Hey Guys/Gals
ERMAGHAD IT'S FINALLY HERE!
I'm really sorry it took so long, but between uni and the girlfriend coming back from overseas and just plain not feeling like writing this chapter it managed to take me a month... which I know is bullshit and I hate when writers don't update for so long. Anyway hope you like the chapter :) I also want you guys to know that I've reread some of my earlier stuff and holy crap... no wonder I lose readers on the first two chapters. They sucked, so anyway I will go back and change some of that, to make it a) easier to read. and b) clear up some of the shit people seem to question, like I'm changing it to Kakashi knowing all along, because it makes sense, and I'm going to add the scene where Hiruzen explains how he must keep his name underwraps for the most part. Nothing really that changes the main flow of the story but just stuff that makes more sense and doesn't leave people with a bad taste in their mouth. Anyway enough about previous chapters and on to this one! YAY sorry for the rant :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto. Sad Face.
The Champion of Clan Namikaze
Chapter 14: Taken
Jiraiya could only marvel at the sights around him. Travelling never gets old thought the Sannin as he strolled in through the gates of the Village Hidden in the Clouds too bad I'm not here to bring better news.
Now any normal person might be impressed by the village; the way it was built into the mountains, the sheer drops, and the epic views it had to offer. However with Jiraiya everything was a different story.
Man I keep forgetting how sexy the women here are; I wonder where the nearest hot spring is hehehe. The ANBU that were tailing him for the security of the village saw a small amount of blood was trickling from his nose, it was a nosebleed that they all understood once they worked out where he was headed.
Needless to say it wasn't in the direction of the Raikage's office.
(Konoha – Naruto and Konohamaru – Later that day, two weeks into the mentoring program)
"So nii-chan, when are you gonna teach me that cool rasengan move?"
"When you can create enough proper shadow clones, now shut it. I'm trying to enjoy my ramen," Naruto said as he shoveled the delicious food into his mouth, his shorter than usual training session with Konohamaru now at an end.
He'd merely wanted to assess his student's growth this afternoon, and frankly Konohamaru still sucked. He was better, but the kid still had a lot to work on. Naruto was hoping that if he could create enough clones he could improve faster in the next two weeks, it was either that or get smashed by Hanabi.
He hadn't heard much from Sakura about Hano, but he knew Hanabi was a threat. So Naruto had decided that Konohamaru needed to learn the Kage Bunshin no Jutsu. Both so he could get a leg up in training, and so he'd have a numbers advantage during the fight.
At first the boy could only create two clones. Which while good for his age wasn't going to help him greatly in the short term.
They'd been continuously training and trying to improve both his chakra control and his chakra reserves to improve the number but so far they'd only managed to push that number to three without completely exhausting him.
In the upcoming fight he would just have to hope the numbers could be used to overwhelm the girl.
"BUT BOSS!" Konohamaru really wanted to learn the rasengan.
"Konohamaru," Naruto said as he turned from his bowl and looked at the boy sitting in front of him.
"Yeah nii-chan?"
"You do realize that shadow clones are the reason I'm so strong right?" Naruto neglected to mention the insane chakra reserves and just focused on motivating the boy, "You do realize why I'm trying to improve your use with them?"
"Ummmm,"
"You weren't paying attention when I explained were you?"
The young boy blushed, "I was too excited about learning the Rasengan!"
Naruto almost ended up putting his face into his soup as he slammed his head against the bench.
"You're not going to make me run laps again are you? I need to train, we only have two weeks left." Konohamaru was embarrassed and worried about what his mentor would do for not listening.
"Hahaha, no not today, and I know, but you do realize that when you can create more shadow clones you train faster right? If you can even create four clones before the final week of training then you can get five weeks of training done in a week. That's one more week of training than you'd have been able to do anyway, plus you'll have the advantage of clones in your fight. I'll give us one more day of training to get your number up from three to four and then four clones or not we can start working on more of the other stuff to get you ready,"
Konohamaru's face had brightened through Naruto's little lecture on why shadow clones were great, almost regarding the blonde in front of him as a genius. Before long he couldn't contain his excitement and blurted out, "Like the Rasengan?"
"No," Naruto said, turning back to his food.
He deflated like an untied balloon.
"You don't have enough chakra control, you've got a lot to work on Konohamaru, and you'll get there eventually. Just not before your fight with Hanabi,"
"Awwww, okay, well you will teach it to me eventually right?"
"How much do you appreciate ramen?" Naruto said without looking back to the boy and eating his ramen.
"Uhhh heaps!" Konohamaru went to start on the bowl that he'd left untouched and two silently enjoyed their (read: Naruto's) favorite food.
Getting up and thanking Teuchi for the meal Naruto left the stall with Konohamaru in tow before he stopped at the sight of three people who had also frozen after noticing him.
This is the brat who left Gaara broken, and Gaara said he was like him. But if that is the case why isn't he just as murderous? Maybe he is, and just hides it better. Temari didn't know what to think of the ninja in front of her. If he really was as strong as Gaara said should she be afraid of him?
After a few seconds of staring at each other and Naruto putting his hand out to stop Konohamaru from doing or saying anything stupid someone finally spoke.
"Uzumaki," was all the sand ninja with the gourd on his back muttered.
Naruto's eyes narrowed, "Gaara."
"I've been thinking a lot about what you said, about power through friendship,"
"And?" to be frank, Naruto just wanted the boy out of his village. If he'd changed his ways slightly then that was a bonus, but Naruto was looking forward to not seeing him for a long time.
"I still don't know,"
"Rightttt," Naruto wasn't even sure why Gaara had bothered talking if this was all he was going to say. He did notice however that Temari was sort of in the same situation as he was, keeping Kankuro from acting out.
