Hey guys, welcome back to the 17th installment of 'Immortalized'! Not much to say, other than I love the feedback and such I've been getting from you all. Also, the story has passed over 100K in words as of the last chapter! Pretty big milestone for me, never wrote anything this long before. Anyways…
Chapter 17
Red Dawn Rising
Six months.
It had been six months to the day since the shinobi had set foot in his home village. Six long months. That was twenty six weeks. Or one hundred eighty three days. It was four thousand three hundred and eighty hours. Two hundred and sixty two thousand, eight hundred minutes. An uncountable number of seconds. However you looked at it, it was a seriously long amount of time. And that entire time, the nearly twenty year old had spent in the company of nothing but Toads, and the presence of one singular other man. So you could say that yes, he was definitely ready for a change of scenery, and a difference in company, whichever came first.
The two men had been walking for what appeared to be a good few hours, opting to take the scenic route into Konohagakure instead of simply summoning themselves into it. This was, in actuality, quite familiar to the first time that they had approached the village, nearly ten years prior. The man on the left was tall and well-built, being in his late adulthood. He had a wart on the left side of his nose and waist-length, spiky white hair that he currently had tied back into a pony tail, with two shoulder-length bangs framing his face. There were red lines under his eyes which extended further down his face as he got older. His attire consisted of a green short shirt kimono and matching pants, under which he wore mesh armor that was visible at his wrists and ankles. The large man also wore hand guards, a black belt, traditional wooden sandals, and a red haori with two yellow circles on each side. Upon closer inspection, he wore a horned forehead protector with the kanji for "Oil", which easily showed his affiliation with Mount Myōboku, and by proxy the Toads.
To the now revealed Jiraiya's right stood a young man, an ornate katana slung across his back, dressed in simple back loose fitting pants with a kunai pouch on his right thigh, that were taped up around his ankles, his feet clad in a pair of unassuming combat sandals. He wore a tight, form fitting sleeveless green shirt that had a crest displayed proudly on the back, a dark red swirl. On each hand, there was a pair of dark gray fingerless gloves, and there were many scars upon his arms. His eyes were a steely blue, while his hair was a dull yellow, his long locks tied into a loose ponytail at the base of his neck, his bangs framing his angular face, his baby fat having left him long ago.
There were two standard black Hitai-Ite tied tightly around his waist, the leaf insignia falling slightly over the long, tattered blue scarf that served as a sash, fluttering in the wind, as the second metal plate felon the other side of his hip, the kanji for oil on proud display. Around his shoulders the man wore a gray overcoat, closer to a full length duster, the fabric stopping at just above his ankles. Around each bicep was a black tattoo that looked as if it was some sort of tribal kanji, though it was impossible to make out. Under one eye, he had the same red line marking his face, similar to his Sensei and Godfather. All in all, Uzumaki Naruto hadn't changed much physically, though he was growing into quite the young man that his parents would be proud of.
A myriad of feelings rushed through Naruto as he walked through those gates, absentmindedly signing the appropriate papers and making small talk with the two eternal gate guards, Izumo and Kotetsu. The blonde Jounin was glad to be back in his village after such an extended stay away, no matter how productive or fruitful it had been. It really was true, the old saying. How did it go again, something along the lines of 'absence makes the heart grow stronger'? Yeah, something like that. It hadn't been long after he'd left the familiarity of the village that he had begun to miss even the smallest things about it. The day to day life, little amenities, one doesn't truly appreciate what they have until it's gone.
The blonde sighed as he walked through the village, thinking back on a lot of things that had transpired in the last half year, as Jiraiya looked down to his young protégé, giving him an almost evaluating glance as he watched him walk. The blonde shinobi appeared relaxed, but to the trained eye of the Toad Sage, every muscle in his body was tense, almost as if he was on edge. The large white haired man sighed slightly to himself as he walked, his single arm moving with his gait as he did so. He couldn't blame the kid for being nervous, even after all this time. Though this was just the beginning. He still had a few places that would no doubt be difficult to go to due to the memories they would stir.
