Kai: Here we are to bring you another chapter of "Naruto: Next Generation"! With such a cliff-hanger I guess you really couldn't wait for this one (at least I hope so)… to bug you a bit more I planned the interview super long, but… there are no questions this time really!
Shang: Good, we can get straight to the story. Hope you'll like it, since this one closes the mission part. Enjoy and I do hope you'll let me know what you think of it.
Chapter #25: Happily Ever After?
Chapter cover: This time around it'll be simply Naruto feeding a baby fox with some meat
"Well, you're better then all the ANBU's I killed so far…" announced Ryu as he grabbed Sasuke's hand that pierced his chest with his left hand. "I'll die… however, I'm taking you with me…" and with that he aimed at the leaf-nins head with his huge sword.
Sasuke's eyes widen at the sight of the blade coming right at him. Due to the fact that his right hand was blocked, he couldn't dodge. Having no, other alternative, he reached for his hostel to pick out a kunai, hoping to block the katana with it.
The plan worked, however the knife was blow out of his hand (A/N: to those who may see this as strange, do keep in mind that Sasuke used his left hand to block and he's right-handed… plus, Ryu's blade if freakin huge!). The swordsman instantly aimed for the second cut, but once he lifted his katana up, it seemed to froze in place.
Sasuke instantly understood what happened when he saw the blade surrounded by a chain. Without wasting another moment he prepared his free hand and performed a quick set of hand seals.
"What?" Kumiko eyes widen. "Single-handed…!"
Instantly the same chakra that just few moments ago surrounded his right hand now appeared in his left palm. As soon as it did so, Sasuke launched another attack, this time aimed at the swordsman. It was instant death.
As Ryu's body felt to the ground, the ANBU left out a sign of relief. He gave Kusari a small smirk which the chain master returned.
"You actually needed my subordinates help to defeat your foes?" came a familiar voice. As the raven-haired ANBU look to the tops of the building he noticed a certain blonde standing on top of it. "You're getting old…"
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The next day Naruto woke up in an apartment with a wide window on the east side, from which he could see the mountain tops. The fight with the two, tree-nins tired him. Of course using the Kyuubi and opening celestial gates had their effects as well.
He took a shower and changed clothes. As he exited the room he found himself in the hallway of the royal palace. It was empty… then again, the hour was still rather early. He slowly walked towards the gardens where the battle took place. From what he saw, everyone was on their feet already.
"So what are you doing here?" asked Naruto, as he walked closer to his former teammate, looking at the sky.
"Kakashi send me to help you out" replied Sasuke. "And good thing I shown up… I see you're not even able to handle small fries like these…" he added with a grin.
"I was about to thank you, but now I feel like kicking your ass!"
"You think you have any chances?" asked the Uchiha prodigy with a smile.
"Aren't you forgetting that I was an ANBU too?" responded Naruto, returning the smile.
They both looked at each other and after a moment they shook each others hand.
"Good to see you, old friend…" announced the raven-hair ANBU.
"Indeed… it's been a while" nodded the blonde jounin. "How are Homura and Gouka doing?"
"Well, Gouka's starting the Academy this year… Sakura's delighted with it…"
"Excuse me, Sasuke-san, but there's one thing I'd like to ask you…" interrupted Takaru, walking closer to the adult shinobies. "How did you knew my name?"
Sasuke turned around to Naruto and whispered a bit surprised: "He doesn't know?"
"No, he doesn't" replied silently the blonde jounin. "And I think it's better if you wouldn't tell him… at least for now…"
"We'll have it your way" nodded the ANBU. "He's your student after all… but sooner or later you'll be forced to tell him…" and with that he turned to Takaru, saying: "Thanks to the Mangekyou Sharingan I'm able to read your mind… that's how I learned your name…"
"I… see" replied the son of Tsunade, lowering his head. "Naruto-sensei still refuses to tell me anything… why is he keeping that to himself?"
"Anyways, our job here is done…" announced Naruto. "Takaru, would you mind getting your teammates to pack their stuff? We're heading home…"
"I'm on my way, Naruto-sensei…" responded the scar-face as he slowly walked away.
"Well, I'll go ahead…" stated Sasuke. "I still have to talk to Kakashi-sama… plus new orders should be arriving soon… Guess I'll see you later…" and with that he disappeared.
"You can be sure of that…" replied the blonde jounin with a smile across his face.
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"Hope you'll pay us a visit from time to time, Kai-kun" announced Deji, smiling to the blonde gennin who was already carrying his backpack. "Little Kai should learn from whom he got his name…"
"I'll be sure to check on you…" replied Kai. "That's a promise!"