When it looked like Gaara wasn't going to do anything but continue to stare at Naruto Temari spoke up, "We need to be going Gaara, we need to meet Baki so that we can get back to Sunagakure."
As wary as she was of the blonde she was glad Gaara was slightly more amiable, and not likely to kill her from making the simple suggestion to move along. Ever since the fight with Uzumaki he'd been different; it was obviously the boy's doing.
Thank kami, was all Naruto could think to himself, the sooner they leave the better. But before Naruto could put them behind him the sand Jinchuuriki spoke up a final time.
"I will become stronger than you Naruto, I will prove my worth," Gaara said finally before he walked off and without saying another word the three sand ninja continued down the street in the opposite direction of Naruto and Konohamaru.
"Those stupid sand ninja," Konohamaru said when they were out of earshot, "Why didn't you beat them up nii-chan?"
"What would that have achieved Konohamaru? Hell. I just want to make you run laps for that comment,"
The young student shook his head animatedly, "please, no!"
"Hahahahaha. It's okay, you don't have to," Naruto laughed at the boy who looked a little less downcast, before he smacked him over the head, "but stop being an idiot and go home and train!"
"Awwwwww," the young boy complained rubbing his head as he walked home alone, the blonde gone in a flash.
xXx
(With Sakura and Hano – Training ground 13)
Sakura had been pleasantly surprised with the determination of the young boy she'd spent the last two weeks training.
She wasn't sure the mentoring program was supposed to be this serious and strenuous but in making a competition of it they didn't really have a choice. They either trained as hard as they could, or they lost.
Hano had no problems with the training. He was timid and sometimes unsure of himself, but once Sakura broke through that little barrier she found the boy was determined to do his best.
He was pushing himself to his limits every day and Sakura just had to wonder what it was that drove the boy.
They'd worked on a variety of skills, from taijutsu forms to chakra control and basic jutsu. He didn't really have any shinobi heritage and as a result his chakra reserves weren't the greatest. They were larger than Sakura's at that age, but there wasn't much that could be said about that being a great thing.
Sakura was finding that while timid and shy normally, if you pushed him he was a fierce and determined fighter and frankly she saw a lot of potential in him. He just needed guidance, and that was what she was for.
They'd just finished a spar when the small boy collapsed to the ground, exhausted.
"Hano, I think that's enough for today okay?" They'd been at it for a few hours now, and the sun was starting its descent in the sky.
"No," the small boy said as he pushed himself up from the ground, "We need to keep going,"
"Why? You need to rest Hano," Sakura said, she didn't need him dying of exhaustion in front of her.
"Because I need to get stronger, I need to show the bullies from the academy that I'm not useless,"
So there is a reason for his behavior. It would explain why he is always so timid when he isn't training Sakura thought to herself as she looked at the small boy standing weakly in front of her.
"Who bullies you Hano?" Sakura wanted to help her student. Maybe if she knew whom the problem resided with she could help sort it out.
"It doesn't matter," the small boy said, wiping the sweat from his face. Sakura wasn't sure if there were tears there too.
If he doesn't want to talk about it yet I really shouldn't push the matter. I guess I'll just have to keep training him for now, maybe he'll tell me more later.
The girl sighed, "Okay Hano, we can do a bit more training, but not physical training. Come here and I'll teach you about genjutsu, it's one of my strengths. Maybe you'll be good at it too," she figured the kid had the intellect for the art; it just wouldn't be any use against Hanabi if she was good enough with the Byakugan.
The small boy's eyes widened at the prospect of learning more advanced genjutsu from his mentor and quickly came over to sit in front of her as she started going over the basics of the art.
xXx
(With Karin and Yuugao – Namikaze compound)
The ANBU grunted as she moved to deflect the heavy blow of Samehada, her sword and the large sentient weapon clashing for a brief moment as she redirected the crushing attack.
Yuugao had to admit that Karin was a quick learner. The girl was a natural. She was picking up kenjutsu faster than she'd expected and whatever technique she was using to wield the massive sword was ridiculous. She seemed to be getting more competent with its use every day.
What Yuugao didn't know was that Karin was working herself and a number of clones into the ground whenever she had the time.
Yuugao, went to make a counter strike against the girl but the sword shifted unnaturally, blocking the attack and allowing the small girl to get into a position that would let her punch the ANBU with her free right hand while her guard was down.
Her purple haired teacher wasn't to be taken lightly though. She quickly dropped the sword she was using, in turn putting Karin off balance due to a lack of resistance against Samehada as the blade began falling through the air.
This allowed the ANBU to deflect the punch with her left hand while retrieving the other sword she had strapped to the left side of her waist with her right. This was the sword she normally carried on her back. She always moved it to her waist before a fight, as it was next to impossible to draw otherwise.
Spinning during the motion she dropped down, catching the blade she'd just let go of with her left hand in a backhand grip and flipping it so that the flat side of the katana was turned toward her student.
Using this she swept the legs out from underneath the girl while deftly disarming her with the sword in her right hand as she fell through the air, sending Samehada spinning from her hand and landing on the ground a few feet away.
She jumped on top of the girl with her sword at her throat ready to proclaim her victory before realizing the girl was unconscious. The woman was worried for a second but Karin was just asleep, probably passing out from exhaustion once she hit the ground. Her movements had looked pretty strained.
Looking over to the large sword she could see it squirming on the ground. It really was one of the strangest things she'd ever dealt with. She knew not to pick it up though. For some reason it would only respond to Karin, and now Naruto.
A short while after it first rejected the blonde, with some coaxing from Karin, Samehada had started letting the boy pick it up again.