In all truth, the blonde shinobi had gotten better, he'd recovered a good amount from the death of his previous girlfriend, Tayuya, but he still had a long ways to go on truly forgiving himself for the event. Any other shinobi could, and had, told Naruto to his face that it wasn't his fault that she had been killed, that there was nothing he could have done, but the Jounin denied them tooth and nail, always coming up with something. He could have been stronger, faster, killed his opponents off quicker to return and aid her, there was always something that he felt he could have done to save her. While this went several times more of his late lover, it also occurred for every single ninja he had ever had under his command.
The Toad Sage was pulled out of his thoughts by the blonde addressing him briefly, his tone clipped and nonchalant as he spoke. "Ero-Sennin, you can take care of the briefing, right? There's someone I need to see." Before the large one-armed man could answer, Naruto was gone, vanishing in his now signature flash of blue that the Sage had become so used to over the last several months. He turned to look at his protégé, but the young man was already gone, and there was nothing he could really do to stop the kid, even had he truly wanted to.
Jiraiya sighed, shaking his head from slightly as he walked on towards the Hokage tower, grumbling about 'ungrateful brats that didn't even care if they'd abandoned their old, crippled mentors.' Meanwhile, on the other side of the village, just inside one of smaller, more serene areas of the village, there was a brief flash of blue, followed by the sudden appearance of the blonde Jounin that had become renowned throughout his village. The man said nothing as he walked briefly, turning one last corner before he came to his final destination, the large, black polished slate that was the Konohagakure Memorial Stone. Naruto walked up to it, and slowly, almost nervously, he raised his right hand from inside his coat, letting his palm rest against the store as he bowed his head, speaking so softly it could barely be heard over the wind.
"Hey, Tayuya..."
"So, all of his physical growth and strength aside, what it his mental state?" The masked Hatake Kakashi asked from behind his ever-present orange book, his eye lazily going through the words written on the page as he flipped them idly. The silver haired Kage was honestly interested greatly in the state of the Last Uzumaki, him being one of the villages strongest, if not the strongest Jounin, and with the operations that they were soon to be launching, he was going to need all of his heavy hitters at full capacity, especially Naruto. Jiraiya stroked his chin with his only remaining hand in thought, looking down slightly as he did so.
"Well, he's definitely not at one-hundred-percent." At the groan from the Godaime he continued, raising his hand in a placating manner, calming the masked Kage as he continued. "He's still got baggage. A lot of it at that, but he is absolutely strong and confident enough to begin taking on missions. His mental state is… fickle. He shows his emotions and lives like a normal person, but you confront him about it and he might shut down. And in combat…in combat he is brutal. No mercy." Jiraiya finished, looking back up at the Godaime and making eye contact.
"He still refuses to open up about certain things, but in terms of sheer combat prowess I'd have to say that he would be a match for me if I had both my arms." The Sannin finished, motioning to his stump before looking back to his Hokage. Kakashi blinked, turning one of the pages of his Icha-Icha, before he looked from the book back up to the living legend in his office and taking in a small breath. The man didn't show it too much, but the job of Hokage was a quite taxing one. And then if you added in the stress of leading a village through a time of war, everything doubled.
It also, for what it was worth, wasn't easy to follow up against such people as the Sandaime and Yondaime, both legends in their own right. Both men before him had been hero's, with the late Sarutobi leading the village through two wars, and then retaking up the mantle after the death of the Yondaime, who had fallen during the Kyuubi attack nearly two decades ago. Both men had been revered greatly, and while he himself was no slouch when it came to his duties as the leader of Konoha, it was akin to following the greatest act at a magic show with only a singular card trick. He was doing his best, but even then he was only a single man.
Pulling his mind from his thoughts, the silver haired Hokage closed his put, placing it down on his desk, before looking at the world renowned author, an idea already forming in his mind to test the blonde, and it had the double incentive of allowing him to get out from behind his desk and the somewhat stuffy office. He rationalized it in his head too, it was a fantastic way to let the people of the village know that one of their strongest shinobi and the hero of the most recent war was back in the village, now supposedly stronger than before, if Jiraiya were to be believed.
Turning and looking to a seemingly empty corner of the room, the Godaime Hokage spoke briefly, informing the ANBU guard who had been stationed there of what he wanted to happen. "Send for Jounin Uzumaki, have him report to training ground thirty-four in roughly thirty minutes." There was a muffled 'Hokage-Sama', and then a brief swirl of leaves as the man in the corner disappeared, the Hokage himself standing and heading for the door, the Toad Sage falling into step on his right. Yes, this was certainly a good idea, the masked Hokage justified to himself, he would need to know the blonde shinobi's skills absolutely to send him out in confidence. He couldn't quite place it, but something told him a storm was coming.
