Chapter 8
Whoa, 3 updates in one day? Well, it was supposed to be posted earlier, but shit life, my internet decided to spit in my face. Oh, and to answer some of your questions, Naruto will find out eventually, and we'll get into that wonderful romance stuff after Naruto's saved Haruhi with the help of the rookie 9, even though we all know he could take em down himself. On another note, I kind of wished this was a NaruIno now, because that would make my life so much easier. Plus I like that pairing more.
Naruto paced around the room, waiting for the arrival of his longtime friends. His mission to save Haruhi had to be completed flawlessly, and it didn't hurt to have extra hands helping out. The Oto-nin couldn't figure out the Konoha had a helping hand in the rescue, or trouble would brew. His thoughts were squashed when he saw the familiar faces swirl in front of him. They really could not be considered the rookie 9 anymore, seeing as they'd all grown up so fittingly. It was surprising to Naruto when he saw that all eleven members of the original team had arrived at the same time. Naruto grinned nevertheless and welcomed all of his friends and comrades. Naruto paced down the line and looked at each one of his friends, memories surfacing and filling his mind.
"It's good to see you all again. Aside from the usual mission debriefing and reporting, I haven't seen you all in so long." Naruto gushed warmly, his smile reaching his eyes.
"Are you going soft on us, baka!" Sakura said, an accusing finger pointed at him.
"Fiesty as ever I see, Sakura-chan." A wide grin adorned his face.
"Shut up, forehead! We're on a mission here." Ino shouted aloud.
"Troublesome as she may be, Ino is right. What's the big deal about this mission that required all of us to come?" Shikamaru drawled out.
"Well, you guys have already heard the Mifune's daughter has been kidnapped. We, the well-known Konoha 11, must retrieve her without fail. I don't just mean get her back safely. We have to get her back in a way where they won't know it was us who did it." Naruto explained to the group.
"This poses as a dilemma, as each of us holds an attribute in which they would be able to tell who we are upon battle." Neji said calmly.
"This means not only do we have to be disguised in the form of chakra restraints and how we appear to the naked eye, but we can't even use any form of jutsus." Shikamaru concluded.
"My thoughts exactly. We cannot simply walk in and take her out; that would not work either." Neji replied.
The rest of the rookie 9 simply looked at the two, hoping either would think of something, before a surprising voice spoke up.
"I do not see why we cannot just walk in and take her out." Lee said, determination very clear in his eyes.
TenTen raised a fist and slammed it on his head. "Baka! You can't just expect them to hand over the prisoner!" She said angrily.
"No, he's got a point, I think." Naruto replied. "Sometimes the answer is the most obvious one; so maybe we can build off of it. Make some kind of plan." He amended.
"It might just work. How troublesome." Shikamaru replied lazily, but with a tone of finality.
"Then let's put this plan into action so we can get barbecue to celebrate with after!" Chouji yelled happily.
Some things never change. It feels just like the old days, when we were all still on our respective teams and fussing over silly things. Now Sakura-chan is a head medic-nin with the help of Ino, Shikamaru is a head strategist, Neji is a coveted clan member and an elite tracker, while all the others had made it to jounin level and had their own special places in the shinobi world.
"Heyo Naruto. Thinking pretty hard over there!" Naruto heard the gruff voice of Kiba, and turned to see a feral grin on his face.
"Sorry. I was just thinking about how nothing really changed, but everything has changed." Naruto replied.
Everyone shifted slightly uncomfortably, but soon everyone had a small smile on their faces.
"Things change, but we'll always be friends." Sakura said quietly. Everyone nodded their heads.
"I've got it." Everyone looked up at Naruto expectantly, waiting for his plan.
He looked up all the expectant faces, and awkwardly looked around. "I just figured we could just knock out a couple of the guys from behind with some kind of poison, so they don't know who we are, and take their ninja gear. We can henge our appearances and just walk in casually. Neji and Lee can be the look out, watching out from afar, and Choji, Shika and Ino can back Sakura and I. Kiba, Hinata and Shino can be distractions that lure the guards away. We'd fill in their spot, and rescue Haruhi. Seeing as though we have to make is seem that it was not Konoha-nin, we are limited to the use of only katana and taijutsu. If things go according to plan, we'll leave with little to no battle."
"This method is nowhere near foolproof." They all stared at him. "But with all these limitations, it's the only thing we can manage." Shikamaru looked around, expecting someone to rebuttle.
When everyone remained silent, including Neji, Naruto spoke up again. "It's settled then. We depart in the next hour. We must have her back by the next dawn. Prepare and meet back on the west side of Suna."
"Hai, Hokage-sama." Was the simultaneous reply.
"Are you one-hundred percent sure about this, Naruto-kun?" Saukra asked quietly.
"No." He replied solemnly and leaped towards the next tree, followed by ten other shadows. By the time they had arrived at the gates of Otogakure, Naruto was restless. He was so close to saving her, yet so far away. He didn't want to think of what would happen if his plan failed. He couldn't afford another war; his nation couldn't afford another war.