It still by all means preferred being handled by Karin and they had a theory about why, but Naruto could at least pick it up and move it now.
After wanting to improve her use of ninjutsu they'd tested the girls chakra affinity and it happened to be water. Unfortunately they didn't know anyone that could teach Karin the basics of water ninjutsu that was readily available so the girl was stuck with learning kenjutsu most of the time.
While Naruto had larger reserves they figured Samehada just preferred the taste of chakra from someone with a water affinity rather than a wind affinity. Karin also had a theory about the fox chakra not tasting so good, seeing as how she despised the feel of it when it was released, but there was nothing to suggest whether that was true or not.
Another thing that Yuugao found interesting about the sword was that while it preferred Karin's chakra, it wasn't against feasting on Naruto's the few times when Karin wasn't able to feed it.
So Yuugao stood there, not sure what to do. She didn't want to leave Karin outside. But she also didn't want to leave the sword alone, not being able to pick it up. Her predicament was resolved when Naruto came walking out of the house.
"Is she okay?" he said with a slightly worried expression.
"Yeah, she's just sleeping I think, she's been training pretty hard lately."
"Okay, well I guess you're finished for the day then?" Naruto said causing the ANBU to nod in response.
"Right well I'll look after her and Samehada now that I'm home, should she expect you the same time tomorrow?"
"Yes," the ANBU had organized the next few days so that she'd be free to train the girl; the Hokage didn't have anything that needed to be done urgently. Even if she was just a girl Yuugao enjoyed clashing with the user of a legendary blade when she knew they weren't out for her head.
"Cool, do you want anything to eat or drink?" Naruto said picking up Samehada and his girlfriend.
"Thankyou, but no, I should be going," She had other minor duties to attend to and as grateful as she was for the offer it was about time she left.
"No problem," Naruto said with a smile as the woman disappeared in a swirl of leaves and he flashed inside, setting his girlfriend on the couch while giving the sword some chakra to satiate it.
xXx
"Hey Baa-chan!" Naruto called out a short while later as he sparred with a number of clones.
The two medic nin in the form of Tsunade and Shizune were making their way home from a massive shift and it was clear Tsunade wasn't even in the mood to get angry at the boy. She just grunted in acknowledgement to let him know she'd heard him.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Does it look like I'm even in the mood right now brat?" Tsunade would have punched him if she could be bothered.
"Well if you answer my question I'll jump you inside. Save you the rest of the walk?"
He could see Tsunade contemplate the proposal as she sized up the rest of the march to the house. Naruto already knew what her answer would be before she sighed in resignation.
"Fine kid what is it?"
"Ero-sennin said you were an Uzumaki, is that really true, I never really got to asking."
"Officially kid I'm part of the Senju clan, but yes I'm the granddaughter of Mito Uzumaki, so I'm probably related to you somehow, as much as that irks me. Now get us inside, I'll tell you more after I sleep if I feel like it."
With a flash the two women were saved the rest of the walk and collapsed in the living room.
xXx
(With Sasuke and Hanabi – Training Ground 21)
The small girl stood exhausted from the sparring session she'd just endured. This was nothing like the training sessions with her father, and she was loving it. While Hiashi was stern and worked her daughter as hard as he could, training with Sasuke was completely different.
She'd been learning so many different things from the Uchiha. One thing she'd learnt though was that fighting someone with the sharingan was beyond frustrating.
She couldn't land a single hit on him. And sometimes she'd go through a whole fight before realizing she'd been put under a genjutsu. She'd get so riled up and excited against the Uchiha that she wouldn't notice the subtle chakra changes with her Byakugan. It just further emphasized the importance of her training with her mentor.
Not only was she learning different forms of taijutsu he was teaching her some rudimentary ninjutsu and ninja techniques that the academy hadn't gotten around to teaching yet. She was excited for her fight with Konohamaru, ready to show off the skills she'd been developing with Sasuke Uchiha.
Sasuke, while annoyed he'd gotten the self entitled brat as a mentee was kind of glad that was the case now.
Her doujutsu was something he might be able to help her train with while if he could get rid of the elitist attitude he knew he had when he was at that age she could really become a great ninja.
He just had to do a better job than Naruto and Sakura. From everything his friend was saying Hano wasn't as useless as Hanabi had been saying he was. The fight between the three of them was going to be interesting.
"Okay," Sasuke said as he walked over to the girl, tussling her hair as her byakugan faded and he deactivated his sharingan, "good work today, now I'm starving, seriously lets go get some food."
As much as Hanabi hadn't been happy about her mentor at the start, he'd been growing on her. He was really teaching her, even if she hadn't made the greatest first impression. It made her wonder whether what he said when they first met was true.
Surely she was just naturally stronger than Konohamaru and Hano right? She was the heiress of a clan after all. But the more time Sasuke spent mentoring her the more she began to doubt that train of thought. She wasn't going to underestimate them. She wasn't going to lose.
Saskue and the small Hyuuga walked towards the edge of the training field, before they were cut off by a strange ninja. The pale ninja had dark grey hair that stretched down over his face and covered his right eye. He was also wearing a light brown tunic with long black wristbands and a purple rope tied around his waist above a pair of black skin-tight shorts.
Sasuke was immediately put on guard. He didn't recognize the ninja and although they weren't wearing a headband. He knew they weren't from Konoha.
"Who are you and what do you want?" Sasuke said as he activated his Sharingan while putting a hand out protectively to Hanabi.
"Just someone who has something to offer you,"
"Yeah? And what would that be?" Sasuke needed to find out what this strange shinobi was doing in Konoha.