Besides, it'd been awhile since he had had a good spar, the Hokage couldn't allow himself to get rusty, even in a time of peace.
Naruto had lost track of how long he had been standing in front of the large, polished black rock, staring at the myriad of names that he himself had carved into it, some of them jumping out to him more than others, seemingly speaking to him from beyond the abyss of death. The blonde had started himself down the long road of recovery many months ago, with a little kick from Jiraiya here and there, and though he had definitely made progress with forgiving himself for his actions or non-actions, he still had a significant way to go before he was ready to move on completely and leave his past behind him.
It was ironic, really. The man who had preached forgiveness was unable to pardon himself for his own actions. Every death he had taken on his own shoulders, and while he knew that many of them weren't his fault, he couldn't help but feel the way he did about them. It was because of this that he had become afflicted with the dubbed 'Hero's Complex', or the desire to take anyone else's troubles upon himself to cause the other party less pain or suffering. It had been because of this mental state that he had undertaken so many missions during the most recent conflict that Konoha had been involved in, for he had seen no reason to back down and give less, when there were still people, men and women he knew, out on the front lines.
He was shaken from his musings at the small gust of wind that appeared seemingly out of nowhere to his left, the light fluttering of leaves immediately denoting of a shunshin. The blonde didn't even bother to turn his head at the new arrival to the memorial stone, an ANBU designated as Rooster if he was interpreting the mask properly, the agent of the Hokage speaking in the clipped, monotone voice that befitted all operatives. "The Hokage has requested your presence at training ground thirty-four. Acknowledge." Naruto sighed, crossing his arms under his cloak, clenching his hands tightly for a brief moment before he relaxed the tension that had built up, nodding briefly and waiting for Rooster to vanish once again in a shunshin, before he himself disappeared in a brief flash of cobalt.
It only took him two or three flashes to find the training ground he had been summoned to, wondering briefly what it was about as he traversed the village. By the time he arrived though, any thoughts on what his purpose for this meeting was confirmed, as by the time he had arrived, the Hokage and several other people were already standing about, conversing amongst each other as they waited for his arrival, apparently. Now it became clear to him, for though he may not have been the quickest thinker, that wasn't to say he was stupid by any means. Jiraiya had obviously finished his meeting with the village's leader, and now he was here to confirm the skills that his Godfather had no doubt bragged about. But who was his opponent to be?
The blonde highly doubted that he would be facing the one armed Toad Sage, thought the older man was still quite strong in his own right, Naruto could now easily outmaneuver the handicapped man. It wouldn't be Tsunade, either, as she had been out of practice with her combat skills for years, and though once again she was still quite strong, she was likely only here to provided medical assistance if needed, as was her own protégé and student, Shizune. There were a few other Jounin milling about, as well their respective teams, and even a few civilians had apparently gotten word of the match that was to take place.
Let's see… there was Kurenai and Asuma in the crowd, but he highly doubted that they were to be his opponents, as even before he had left to go to Mt. Myōboku he had been more than a match for the two powerful ninja. There was also Gai, standing at the front of the crowd with his miniature clone of himself, Lee. Now, that was a fight that he would definitely be a little harder pressed to win, considering the two men's specialties. Gai was an expert at closing fast with his enemies and then destroying them with a flurry of Taijutsu, and while Naruto definitely wasn't a slouch in that particular ninja art, without his Hiraishin his own great speed was still nothing compared to the bowl cut Green Beast's.
The final Uzumaki was a heavy specialist of Ninjutsu, knowing quite a few and paired with his Kage Bunshin he could devise and create any number of lethal combination attacks that were capable of far more damage than any singular jutsu on their own. Now, while he was also quite deadly with his own Kenjutsu and Taijutsu, he still would be loath to fight someone like Gai, especially since the man was fast enough to dodge around his Ninjutsu, forcing Naruto to take him on his own terms, and this wasn't even taking into account that the man could easily open the eight inner gates, while the blonde had only ever been able to achieve the first three, and would probably never get any farther in that aspect.
