Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto and its characters or characters from other anime.
Root part 1
Root Base Near Konoha
"Okay Tsubasa that will be enough for now", Tsubasa halted his training at Masaru's instruction and turned towards Danzo and Masaru. Masaru went besides Tsubasa awaiting Danzo's orders.
"Tsubasa, two of Root's trainees, Saito and Raizo, have run away. I want you to find them and bring them to the base near Otafuku Gai, alive and if possible unharmed. Root's trackers are unable to track them. Search panels have been set up in all the potential places they may be hiding in but the two haven't been found. Odd as it may sound, but I suspect that they are heading towards Konoha, you and Masaru will set up a parameter around and wait for them. Masaru will join you later, you may leave now," Tsubasa nodded and moved towards a door. As soon as he opened it a gushing sound could be heard. Tsubasa exited the door before he closed it.
"Those two were suppose to have their test today right?"
"Yes Masaru, but they became too attached to each other, something this test would rid them of but they didn't like it. You know what we will do with them."
Masaru nodded, "Of course"
"Onto the main reason I called you here, Kenshin requested a meeting with the head of each base at Otafuku Gai."
"Did he give a reason?"
"He did, and he'll give it to you personally."
Masaru nodded.
"How far along has the Hyuuga princess reached?"
"Last I checked with Hikari, that girl was a crying mess."
"I see... ask Hikari for updates when you go to her base and tell Hikari to start training her immediately if she hasn't already."
"Got it!"
"Good, I'll leave now. I have to attend a ninja council meeting at 5pm." They nodded to each other before parting ways.
As soon as Masaru got out, Masaru performed "Summoning Jutsu!" and many falcons appeared in a puff of smoke. He took out a few scrolls and wrote something. After finishing that, he gave them the scrolls and some instructions and they flew away within a blink of an eye. Masaru rushed towards the direction Tsubasa had earlier taken. Soon he sees Tsubasa rushing forward through trees.
With Tsubasa
Swallows twittered in the sky flying above the road cutting through the forest, turning dimmer by the minute as sun moved towards the horizon to set but all this didn't matter to Tsubasa who rushed through the trees at high speeds.
As he ran, he heard swishing noises from behind, he turned to see Masaru, dashing towards him. Tsubasa didn't stop sure Masaru would catch up.
Soon Masaru caught up and commented, "You seem rather sure they'll come from this road."
"This road is the shortest path between Otafuku Gai and Konoha."
Just then they see a falcon flying towards them from front, it circles twice above before flying forward.
"We got something," they move forward, taking cover in the woods, till they see a man driving a bullock cart. They weren't close to the cart but they could still smell the spices. They would've called it a false lead and left but Masaru noticed that the man's lips were moving,"Wait! It's quite possible that they are hiding in the cart. Let's spy on him, pay attention to any suspicious behavior."
They focused all their senses on the bullock cart and soon they heard the driver talking with two children, probably their targets.
"Hey! Old man! How much longer till we reach Konoha?" One child whispered quickly.
"It's just a few more kilometers, now please remain silent till we reach the gates. Someone might hear us," The man whispered back.
"Why are we going to Konoha again? I feel so scared."
"Saito, I know it's dangerous but we have to get to the Hokage and tell him about Root so that we can free our other friends," Masaru and Tsubasa nod to each other, they found the targets.
"Besides we made it this far by this guy's help, nothing could go wrong now-" Just then they heard a terrible scream and the cart stopped and crashed. They pull the cover off themselves and see a child, wearing mask and Root uniform, standing over the headless body of the cart driver.
"Shit! They found us Raizo! What do we do now?" Saito, being very young, couldn't help but panic at the situation.
"Surrender yourselves or else…" Tsubasa warned them, his blue eyes flashing cold through his fox shaped mask, his blood-stained Tanto in his left hand, pointing at them.
"We didn't escape the base and hitchhike on that guy's cart to return to the base! Let's run Raizo!" Saito cried out, with little tears in his eyes, 'We didn't even ask him for his name,' he regretted.
"Saito wait!" Raizo held Saito's hand, "We can't run."
"What're you talking about?"
"Look at his mask," Raizo pointed at Tsubasa's mask, particularly at the red wing like pattern on its left side. Raizo being two years elder had a better idea of what that meant "That kid is Tsubasa, he's really strong. We can't escape him. We have to face him."
