Fu added on. "An honor to help the village out!"
Shibuki smiled. "Thankfs Fu, I appreciate it, and I think the village will as well."
She smiled even more.
"Hey Naruto!" Kakashi called, "Can you walk?"
Naruto nodded.
"Then let's go! They don't like us here!"
"They don't like you here!" Naruto countered. "I think we would be fine!"
"Meh, semantics and all that," he could here Kakashi say a lot more quietly.
Naruto turned to Fu and Shibuki. "Well then," he started. "I would like to say it's been fun, but it wasn't really fun."
Fu laughed. "It was fun for a little bit, until fish man came."
"Fish man?" Shibuki questioned.
"It's nothing." Naruto was not even going to attempt to explain his run in with Itachi a few months ago but yet a few hours ago.
Shibuki yawned. "Well I'm gonna sleep for a long time, I'll make sure to write the Hokage a nice letter when I wake up."
Fu suddenly hugged the blonde.
"Bye Naruto!" She cried dramatically. "I'll miss you!"
Naruto smiled and winced at the same time.
"I'll miss you to Fu," he said as he let go of the hug and hobbled to walk away, "it was nice to speak to another Jinchuriki."
Fu looked at him confused as he walked away. Then a few moments later her eyes widened and her draw dropped.
"What!?"
"I got a rather praising letter from Shibuki," the Hokage explained to them, "I'm proud of you guys."
"Proud of Kakashi?" Naruto questioned. "For fighting the one guy left after we did all the work?"
Kakashi just looked at him blankly.
"Fine," the Hokage said. "I'm proud of all of you except Kakashi."
Kakashi kept looking at the Uzumaki, which actually made Naruto feel a bit uncomfortable.