But still the blonde didn't believe that he was called here to fight Gai, who was by far the worst opponent for him, aside from the Hokage himself… and then it clicked. That is the only other person who could attempt to fight him and win in a straight up one-on-one fight that he could currently see. That's not to say there weren't others in Konoha who were quite as strong, but he simply couldn't see them at the moment. For example, he had heard through the grapevine that the former Team Seven had all recently become Jounin on their own, and that their teamwork was extraordinary, when the three fought together there weren't many enemies they couldn't prevail against.
So that settled it then, if he were fighting a team of enemies, the blonde had no honest guess of who he figured to be facing in this small exhibition match, but if it were a single fighter, his money was on the Hokage himself. Naruto knew Kakashi, though the man was doing a good job of filling the seat as a Hokage, he would have been itching to get into a good spar, having been sitting behind the desk for so long now, especially after taking a purely administrative role in the recent war Konoha had been involved in. All of these thoughts ran through the mind of the blonde Jounin as he landed down to the right of his leader, a team of his Kage Bunshin already going out to create a barrier for the area in an attempt to negate property or collateral damage to the area.
"Hokage-Sama." Naruto's tone was short and clipped, he said nothing more than needed to be said, and it was hard for the masked Hokage to read his features upon the blonde's stoic face. However, it had been said that the best way to learn everything that you would ever need to know about someone was by crossing fists with them, something they would be doing shortly. Kakashi flipped one of the pages on his ever present small orange book, giggling softly to himself before he addressed his recently returned Jounin.
"Yo. I take it you figured out why you're here then?" He motioned to the four clones of the blonde that had scattered to the four corners of the rather large training area, each one writing out a sealing matrix on the ground as they did so. The silver haired scarecrow, still reading, began walking towards the rough center of the immediate area, well inside the barrier the clones were creating as he spoke again, the Jounin walking alongside him at his right. "It seems we've gathered quite a crowd. Wonder what the betting pool is like." The shinobi next to him simply let out a small chuckle as the two separated before turning to face each other, the Hokage noticing that the man seemed to be a bit softer spoken and reserved that he had been before the end of the war.
Naruto inclined his head slightly to the right, and after receiving an approving nod from his leader, sent out a small pulse of chakra to his clones, giving them the go ahead, watching with mild interest as a large, transparent dome grew from the ground up, encompassing much of the training field and cutting the two soon to be fighters off from the rest of the village. "Kekkai Fuinjutsu: Tōmei Dōmu Gijutsu! (Barrier Sealing Method: Transparent Dome Technique!)" The clones themselves dispersed as they finished the purpose they had been created for, and Naruto watched idly as the Last Hatake snapped his familiar Icha-Icha novel closed, returning it safely to a pouch on his back left hip for safekeeping.
Sparring between comrades in a ninja village was a quite common event. It allowed for the shinobi and kunoichi to practice their various techniques, tactics, and strategies in a more or less non-hostile environment that allowed for them to hone their skills with minor consequence. It had even become a sport, in a sense, and it was often that you'd find ninja of various rank watching and critiquing the battles of those placed over them, picking up on details and such that the combatants themselves might have missed during their brief conflict.
However, while sparring itself was common, a match between the higher echelons of the village was not. Many times, as a Ninja grew in status and stature, the techniques they gained became unworthy of a friendly spar, as they would kill or at the very least maim and seriously injure their opponent. As such, the current match that was about to take place between the Hero of the War, the Bunker Buster and Army Slayer himself, a man known to possess a myriad of jutsu that were quite destructive, pitted against the leader and defender of the Hokage himself, was going to be quite the spectacle, thus the defensive measures that the Blonde Jounin had taken were not out of place at all, considering the possible consequences.
"Well, before we start, I think I'm going to go ahead and pull out all the stumps, if that's alright with you?" Kakashi didn't bother waiting for a response as he reached his left hand up to the Leaf Hitai-Ite he proudly wore on his head, pulling it up and revealing his spinning Sharingan Eye to the blonde, the younger boy's eyes immediately leaving Kakashi's own, and focusing on his torso and limbs. Naruto had trained, and though he was better at detecting and dispelling Genjutsu than he used to be, it was still his weakest aspect of the Ninja Arts. He did feel that small rush, that brief flash of excitement that he got every time he fought a battle, something he hadn't gotten from the handicapped Jiraiya in quite some time. This was defiantly going to be interesting, and it didn't appear as if Kakashi was going to be holding back, either.