"Seems that I made my first step to find you… brother" Kusari thought to himself while holding a necklace with a small, silver kunai on it in his hands. Then he turned to his teammates. "Why not? Maybe today's my lucky day?" and with that thought he hid the necklace behind his short once more, walked over to his teammate and asked: "Kumiko-chan, how about we go on a date once we return to Konoha?"
"No way in hell…" replied the young genius coldly and then moved away from him.
"Give it a rest…" advised Ibuki. "You can tell she's not interested."
"Guess you're right…" sighed Kusari, but instantly a smile returned to his face: "How about you, Ibuki-chan?" and with that he made huge puppy-eyes to her.
"First of all: never call me 'chan'…" warned the weapon mistress. "Second: I'd rather die…"
Kusari lowered his head. A moment later, as he raised it, his sight stop, accidentally, on Kai. The blonde noticed that however and without even thinking, he yelled:
"Are you nuts? Stay away!"
"I'm not gay, pinhead!" yelled back the chain master and so the two of them gotten into another argument.
Naruto only sighed. Then again, he was a bit surprise: Kai was arguing with someone besides Takaru after all. He then looked at the son of Tsunade who was sitting on the side, awaiting for them to head back home. A worried expression crossed his face.
However it soon faded away as Takashi came closer to him. The blonde gave the Stone lord a quick bow, Deji's father nodded slightly and then said:
"Naruto-san, I thank you for the protection… not only my daughter's, but also my own. Recca and Deji are officially married. True that the ceremony didn't ended properly, but that was still enough…"
"Glad we could help…" replied the whisker-marks. "Now that Deji-sama and Recca-dono are husband and wife I do not think their lifes will be in danger… besides, I'm sure Tsuchikage will gladly organize proper security if it'll be needed… Well, we should get going… it's at least three days journey to Konoha from here… Best of luck to you, Takashi-sama…" with that he bowed and signaled his subordinates that they're leaving.
As they walked Kai and Kusari were talking about something. It seemed that their argument already ended. Takaru walked in front, not paying much attention to others and Kumiko was trying to fill-in crosswords during her marsh. Ibuki was walking next to Naruto, not saying anything.
Finally the young, weapon mistress decided to break the silence: "Are you worried, Naruto-sensei? You look troubled…"
He gave her a surprised look, but then remembered that she was from the Tanken clan after all. For assassins it was curtail to learn as much as they could about emotions, even though they hardly show it.
"One thing seems out of place…" he replied finally. "Those guys were hired. That's simple to figure out, because if they'd work on their own the whole masquerade wouldn't be needed. Since they putted on both Iwa and Ki forehead protectors we can assume that their goal was to keep the war between the Stone and the Tree going…"
"How's that?"
"Think about it: in order to stop the war, the children of the lords were obligated to marry each other. So what would happen if the Stone princess would be killed by a tree-nin? Her father would make suspicions that the Tree Country lord send assassins after his daughter. Same thing goes the other way around. But who, except the Iwa and Ki ninjas, would have any use of that war?"
"Maybe they were hired by Tsuchikage or Ki Gakure leader?" proposed Ibuki.
"Hardly possible…" Naruto disagreed. "Kataki was a missing-nin from the Stone and Kouba with Fugou were renegades from the Tree. No leader of a shinobi village would hire ninjas that left his or hers village. Besides, missing-nins aren't welcome in any, hidden village…"
At this point the weapon mistress run out of ideas.
"No point in thinking about it now…" announced the blonde jounin. "Our mission is over and now we can get our well-deserted rest…" and with that he smiled to the girl. But deep down he still couldn't shake the felling that trouble was coming.
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"So they failed…" said the figure with shinning red forehead.
"Told you they won't manage…" replied the bold giant.
"Well, this will make our job a little more difficult…" announced the short figure and soon after a smile appeared on his face. "But we'll get to have some fun that way…"
"Do hold yourself back this time, Rubiku…" asked the other person. "The slaughter you pulled up last time drew unneeded attention to us… if this repeats, the master won't be pleased…"
"We're just suppose to get the scroll…" reminded the short one. "And that's what we'll do…"
Coming up: strong shinobies appear in Konoha. Who are they? What's their objective? As Naruto's team prepares itself to face their greatest challenge yet, enemies gather forces. Chuunin Exam is about to begin! The real battle is only starting!
And with that the 25th chapter of this fic is done! Hope you enjoyed it and that you'll leave a review with your opinion.
Sorry to those who wanted Sasuke to die… couldn't kill him, coz he has a part to play here yet.
I think I'll be able to update this in a week or so, so until then:
Best wishes and till the next update.
Take care.