"Here's what we do. Infiltrate, form, rescue." Naruto said. "We have to scout out her location; we can't just barge in and expect to know where she is. I know from experience.' Naruto grinned slightly.
Shikamaru lifted his head and spoke. "Ino and I can do that. I'll use shadow possession jutsu to pull one of the weaker looking ninja out, and Ino can poke around in his mind. Of course, we will have to dispose of him afterwards, to avoid being found out." The entirety of the group grimaced. Even though it was a ninja's living to kill, they couldn't avoid their human emotions.
"I can remove the event from his memories to the best of my abilities." Ino said a moment after.
It was Neji's turn to speak. "That is far too risky. We cannot jeopardize this mission."
Naruto nodded. "What has to be done will be done."
Shikamaru and Ino returned an hour later, their faces grim. "She's being held in the far south of an underground hideaway. The captive stated that the door opens with the blood of a sound nin." Shikamaru told the group.
Neji activated his Byakugan and scoped the scene. "I found it, although I cannot tell where she is. I will have to come with you guys." Neji said.
"That's fine, so long as you stick with your designated teammate, Lee." Naruto replied.
Neji nodded, and Lee gave him his typical nice guy pose.
"Let's get going." They all followed after Shikamaru and Neji. A little while later, they were standing outside of a large rock. Shikamaru spoke up. "There are no guards. This is the bit that's got me. I'm sure there's a special way to get in, but as far as I can see, we won't be able to."
"Byakugan!" Neji focused his eyes on the rock. He let out a shocked gasp. "Th-there's nothing there but solid rock." All of the Konoha 11 looked at Neji.
"That's impossible! You said you saw it before!" Kiba huffed.
Neji shook his head, and refocused his eyes, this time at the entire surroundings and not just the rock. "Wait a second. I can see into it now. The path is no longer blocked; rather, I can sense the presence of chakra."
Shikamaru thought for a second and came to a conclucion. "It seems when someone enters the hideout, the entire path gets blocked by solid mass. This also means that we're on the wrong side of the entry."
"Then we'll have to make way to the other side. Time is of the essence." Naruto firmly spoke, with a leader-esque tone.
"Naruto's right. We have to get a move on." Shikamaru replied.
Neji hopped on the highest tree and scoured the area. "Found you."
The ninja took off in the direction pointed out by Neji. They finally found the correct entrance and sequenced into position. Two guards stood outside the entrance, half asleep. Sakura pulled out two vials and tossed one to Naruto. They sped up towards opposite directions and stood awaiting the moment to strike. Kiba sent Akamaru towards the two guards, hoping to take away their attention momentarily. The two guards looked at each other with confused expressions. As soon as they were turned, Naruto and Sakura struck the two syringes into their necks, a soundless, painless death. It was befitting of two sound ninja. The two Konoha shinobi took all the garments off their foes and put it on themselves, even replacing their headbands. They used the blood of one of the dead guards to open the door, as instructed by Shikamaru. With a quick nod to the rest of the team, they made their way to the inside of the cavern. Naruto and Sakura tried to be as casual as possible walking through the cave, giving a heads up whenever it was clear for Ino, Shikamaru and Chouji to pass in. The others stayed out and guarded opposite sides, with Neji and Hinata in the middle. They made it to the end of the tunnel, when they arrived in a large room. Two guards stood at either side. Naruto and Sakura stepped in and began to walk towards the next hall, until they were stopped.
"What is your business here? Doku-sama has stated that no one must enter-" He was stopped when a surge of poison claimed him. Naruto looked over to the other guard, to find him dead as well.
"Good work, Sakura-chan. Let's get her and get out of here." The two advanced to the next room and found it guarded well. Naruto signaled for the other four to back down, and entered sage mode. His attacks were quick and relentless, and the ninja were left keeling over. Naruto signaled for his backup to attack and finish them off as he went through to the room that held Haruhi. He found her tied up in a cell unconscious, and he quickly broke the cell door and cut her down. Slinging her over his shoulder, he dashed out.
"Sakura! Ino! Chouji! Shika! We need to get out of here immediately! I'm going to use hirashin to make it to the front. We'll regroup out there." They all began running for the exit. Naruto used hirashin repeatedly until the two were safely out of Otogakure. A few moments later, the entire group was out of there in one piece.
"We're almost good. Neji, Lee, Sakura escort the princess back to The Land of Iron. The rest of you are to return to Konoha. I have business to attend to with the Kazekage. Shika, come with me. Chouji, I promise you that when we are all together in Konoha again, we'll have a huge barbecue feast, my treat." Naruto said, with a wide grin.
"That's great! I can't wait." Chouji said, a huge smile on his face. The rest of the ninja laughed and then gave a quick nod to Naruto, who gave them a thumbs up. They all went in their respective directions.
Things were looking up for Naruto. He shamelessly chuckled to himself, earning a look from Shikamaru.
"What? I'm going to finally accept that not every relationship is perfect, and get Anko back." Naruto replied cheekily.
"You both should just steer clear of alcohol." Shikamaru said with a small grin.