Naruto narrowed his eyes on the chest of his Hokage, already channeling his chakra for his opening moves, his tactical mind already attempting to think several moves ahead into the combat that was about to kick off. Kakashi was a generalized shinobi, being very adept into all of the ninja arts, with a minor specialty into Ninjutsu and Taijutsu. He was taller and heavier than the blonde, and that would give him the advantage against him in a hand to hand fight, but if he were careful he might be able to turn that advantage against the older man.
The Last Uzumaki on the other hand, was a Ninjutsu powerhouse. He had the elemental techniques of various elements and the chakra composition to throw them around at will, and while his Taijutsu was good, he would prefer to keep his Hokage at a distance, pin him with clones and various traps, before he rained jutsu after jutsu down on him. The blonde had already forgone sealing in this fight, he didn't want to accidentally kill the leader of his village if the matrix were to fluctuate, or something happen in some unforeseen circumstance.
Naruto took a deep breath, before the Hokage rushed forward, taking the first steps of the battle as everything began to become a blur of motion. The blonde shinobi quickly began backtracking as the older man approached him, easily dodging the various kunai and shuriken that were sent his way as his hands began flashing through hand seals, before he skidded to a short stop, slamming his hands into the ground and calling the name of his jutsu as he immediately leapt into the air, his hands already blurring into the seals for another one as Kakashi also leapt into the sky, the two on a collision course, before Naruto released his second techniques, blasting his Hokage away from him. "Doton: Ganchūsō! (Earth Release: Rising Stone Spears!) Futon: Diatoppa! (Wind Release: Great Breakthrough!)".
Both men had jumped high into the air as the ground erupted into the spikes called forth by Naruto, and the two men were mere feet from colliding into the Taijutsu match that Kakashi was trying to begin before the blonde's second technique was finished, blasting his Hokage away from him, the man coming to rest on a tree nearby, the chakra running through his feet holding him solidly against it as he flashed through seals of his own, feeling the chakra mold within his body, opening the appropriate tenketsu before flooding the power into his throat and expelling it rapidly.
"Katon: Hōsenka no Jutsu! (Fire Release: Phoenix Flower Jutsu!)". Naruto frowned briefly, before throwing one of his now signature three-pronged kunai across the clearing towards Kakashi, flashing to it, but not before the silver haired man had de-directed it with a well-placed shuriken of his own, the blonde appearing out of place as he rapidly unsheathed his katana, kicking off of the tree he had been sent towards, flashing through seals once again as he hurtled towards his leader, opening his own mouth as the volatile chakra burst forth. "Raiton: Gian! (Lightning Release: False Darkness!)
The Hatake had already moved from the area though, the spear of lighting missing him by inches as he had vanished in a body flicker evident of his skill, appearing directly to the left of the Jounin, a kunai in either hand, slashing down upon the man's arm, his eye widening slightly as it vanished in a puff of smoke. The Hokage reacted instantly, spinning on his left foot to face behind him, catching the famed Kaze no Karitoriki in a two handed block, his kunai scraping against the blade as the 'Naruto' he was facing grinned slightly, muttering one world only. "Boom."
The Hokage reappeared a second after the explosion, looking no worse for wear as he had narrowly escaped the blast of the overloaded bunshin with a quick kawarimi, flashing through seals as quickly as he could, slamming his own palms into the dirt as the blonde that had seamlessly vanished before began flashing around the clearing in the web of Hiraishin Kunai he had thrown into the ground while Kakashi had been dealing with his clone, however briefly. Naruto soon found his father's technique nullified though, as the sole survivor of the Hatake Clan called out his technique, immediately following it with a second one. "Doton: Retsudo Tenshō! (Earth Release: Seismic Upheaval!)" "Doton: Doryū Taiga! (Earth Release: Earth Flow River!)".