"Power, power beyond your wildest dreams. We can take you to someone with the ability to give you the strength to defeat your brother," in saying that the shinobi shifted his head, and the hair covering his forehead moved just slightly.
With his Sharingan activated Sasuke caught sight of something, a seal, and it looked eerily familiar to the one that he had stuck on his shoulder.
So this ninja worked for Orochimaru, he should have guessed the creep would make another play at him.
"Tell Orochimaru I said no, I have all the power I need available to me right here in this village, I don't need that creep's help," Sasuke said, pushing Hanabi behind him, not wanting her to be involved, and getting himself into a fighting stance.
"You can tell him yourself, because you don't have a choice. You're coming with me now," the shinobi said, appearing to get ready to fight, "I didn't want to have to do this, but if you're going to be difficult, then I have no choice but to put a piece of trash like yourself in your place."
This is only one guy, I can take him. I don't need to bother Naruto with this now. Sasuke thought to himself. As much as he'd changed he was still prideful. Besides this guy didn't look to tough. What would Hanabi think if I had to call on Naruto to deal with this pest?
"Fine, bring it on," Sasuke said before he heard the sound of someone collapsing.
Quickly turning around he saw Hanabi unconscious on the ground, and before he could do anything he caught the sound of an eerie tune drifting through the training ground. His limbs grew heavy, his movements sluggish.
"Wh-What are you doing to me?" He didn't have long to ponder before he was knocked unconscious by a large ninja who had emerged from the cover of the trees.
"Well that was easy," Sakon said to Jirobo, "I don't see what Orochimaru sees in this trash," he muttered as Tayuya and Kidomaro jumped into the clearing, quickly binding both Sasuke and Hanabi tightly.
"He has the Sharingan you fucking idiot," Tayuya said as if it were obvious, because it was.
Sakon just grunted before searching the Uchiha for signs of any markings. Orochimaru-sama had warned them not to take any chances, they needed to make sure Sasuke couldn't be rescued and that any seals or markings needed to be destroyed or sealed away so as to be useless.
It wasn't long before he found two seals on the inside of the boy's right arm hidden underneath a bracer. Laying the unconscious Uchiha down he started preparing a large array on the ground with Sasuke's arm and consequently the two seals in the center.
After ten minutes of frantic drawing the array was complete and Sakon applied the necessary activation chakra, while the others kept a look out. Strangely however only one of the seals pulsed and disappeared.
Now Sakon was pissed. They had been there too long already and they really needed to get away before anyone noticed, but Orochimaru had specifically said not to go anywhere with Sasuke if there was any seal on him that wasn't the cursed seal of heaven.
"Shit," the leader of the sound four cursed as he stared down at the seal. He'd used the strongest sealing method he could and it hadn't done a thing. Whoever designed that seal was a master and the safeguards in it were ridiculous.
"What is it?" Tayuya asked as she jumped over to assess the situation and noticed one seal still sitting on the black haired boy's arm, "Oh what have you fucked up this time?"
"Shut-up slut, it's a complex seal, I can't get rid of it. Not without cutting off his arm," Sakon said as he pulled out a blade and prepared to start sawing through the boys arm.
"STOP IT!" Tayuya said as loudly as she could without drawing attention to the area.
"How else are we going to get this seal off him?"
"Yeah but do you think Orochimaru-sama wants a disabled host?"
Sakon sat thinking about what to do, starting to sweat before Kidomaru jumped in, "Tayuya get back to keeping a look out, I'll handle this."
As Tayuya jumped away cursing about being stuck with a bunch of idiots Kidomaru quickly produced a golden blade from his mouth.
"What do you plan to do with that?" Sakon was wondering exactly what his teammate was up to.
"This blade is sharper than yours, now keep him quiet and pin him down, he might wake up. The level of difficulty of this wouldn't be as high if I wasn't worried about permanently injuring his muscles."
Sakon was still skeptical about what it was that Kidomaru was planning but held the Uchiha down as his comrade went to work on the boy's arm.
Sasuke's eyes shot open as pain rocketed up his limb. He tried screaming but there was the same strange ninja from before sitting on top of him, pinning him to the ground. He couldn't overpower him and it was terrifying as searing pain shot up from his right forearm.
The struggle only lasted a few seconds before he passed out from a combination of the pain and the blow to the head he'd suffered earlier.
When Kidomaru was finished he was holding a piece of flesh up that was roughly the size of the seal, "That should do it, I had to cut a little deeper than I thought to remove the tenketsu beneath the seal as a precaution but it was better than taking off the whole limb, now bandage his arm and let's get out of here," he casually tossed the flesh containing the seal to the ground.
"Good, bring the girl, we might need her for leverage." Sakon said as they went to move out, glad that they'd managed to deal with both of the seals.
"Jirobo, stop eating you fucking fat shit, let's go!" Tayuya called out to the large shinobi, who was about to start on his third snack.
Kidomaru picked up the young girl, while Jirobo picked up their target and the shinobi quickly made their way to the edge of the village.
xXx
(Somewhere in the Land of Rice Paddies)
"Orochimaru-sama, it's been just over a week since the Sound four departed, given how quickly we got back, and their rate of travel they should be arriving in Konoha soon,"
"What about Kimimaro?" the snake Sannin asked his second in command.
"Given that he disappeared from his bed almost four days ago he should meet up with them soon; he travels much faster alone than they do together."
"Kukukuku. Yessss, soon Sasuke-kun will be mine. Why Kimimaro, you will still be useful to me even in your final moments," Orochimaru said mostly to himself.
"Do you really think that Sakon will be able to block or disable the Hiriashin no jutsu seal?"