Saito gulped at that, he'd heard some nasty rumors about Tsubasa, one of them being that though he looked like a kid, he was actually a demon from hell. He didn't know what Raizo was thinking but even he, a seven-year old, could tell that they had to run, 'He didn't even spare the bull, he'll surely rip us apart.'
Meanwhile Tsubasa was carefully analyzing them, 'Both have brown hair and brown eyes, wear standard Root uniform, kunai pouch, goggles, the elder has a chained sickle and the younger is holding nothing, probably preparing for a technique.'
And the younger did go through a few hand signs shouting, "Wind Style: Howling Winds". Soon, the wind started blowing hard, literally howling. Raizo reacted immediately, flinging the weight into the cart, breaking all the boxes, thus creating a storm of spices, effectively blocking sight and immediately whipped the weight at Tsubasa catching his left arm about to pull him, but Tsubasa pulled him instead, lifting Raizo to the sky and about to bang him into the ground but Raizo managed to land on his feet and held Tsubasa's left with his chain.
Before Tsubasa could react, kunais rained on him but he blocked them all with his own kunai. If it weren't for the silhouettes he wouldn't have been able to tell their positions. Tsubasa sent lightning chakra through the chain holding him while blocking the kunais, causing Raizo's hold to slacken from shock. Tsubasa gripped the chain and swung Raizo at Saito. As the runaways collided, Tsubasa concentrated his chakra and released a powerful gust of wind that stopped the spice storm and cleared the area.
Tsubasa looked around but found no sign of them, 'I lost track of them, and they didn't even leave a trail, except this scent; and it is everywhere. They could be heading for Konoha, but if they aren't the scent should end before I reach Konoha. But they could also be taking a detour. What should I do?' He waited for some time and then ran towards Konoha. As soon as he left, Raizo peered out of a bush followed by Saito. Seeing no sign of Tsubasa they came out of the bush. Raizo faced Saito and said, "He's probably gone to Konoha, it'll be safer to go take a detour-"
"No it won't!" spoke a mischievous voice from behind, freezing the two runaways on the spot. The turned around and were poked in their forehead by a tall red-head in a falcon mask and then their world turned dark.
Masaru caught the fainting kids and put them over his shoulders, 'Man! These kids gave Tsubasa some trouble '. He saw Tsubasa running back towards him.
"I didn't need help," Masaru smirked at Tsubasa, who had emerged from behind.
"I know, but I had to do it."
He handed the kids to Tsubasa. He reached into his cloak and pulled out scroll then let it fall and rolled open like a toilet paper. He sealed the carcasses of the man and his bull along with the broken cart into the scroll. When done he set it ablaze destroying the scroll and its contents.
Masaru performed the summoning technique. A large puff of smoke emerged but it was soon blown away by heavy winds, thus revealing a huge falcon, flapping his brown wings and making a screeching. As soon as the falcon settled down, Masaru and Tsubasa climb on his back with the runaways. "Otafuku Gai Base," Masaru tells him. The falcon caws and takes off. The falcon kept rising till the forest looked like a green carpet with the road cutting through it like a thick line. They flew along the line at jet speed. Flying above the ground at this speed relaxed their nerves. Though he'd never admit it to anyone, to Tsubasa there was nothing better than wind hitting his face which was one reason he enjoyed Masaru's rare company which also he wouldn't admit.
"It was a smart move," Masaru spoke up breaking Tsubasa out of his trance, "Making them think they were really fighting you while hiding to ambush them."
"This tactic was your advice." Tsubasa brushed of Masaru's compliments.
"Yes, but you've taken this basic tactic to whole new levels."
"Moving on, I want to tell you that I'll be training you for sometime in one of our bases under Danzo-sama's orders. We'll discuss about this later, for now…" Masaru grins "Brace yourself!"
Tsubasa clutched harder on to the boys and falcon; and just then the falcon crossed mach 1 causing a sonic boom forming a dense white disk behind. Anyone seeing them from below would mistake them for meteors if it all he or she could see them.
Within a minute, they could see the wall bordering Otafuku Gai. The falcon decelerated till it's flying at speed of an ordinary falcon. He rose above the clouds to avoid sight and suspicion. After flying for about three minutes in a particular direction, he took one swift dive down to the ground, piercing through clouds and into pit hole; the hole lead into short tunnel with light at its other end.