Before the Uzumaki Heir was able to fully utilize his technique, it had been effectively neutralized by the former student of his father, the man using his chakra to disrupt the ground and offset the position of all the blonde's kunai before his next jutsu transformed the ground into liquid, the heavy pieces of metal sinking to the bottom of the impromptu mud field before he cancelled the technique, the ground returning to normal at the loss of chakra, the kunai buried beneath the ground now rendered obsolete. But during that time, Naruto had already begun to plan around the older man's defense of the technique, and had reappeared above the man, his hands held in a final seal as two other clones of himself appeared around the former Jounin, catching him in a trifecta.
"Fūton: Kami Oroshi! (Wind Style: Divine Fist of the Wind God!)" "Katon: Karyū Endan! (Fire Release: Fire Dragon Flame Bullet!) "Doton: Dosekiryū! (Earth Release: Earth Dragon Jutsu!)". The three techniques sped forward from the three blondes, two of them popping out of existence as they completed the technique, the large explosion resulting from the combined force littering the area with debris, the target seemingly destroyed in the blast. Naruto knew better though, and while it was a powerful and destructive jutsu, Kakashi was no pushover, and it was only a second later before the man burst from the ground under him, narrowly missing the blonde as they began a rapid series of attacks and blocks, the older man utilizing a kunai and keeping close distance to negate the advantage of the blonde's sword.
The two men were a blur as they danced and moved around each-other, the younger blonde taking far more hits from his enemy that vice-versa, before he made a gamble, and played off a move that no swordsmen would ever let themselves do. Taking a brief step back and spinning, Naruto swung his katana through the air, its blade slicing through the sky before it came to a stop, blocked by Kakashi's knife. As soon as the two came into contact though, the Uzumaki released his grip on the sword, instantly forming a Rasengan in his hand as the momentum carried it towards the Hokage, his chest the target as he moved forward, the blade falling to the ground.
The Hatake heir's eyes narrowed for a brief second as he hollowed out his body, forcing one of his hands down upon the blonde's wrist, driving the destructive jutsu of his father into the ground. He didn't know that the unpredictable ninja in his grasp bad predicted this, rotating his back and body forward, his rear leg coming around and kicking the former Jounin in the top of the head in a bastardized reverse-bicycle kick. The force was enough to disconnect the two, Naruto disappearing in a rapid shunshin, his sword vanishing from the ground as he grabbed it, replacing it in his sheathe before rushing himself through seals once more as the scarecrow did the same, both men sprinting towards each other and yelling the names of their respective techniques.
"Raiton: Seidenki Rakurai Taihou! (Lightning Release: Static Bolt Gun!)" "Raiton: Seidenki Rakurai Taihou! (Lightning Release: Static Bolt Gun!)" The blondes eyes widened, his face contorting into a grimace as both men called the same technique, the realization striking him that Kakashi was copying him as they both leapt back and thrust their arms out, their first and middle fingers extended and joined as the arc of electricity left both of them, colliding in the center with a violent flash. Naruto still wasn't finished though, as he appeared on the Hokage's left side, using the small Hiraishin tag he had infused into the man's clothing with his chakra, a Rasengan spinning to life in his hand as he spun and forced it through the man's chest.
Watching his technique slam through the Hokage, the blonde cursed lightly under his breath as he realized he had been caught under one of the older man's Genjutsu, dispelling the mid-level disorienting technique, but still taking the kick that connected straight to his back. Landing lightly on his feet after a quick roll, Subordinate and Superior faced each other down for a brief moment, the Hokage's Sharingan blazing fiercely as they locked into the stand down, neither man moving for several seconds. Before it could go on any longer, the masked scarecrow formed a quick few hand seals, dropping his hand below his waist and grabbing his wrist, as his opponent leveled his hand out in front of him, the telltale signs of chakra forming in his hand.
Once again, both men shot off, their techniques fully formed in their hands outstretched behind them, chakra enhancing their steps, gripping their footfalls and kicking up dirt as they moved. The two were a blur as they shot across the clearing, Naruto's eyes narrowed, his face set in a grim smile, his hair pushed back by the sheer speed he was moving. Kakashi's Sharingan spinning like the wheel that was its namesake, his own silver hair flowing behind him as he ran. Both men called out the names of their personal techniques in near perfect unison, both leaning forward and extending their arms as they did so.