"Kukukuku, well we will no doubt find out if they were competent enough to deal with it," The Sannin said to the spy strolling along next to him as they continued through the gloomy underground base that was for now their home.
xXx
Karin wasn't unconscious for very long, but the fact that she'd passed out at all just meant that she needed to train harder and increase her reserves.
She looked over to the kitchen to find Shizune and Tsunade both sitting at the table eating and drinking.
Getting up she did a quick search with her Minds Eye in order to find Naruto, who she found training in the compound. A quick look out the window showed the sun resting low in the sky.
Expanding the reach of her technique she decided to check on what Sakura and Sasuke were up to with their mentees.
Sakura and Hano were currently sitting in a training ground together, Karin could just make out them doing slight chakra control exercises. She pushed the field of her technique to maximum to try and pick up Sasuke and Hanabi and just managed to catch him in the edges of her technique.
What shocked her though was the four ninja in close proximity with her friend.
How could they be in Konoha? What were they doing with Sasuke? These were just a few of the thoughts running through her head as she started into panic mode.
No, I have to stay calm, she thought as she started breathing more heavily, If I panic I can't help them. She could feel a small chakra signature along with Sasuke's and they both seemed to be unconscious. It must be his mentee, meaning they were jumped during training.
"Tsunade, Shizune, we have a problem," Karin said with a worried look, as she pumped chakra into the seal on her arm as fast as she could.
Naruto appeared seconds later, by which time Tsunade had spoken, "What is it Karin?" concern on the face of Sannin, knowing she wouldn't call Naruto like that if it wasn't something troubling.
"Yeah is everything okay Karin-chan?"
"No, Sasuke and Hanabi have been taken by Orochimaru's bodyguards," the girl said to the three people present.
A shocked look crossed Shizune's face before turning into worry. Tsunade's turned straight to anger as the glass in her hand exploded from the pressure the woman applied to it.
Naruto didn't seem too troubled, "It's fine I'll just go get him," the boy said calmly before disappearing. Losing his head wasn't going to get them anywhere when he could just retrieve his friend and then plan a counterattack.
The three of them stood waiting before Karin muttered an "Uh-oh," having felt a massive disturbance of chakra. Before Tsunade and Shizune could question her the blonde had reappeared, only this time his eyes were red and he was shaking with anger.
He dropped what looked to be a piece of flesh onto the table that was adorned with a seal that all of them were now familiar with.
"What do we do?" he said in a gravelly voice laden with anger.
"We go to the Hokage, right now. Karin can you still sense them?"
The girl was silent for a second, "I can just barely feel them, they'll be out of my range soon, but I know what direction they're headed."
"Good, we can still follow them, Naruto, Hokage's Office, now."
But before he grabbed them and disappeared he was already gone. He knew of one person that would be more worried about Sasuke than he was. And he wasn't leaving her out of the loop.
xXx
Sakura was surprised that Naruto would just appear next to her at this time in the afternoon.
"You better have a good reason for interrupting my training session Nar-," She shut up when she saw the red flickering in and out of his eyes.
"It's Sasuke Sakura. Orochimaru's taken him."
"Hano," Sakura said sternly as she spoke to her student, "Go home, now. Run. I have to go," She tried to be as resolute as possible, but the fear was visible in her eyes.
The confused boy knew when his mentor was being serious but he'd never see her like this. He got up and bolted home as Naruto grabbed Sakura and the two left him alone.
xXx
"Hokage-sama now that we've come to an agreement, I'm glad to comment on the progress Hanabi is seeing in this new mentoring program. Sasuke Uchiha seems to know what he is doing in teaching her, although I still think the contact hours should be toned down a little, as she is getting less time to train with me.
Hanabi however seems to be enjoying the change and although I'm not happy with some of the beliefs he's expressed to my daughter, I believe she won't be corrup-" the stern head of clan Hyuuga was interrupted by the appearance of five people as they all materialized out of thin air.
"What is the meaning of this Naruto? Tsunade?" the Hokage enquired when he realized whom the group was comprised of. Naruto, Sakura, Tsunade, Shizune and Karin all stood before him, Hiashi looking shocked at how their meeting was interrupted.
"It's Orochimaru, sensei," was all Tsunade had to say.
The old Hokage sighed, looking visibly exhausted at the prospect of having to deal with Orochimaru once again.
"I'm sorry Hiashi, I'm going to have to deal with this, you are dismissed,"
"Actually Hokage-sama he should probably stay," Karin said stepping forward, the large bandaged sword Samehada in a holster across her back. With the sword as large as it was on her it was awkward for her to move indoors with other people around. Naruto might have laughed at the scene if it weren't for the seriousness of the situation.
The two men both looked at her with eyebrows raised, stern looks on their faces; fear flashed briefly in the eyes of the Hyuuga clan head.
"Orochimaru's bodyguards, the sound four, have taken Sasuke and Hanabi and are currently exiting the village. We were coming here to -,"
"SHINTEN!" Hiashi yelled to his bodyguard, who immediately entered the room, "Fetch NEJI NOW!" the black haired, white eyed branch member disappeared in a shunshin as Hiashi tried his best to compose himself.
"We were coming here to report the situation before chasing them." Naruto said, continuing on from Karin after the interruption.
"There's nothing I can say that will stop you from following them is there Naruto?" the Hokage said from his position behind the desk, looking the blonde boy directly in the eyes, and being startled at seeing the red of the of Kyuubi.
"No," the blond replied without hesitation.
"Very well, you can give chase, but I would like to know how you knew what was happening Karin."
Karin didn't see the point in arguing, it would only waste time, "I have a sensory technique called the Minds Eye of Kagura,"
"And what's the range of the technique if you could sense them leave the village, can you still sense them?"