Otafuku Gai Base
As soon as they dived into the light, they see a training ground, with many children in uniform with mask and cloak standing in rows and columns, and front of them five target posts. The falcon spread his wings and descended slowly till he landed with grace and then caws with pride before settling.
Masaru and Tsubasa got off the falcon's back and handed over Raizo and Saito to the ninjas who tied the kids to the posts in front of the other kids. They were greeted by a midnight blue haired kunoichi wearing the uniform. Her pale skin had a ghostly glow that added to her beauty. But her most noticeable feature, even more so than her hourglass figure, were her pupil-less white eyes.
"Welcome Masaru-san. Shall we go ahead with the execution?"
"Of course Hikari-san, please continue."
Hikari walked towards the posts followed by Masaru and Naruto. She faced the children tied to the post, who were still unconscious. She scoffed before making a few hand signs and the children woke up as if someone had pricked them with a needle.
"I hope you'll pardon this rude awakening," she apologized with little sincerity, "Then again, you deserve it."
"Raizo and Saito, you two committed treason by trying to abandon Root and inform the Hokage of Root's existence. As such you both could be executed."
"You don't say," Raizo taunted. In response Hikari made tiger hand sign causing Raizo to scream in agony. Children witnessing this were terrified, even the most trained ones couldn't help but flinch at Raizo's agony. As soon as Hikari released her fingers to stop the seal, Raizo stopped screaming and started wheezing.
"As I was saying," Hikari continued peeved by Raizo's joke," You both 'could' be executed. However, Danzo-sama sees too much potential in you to let it go wasted, and so he decided to give you both a chance. All you have to do is continue with your duel to death and the winner moves on."
"No… way!" Raizo replied, wheezing with every pause, "There is just… no way… I'll kill my friend."
"As expected, and what is your decision Saito? Will you take this chance of redemption or die a traitor?"
Saito remained silent for some time. He glanced at his friend then at the masked woman.
"Well, what is your decision?" Hikari asked, her impatience clear in words but not voice.
Saito looks down, "I want to live…" he lifts his head and screams," BUT NOT AT THE COST OF MY FRIEND."
Everything came to pause, Raizo finally caught his breath, hearing his friend made him smirk.
"Very well…" with that said Hikari turned to the first row of new recruits and nodded. Two young recruits marched from the first row to the captives, each holding a kunai in their right hand. They placed them at the throats of Raizo and Saito before slitting their throats. Most of the trainees witnessing this closed their eyes and tried not to scream. Then the recruits then untied their bodies from post and laid them on ground. They used a small fire jutsu to burn their bodies into ashes. After that all recruits left hall leaving Hikari, Masaru and Tsubasa alone.
"Whoa! That was harsh. And to think we went through the trouble of bringing them back alive."
"To be fair Masaru, they had a chance," Hikari retorts, "Now can we get back to business Captain."
"Sure Captain Hikari!" Masaru mock-saluted receiving a scoff from Hikari, "Yeah, Danzo-sama wanted updates on Hinata Hyuuga."
"She's better. She stopped her whining and listens to me quietly like a good girl. In fact she managed to keep her screams to herself," then she spoke to herself, "Honestly though why her out of all the Hyuugas?"
"Even I don't know what goes on in Danzo-sama's mind," Masaru ignores Hikari's growls, "But he asked if you started training her."
"Yes, I started as soon as she woke up. She is actually quite good but her lack of confidence and kindness is a problem."
"Those can be fixed in time," a deep voice joined in their conversation.
"Oh look the rest have arrived!" Hikari exclaimed.
Masaru and Tsubasa turned to greet the newcomers.
"Greetings Captains," Tsubasa greeted politely.
"Yo Kenshin, I'm glad you arrived on time. And you brought Feng and Nin along," Masaru greeted them his way.
"Likewise," Kenshin greeted them back. He was a red-head with violet eyes and tan skin. He had average height but was well-built.
"Your antiques are intolerable as always," Nin reproached Masaru who scoffed in reply. Nin had dark gray hair, black eyes and tan skin. He was very tall and buff.
"Whatever," Feng growled out. He had brown skin and dark brown hair. He was tall and athletic in build.
"Can we just finish the work we came here for?" Feng asked.
"Calm down Feng it won't take long," Kenshin replied.
"Tsubasa, you may use the training grounds," Hikari dismissed Tsubasa.
Tsubasa nodded and blurred towards the training grounds.
Hikari turned towards them and said, "Now let us continue."