"Rasengan!" "Raikiri!" The two men charged at each other, screaming the names of their techniques, but before the two could collide Naruto flashed to the man's back once more, driving the deadly move through his spine, grinning in victory, before 'Kakashi' exploded in his face, electrocuting him excessively, revealing himself to be nothing more than a Rai-Bunshin. However, 'Naruto' also vanished in a puff of smoke- the last attack had been nothing more than a clone on clone assault. Once the smoke settled, the battlefield was silent, with not a move to be seen, or a sound to be heard. Had it not been for the barrier that prevented anything from escaping, it could even have been argued that the two men left.
The illusion was destroyed, though when both men appeared out of the woodwork nearby, Kakashi walking calmly out of the trees as Naruto burst from the top of them, his hands already flashing through seals once more, the chakra within his body building. Before he could finish his jutsu though, he noticed that his Hokage had covered his exposed Sharingan eye, his Hitai-Ite falling down to conceal it. The silver haired man gave a short wave to the blonde, to which he responded with a short nod, allowing his chakra to falter, the power within him returning to its normal levels as he dropped down to the other man, moving once again to walk at his right side as they moved.
Both men simply walked in a comfortable silence back to the awaiting crowd that they had gathered. While the area was sealed off, this was still not the place nor the time to begin unleashing their more deadly techniques and lethal Raikiri variants, and besides, the Godaime had seen plenty during their little friendly spar, and was now somewhat more able to gauge his Jounin's abilities. The older of the two men glanced over to his subordinate as they walked, absentmindedly pulling out his familiar orange book as he began to speak, flipping the pages idly.
"You held back." It wasn't a question, it was a statement, if the scarecrow's tone was anything to go off of. Naruto simply shrugged as he began to run through yet another sequence of seals, this time to release the barrier between themselves and the rest of the village, before he looked to his Hokage, speaking in his low, yet no less authoritative tone that was becoming quite the characteristic for him after his time in ANBU and on the frontlines during the recent conflict that had ended just shy of a year prior.
"I did, Hokage-Sama. It wouldn't be good for the village to lose another one of its Kage so soon after the passing of the Sandaime, and especially not in a spar." The barrier fell, and the two men watched in mild amusement as there was a significant amount of money being passed among the spectators. Though there had been no clean cut winner as the match had been called before too much damage to the area, there was still the betting pools for the various jutsu and techniques used. Kakashi narrowed his eye at the younger man briefly, before it was replaced by his signature eye smile as they made their way through the crowd.
"No, Naruto. I suppose it wouldn't."
Haruno Sakura, Chunin of Konohagakure and apprentice to the legendary medic, Senju Tsunade and one of two vice-chairmen of the main Konoha Hospital (the other being Shizune) walked happily down the street with the two men that had been the largest part of her life for the last several years. Making up the by now well-known and respected 'Team Seven", was the pale skinned and lightly clad Ink-Ninjutsu using man known as Sai, also a Chunin, but the third member was the most known to the general populace. That man being the one and only Uchiha Sasuke, Jounin in rank, having been recently promoted only a few short months prior. He was dressed in the typical clothing of his formerly large clan, complete with the dark colors of his high collared shirt, the Uchiha Fan Crest emblazoned proudly on the back for the world to see.
His teammates, unfortunately or fortunately, depending on who you asked, hadn't really changed their clothing too much, with the former ROOT member still dressing in attire similar to his old ANBU issued gear and the medic of the team still opting for brighter colors, though it was noted that she had switched from wearing bright pink and red to a deep maroon, only a few shades off from the color of blood itself. In hindsight, it kind of helped for the medic to dress in such a color, as the blood from whomever she was working on was less noticeable, and it seemed to please her.
It had been awhile since the team had worked solidly together, and as they all walked there was the universal feeling of comfort that comes with familiarity in ones surroundings. The three of them had been through a great deal together, and only recently had they truly realized that with the differences in rank they would now be getting split apart more and more. Sakura had her responsibilities at the Hospital, Sasuke was a Jounin and therefor expected to take harder missions, and Sai was in the process of doing… well suffice to say Sai didn't do much, though it was somewhat well known that he would assist on higher ranked missions from time to time due to his skillset.