"It's about 8-9 kilometers at the moment," The Hokage had to hide his shock. A technique like that was incredible; he now knew why Orochimaru had bothered with this girl. Hiashi was also surprised. If it was true then that technique's power dwarfed the sensory ability of the Byakugan. Sensing chakra up to 8 kilometers away was a super human feat in and of itself, "and no, from here I can't, they were leaving quickly."
"Very well, I'd like to discuss this technique further in the future, but for now –,"
The wizened old man was interrupted again as Neji and Shinten burst into the room.
"Hokage-sama, I'd like to request the presence of Neji and myself on this retrieval team for the sake of my daughter," Hiashi said once the two Hyuugas had come to a stand still.
"Very well Hiashi, I'm against having the head of a clan embark on a mission such as this, but this is your daughter, and I doubt there is much I can do to stop you. Go, while you can still find them and good luck," the Hokage said as Naruto created enough clones for everyone and turned to Karin.
"What direction?"
She silently raised a finger in the direction she'd last felt the enemy shinobi and they disappeared.
xXx
It wasn't long before an expected knock came at the door of the Hokage's office, and without waiting for a reply it swung inward as someone crossed the threshold.
The man who entered the room had a right eye covered in bandages that wrapped around his head, a cloak that extended from his right shoulder to his feet and a cane in his left hand that tapped the ground with each step he took.
"I was expecting you," Hiruzen said from his table, not wanting to be too aggressive with his old friend. He'd stand his ground and enforce his rank if necessary but there was no need to cause any more problems then he needed to.
"Then you know the reason of my visit, there have been reports of Naruto leaving the village," Danzou said, quietly angry that the Jinchuuriki who he deemed both useful and dangerous was no longer in the village, "The elders and the rest of the council agreed that Naruto was to be kept in the village."
"I know," Hiruzen said, "but how much do you know of the situation,"
"Only that you've once again let a shinobi who could become an incredible threat to Konoha or incredible asset leave the village," Danzou would not have Hiruzen ruin his plans for one of the shinobi who had shown such promise in the chunin exams, but who was also shrouded in the most intrigue.
He knew all the secrets of Konoha and he knew the threat of a rogue Jinchuuriki. Rogue Jinchuuriki had the power to destroy villages and that was the last thing he wanted.
But if Naruto was so close with Sasuke and the boy were to find out certain things about the very murky past of the village everything could easily spiral out of control.
"This is not some game Danzou and the situation is not to be taken lightly,"
"That's funny," the man with shaggy black hair said, "I was just about to say the same to-,"
"This isn't the time for smart remarks," Hiruzen said, cutting off the man sharply, "There has once again been a security breach. Some major enquiries are going to have to be done but for now that is not the issue. The issue is that Sasuke was taken by Orochimaru and Naruto and the others have gone to get him back. I'm sorry if that inconveniences your grand plan," Hiruzen finished sarcastically, starting to get fed up with his old friend.
The surprise was evident in Danzou's eyes as he stood comprehending the situation. Of course he was only put off for a fraction of a second before he collected himself, "This is why they must be protected within the village," the man said, trying to swing Hiruzen's point of view while the situation permitted.
"No, staying in the village doesn't seem to have worked out exactly as planned and I'll also have you know that you won't be able to keep them under wraps for long. The only person those boys will stand down for are those closest to them."
I feared that would be case, Danzou thought to himself as he grunted to acknowledge he understood the situation and began to leave, "You know this will not stand,"
"I'll not have those boys held back because of some plans you and the elders have for them,"
I know you won't, and that is why I will act. I need to get one of them under my control before things get too unstable.
As Danzou exited the building and walked down the street no one noticed the order he gave one of his ANBU ROOT operatives to put a squad together and pursue the retrieval team. He had to keep an eye on two of the most interesting pieces to enter the playing field in years.
xXx
(Somewhere in the Land of Fire – A few hours later)
"Sakon! We can't you fucking idiot! What if he dies? Orochimaru-sama will kill us!" Tayuya liked pleasing Orochimaru-sama, but she also preferred being alive.
"If he dies then he obviously wasn't worthy of the seal or being the host of Orochimaru-sama,"
"Jirobo, back me up here, we can't force the second level seal transformation on him if he doesn't want it. It's not exactly the safest procedure! I don't care much for the trash but I'd rather not incur the wrath of Orochimaru-sama. First you want to cut his arm off and now this, do you want Orochimaru-sama to skin us all alive?" Tayuya didn't get a response from the big ninja who was simply eating, "Fine, fucking fatso, I shouldn't have asked for your help in the first place."
"I'm the leader, and I say that we put him through the process," Sakon was surefooted in his stance on the situation and wasn't going to be deterred by the likes of Tayuya.
After they'd escaped from the village, they'd made good progress towards the border and now that they were far enough out from Konoha Sakon had decided that he was going to bring back an enhanced Sasuke or no Sasuke at all.
Frankly the ninja wanted the brat to die. To prove that such a weak shinobi was not worthy of Orochimaru-sama's blessing. Orochimaru-sama would surely see that Sasuke wasn't worthy if he couldn't survive the transformation.
But before Sakon even had the chance to put the unconscious Sasuke in the sealing container Kidomaru, the only one of them bothering with lookout duty, spoke up.
"That will have to wait Sakon, we have visitors," Kidomaru said calmly, getting the attention of the three ninja around him. As silence fell they could all hear the light ringing of a small bell, the likes of which was attached to a number of strands of ninja wire within the woods surrounding them.
xXx
Karin winced when the light noise echoed through the woods. She was still getting used to the dimensions of her weapon and what it was like to move around with it.