As the three walked along the road, making their way slowly but surely to the Hokage Tower, it occurred to Sakura that though she was happy her friends were getting stronger and moving up in the ranks of the ninja force, it would always be painful to watch them go and leave her behind. That isn't to say that she was weak, she had been training under the very watchful and intense gaze of one of the Sannin, after all. With these thoughts in mind, she idly wondered what the old team had been called for. She'd already asked the two men of the group what they thought was going on, but neither had any useful knowledge, just that the Hokage had requested the three of them specifically and by name.
Maybe it had something to do with their old classmate, Naruto? The three had known he was back in the village, and had been for a week or two, in fact Sasuke had actually been looking for the blonde shinobi, eager to prove his worth in a spar against his fellow Jounin. Though he wouldn't admit it, the Prodigal Uchiha actually owed a lot to the man, he had been one of the few people to make a solid attempt at helping the stoic man, and his words of advice had helped pull the black haired Uchiha from a dark place. Don't get him wrong, Sasuke still absolutely wanted revenge against his brother, but now he wasn't willing to sacrifice his comrades and friends to accomplish such a task. His teammates had become his new family, since his old one had passed on.
Sai was more of a complex case. The poor man was still working on harnessing and properly expressing his emotions, it wasn't something one could pick up overnight after years of physical and mental conditioning in the opposite. The man, to his credit, was trying, but it was still going to be a long process that would take many months, even years to complete. The short dark haired man had easily the least objectified view of his blonde compatriot, and though he respected the man for the tales of his exploits and for the way that he led those under his command, he had yet to form any sort of lasting personal bond with him, though he wouldn't say he was loath to try.
Whatever misgivings or otherwise that the trio of Ninja had, there was one thing they were all certain of as they walked through the doors of the Tower, making their way up to the office of their supreme military commander, and that was that they could trust in each other, and in the abilities that they possessed. The three entered the room, it was idly noted by all three of them that as of now, they were the only ones in it, aside from their leader of course. It was highly doubtful that the silver haired former Jounin would be sending out a three-man cell, breaking from traditional Konoha standards of four-man squads, so all that was left was for the fourth member of their squad to arrive.
As it was, the two Chunin, Jounin, and Hokage would end up making idle small talk for several minutes, before there was a small flash of blue in the far corner of the room, signifying the appearance of one sword-bearing man, now almost thirty minutes late, still no record to the Hokage himself, of course, but just long enough to be irritable to the other members of the room. Naruto walked up to the desk, scratching the back of his head a little bit sheepishly as he did so, his head slightly bowed as he approached. "My apologies, Hokage-Sama. I was on my way over here, and wouldn't you believe it, there was this little old lady who needed help carrying her groceries, so I stopped to help."
At this, there was a number of reactions in the room, and Naruto, not having worked with Kakashi often enough and not knowing of the man's mannerisms, was confused by all of them. Sakura seemed to get quite irritated by the revelation, her eyes narrowing as she absentmindedly cracked the knuckles of one hand, while Sai seemed somewhat indifferent, if not a little bit bemused from the display. Sasuke himself did his best to be aloof as usual, though on the inside he thought it was stupid to lie over such an occasion, while the Godaime himself seemed pretty pleased with the whole excuse, giving the man a quick thumbs up as his eye almost seemed to sparkle, before he pulled himself under control and closed his Icha-Icha, signifying the end of the pleasantries.
"Alright, since I'm sure you're all wondering why I brought you together today I won't mince words. With the threat of a certain organization on the rise, and with their motives still almost completely unknown, we've started an outreach program." The Godaime paused, looking in between all four of his ninja, and after gaining a small nod of acknowledgment from each of them, continued. "The four of you will be making a trip to Sunagakure, where you will attend a political meeting with the Yondaime Kazekage, Rasa. Jounin Uzumaki, you know the parameters of the discussion, and I'll leave it in your hands as to whether or not you seek contact with Suna's own 'specialty case'. If at all possible, you are to secure them as allies in this endeavor. Are there any questions?" Upon seeing none, the Hokage blinked, before finishing his orders. "You are to leave immediately."
He hadn't even turned all the way around in his chair, or retrieved his book before the four Ninja had exited his office.
Author's Note:
And that's all I got for this one. Sorry it took a little bit longer for this update, works been picking up and I don't have as much time to write as I'd like. Anyways, you guys know what to do. I love the feedback so if you have a second leave a review, and tell me how to improve or any mistakes you caught.
That's all I got. Out.