It was just unfortunate that the handle of the blade had nicked a strand of ninja wire as the group of seven shinobi had advanced on the four strange ninja that were situated around an unconscious Sasuke and Hanabi.
Fortunately with the use of Naruto's Hiraishin they were able to get to the edge of the village fast enough that after a short while they'd been able to pick up their signatures. Then it'd had simply been a matter of moving faster than they were. None of them had really wanted to talk much; they all had one thing on their minds. Getting those close to them back.
Karin had explained as much as she knew about the sound four to the rest of them. While personally she'd never really had much to do with them she knew they were the bodyguards of Orochimaru and that they were all powerful in their own right.
She'd informed them as much as she could of their abilities and warned them of Sakon's hidden passenger, whom she could feel easily with her technique. Even with the challenge ahead of them though she was just glad she couldn't sense Kimimaro.
The strange ninja that appeared to be in charge spoke up as the retrieval team sat frozen, hiding amongst the trees hoping they hadn't been detected, "Show yourselves now, or I kill the girl."
Sakon was pleased that they'd taken the girl with them now. It might have slowed them slightly, but it meant they had a hostage. He picked her up and held a kunai to her neck, reinforcing his threat.
Tsunade sighed and nodded, signaling that they didn't really have much of a choice. Not that it was really up to her, Hiashi was already moving into the open along with Neji. It wasn't long until the rest of them followed, landing in front of the four ninja. So much for the element of surprise.
"What? This is all Konoha send? An old man, two women and four kids?" Sakon said confidently.
He obviously didn't know who most of them were, or he would have been afraid, although he had been warned by Orochimaru-sama about the blonde kid; surely his master was exaggerating. Apart from having a sense of style the kid didn't seem special at all. Sakon made a note to take the cloak from the boy's corpse.
He recognized Karin though and knew what she'd done, that backstabbing little slut. If he could he'd make sure she suffered a painful death. He didn't know where she'd gotten that sword from but if he remembered correctly just over a nine weeks ago she was a useless fighter. So she wasn't exactly a threat either.
Sakon was snapped from his thoughts when Hiashi spoke up, "Hurt her, and your chance of leaving here alive becomes zero," he said coolly, trying to mask the worry he was feeling for the safety of his daughter; held with a kunai to her neck.
"Hahahaha, what happens if my hand just slips?" Sakon said sadistically, moving the blade along the girl's neck.
"Jirobo, get ready to leave," he said to the larger shinobi, prompting him to pick up the sealing vessel and then Sasuke, before turning back to the seven Konoha shinobi, "follow us and I kill the girl,"
"Wait!" Naruto urged, "What do you even want with Sasuke?"
"Like I have to explain Orochimaru-sama's plans to scum like you," Sakon said, stopping the four from leaving in order to reply.
"Oh I didn't really want to hear about it, I just needed enough time to do this," Naruto smiled a wicked smile as two Hiraishin kunai burst from the surrounding woods. The clones that threw them appearing next to them as they passed their intended targets.
Within a second the four ninja had lost all leverage as the clones grabbed Sasuke and Hanabi and disappeared, reappearing next to Sakura and putting them down next to Shizune to check on them. They noticed that a bloody bandage was wrapped around the boy's forearm.
"What were you saying about leaving?" Naruto said smugly as the four-shocked shinobi stood watching them. Sakon had gone red in the face at being shown up so easily.
"I swear to kami, I am going to destroy you if it's the last thing I do you trash," Sakon said while Tayuya jumped back into the trees trying to get a better position for her jutsu.
"We outnumber you, what do you think you can do?" Karin said speaking up, while making sure to keep an eye on the female ninja as she moved through the woods.
"Shut up you traitorous bitch," Sakon said bitterly while Kidomaru silently reassessed their situation and Jirobo waited for instruction, "We are more powerful than you can imagine, we'll destroy you all and take Sasuke back for Orochimaru."
Karin was about to speak up but was cut off by Tsunade speaking to Hiashi, "Now that you're daughter is safe do you want to return to the village with her and let us handle this? Or would you rather remove these pests yourself?"
"Hey who are you calling pests bitch!?"
"They need to be taught a lesson, even if they won't be alive to learn from it when I'm finished," Hiashi said, ready to annihilate the four shinobi who would dare harm his daughter.
The four sound ninja were still trying to judge the shitstorm they now found themselves in when Sasuke started coming to.
"Hey teme, next time call for help dumbass," Naruto said with a cheeky grin as he looked over his shoulder at his unbound comrade.
"Yeah whatever, even if I wanted to the seal's gone," the black haired boy said, pointing to an un-bandaged spot higher on his forearm that was now blank, " but, they won't get the drop on me again,"
Had the seal been there it he would have been able to see at least half of it from underneath his bandaged, he had to wonder exactly just what they did to him.
"You really shouldn't be fighting Sasuke," Shizune said from her position next to Hanabi.
"I'll be fine," he said rolling out his shoulders and gingerly touching his arm, "Maybe you should get back to the village with Hanabi though,"
"… yes we should," Shizune said after realizing that she wasn't going to talk Sasuke out of the conflict even though the damage to his arm was significant, "that might be for the best, Naruto?"
With a flash they were gone and Naruto was back on the scene.
"Now where were we? So seven on five?" Sakon's eyes widened at them knowing about Ukon before his eyes darted murderously to Karin, "I don't like your odds," Tsunade said as she cracked out her knuckles and the rest of them stood along beside her, facing down the enemy shinobi.
"Who shoul-," Naruto started before being interrupted by his girlfriend.
"No no no no no," Karin said, her eyes wide, "He can't be. I thought he was sick?"
"What is it Karin?" Tsunade asked, a hard look in her eyes. They didn't need any complications.
"It's Kimimaro. He's easily stronger than any of these four and he's headed straight for us. I thought he was supposed to be dead!"
"How strong?" they had this under control for now but Tsunade didn't need any more rogue elements thrown into the mix.
"The only person I know stronger is Oroch-,"
"BAHAHAHAHAHAHA," now it was Sakon's time to laugh, while Kidomaru and Jirobo both grinned with delight at how the situation was turning out, "If Kimimaro is on his way then none of you stand a chance!"
Tsunade didn't need to split up the group, but if this Kimimaro was a serious threat then it might be better to do deal with him herself, it might even benefit her to bring Hiashi to finish the fight quickly. That would still leave five of the enemy shinobi, including the combatant supposedly hiding within Sakon, against the five children.
She'd just need to finish the fight and get back in time to help out if necessary.
"Okay Karin, what direction?" Tsunade asked, causing the girl to point towards the north-east, "Hiashi, I think you should come with me, the kids should be able to handle these guys, it's an even numbers game and the faster we get rid of this Kimimaro the sooner we can support them," the elderly Hyuuga hesistated before nodding, the two of them jumping into the forest; the sound four making no attempt to stop them.
Sasuke touched his arm gingerly, "This is going to scar badly you bastards, I'm going to make you pay for that,"
"Actually Sasuke, come here," Karin said with a thoughtful look on her face.
"You really think some run of the mill medical jutsu will fix this up?" Sasuke asked, skeptical that the missing chunk of his arm could be easily remedied.
"Since when have I ever been run of the mill!" Karin shouted while still moved to help him, "Now just bite me here," she said as she rolled up the sleeve of her top. With everything that had been going on Karin was still mostly wearing the same clothes she'd ventured to the village with, having not really had much of a chance to go shopping with her boyfriend.
"You want me to bite you? Dobe, what kind of kinky shit is your girlfriend into," Sasuke asked, as the rest of the group kept an eye on the sound four, who for the most part were just content to sit and watch, biding time for Kimimaro to deal with the two older shinobi when they confronted him.
"Sasuke, I'm about this far from not helping you with your arm, just bite enough to draw blood," she said threateningly. And so the boy bit her on the shoulder, and Sakura went red in the face. As much as she thought it would be painful, biting someone was still intimate and something that could be done in a fit of passion. And while they were now more intimate than they used to be when they were alone training they were no were near that intimate. She was kind of jealous of the red haired girl.
Almost instantly the effect of biting Karin was noticed as Sasuke pulled away and flexed his arm. The red head looked slightly exhausted but told him to pull off his bandage anyway. When he did so the group was surprised, because there was absolutely no mark remaining whatsoever. The wound was completely healed as if it never existed. And it would have been quite a serious wound.
"You better appreciate that," Karin said with a strained smile, "Because now I've got this scar forever. But I figured it would improve our chances of survival if you could actually use your arm properly."
"Thanks," Sasuke said with a genuine smile before turning his attention to the enemy shinobi.
"Well well well isn't this touching. I didn't think pieces of trash could get along so well," Sakon said with a smile, "but either way it doesn't really matter because you're all going to die here tonight, and we will have Sasuke,"
"I hardly think so," Karin said as she held Samehada in her hands and turned to Naruto, "Honey, mind filling me up?" she said to her boyfriend, resting the blade in his hands and smiling as the sword slowly grew until the bandages were stretch to their limits and a small row of teeth could be seen through gaps at the tip of the sword. It shrank again slightly as the girl drained some of the chakra into herself to refill the reserves she'd just lost, but overall the sword was larger and more menacing than previously.
"You think making that sword bigger will help you? That's even more pathetic than I expected bitch. We shouldn't even need our curse seals with those two going after Kimimaro." Sakon couldn't believe that Kimimaro had managed to make it all the way out here. They would have had a hard time of getting Sasuke back otherwise, but now this was going to be a piece of cake.
"Well what are you waiting for?" Naruto asked taunting them with an outstretched hand as Sasuke activated his Sharingan and flexed his hand while Neji activated his Byakugan ready for a fight, "or are you all bark and no bite?"
DUN DUN DUNNN!
How betrayed would you all feel if I put in a filler/flashback arc just before all the fighting started. But yeah don't worry, I'm not working on the actual Naruto so that won't happen.
Anyway shits gun go down!
As for reviews, please read and review, I've been loving the extra reviews it's great! Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, from short reviews to long ones thanks, it means a lot. Especially the long ones because hearing exactly what people like in my story is great :) But yeah thanks to everyone.
Also now you know why it prefers Karin. Just a quick explanation for those who might still not understand.
Yes Karin has less chakra than Naruto, but she still has a metric fuck tonne of chakra, so the sword is happy on that front. She has a special healing chakra that is freaking awesome and unique and she has a water affinity. These two things combined make her way more appealing to snack on than Naruto, who like many of you said must have a bitter taste due to the nasty fox chakra. His enlightened and pure chakra when he takes the chakra later on (in the manga i mean) would probably taste good, but as it is now he probably has a shitty aftertaste.
Anyway I think that's all I needed to say happy days people, happy days. Now to do some exercise and play some cod before I plan the next bit!
But seriously R and R. It makes me happy, and when I'm happy I churn out chapters for dayz.
Update: 19/12/2012
Sorry but I won't be updating any time soon, because a) it's Christmas and b) have just been broken up with so yeah, not in the mood to write and not sure when I'll be in the mood again. Sorry guys.