Hey. Here's chapter 4 of Legends of Two Jinchuriki. I don't really have much to say. So, let's get to the story and see how Naruto fares against the first of the Janin.
First though, question. Would you like me to give statistics like the databooks and wiki for characters who grow beyond their canon counterparts? Personally, I don't really want to. I'm afraid that I'll misrepresent their abilities and they can be misleading. For example, according to the statistics, Kakashi was stronger than Kakuzu when they fought... and according to the Bleach databooks, Kenpachi is by far the weakest captain... yeah... So, they don't always accurately portray a character's skill and abilities.
Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.
The sky was painted dark blue and the horizon a bright orange as night encroached upon the land. The sun could no longer be seen, having slipped beneath the mountains.
As dusk settled upon the Elemental Nations, The purple haired member of the Janin leapt from tree to tree, not making so much as a sound as he hunted his quarry. Once he set out, it hadn't taken him long to locate the bodies of the two shinobi they'd sent out. The two had been buried, likely for the benefit of those travelling the area or to attempt to throw further pursuers off the trail, but he'd found them. Considering that the other groups had come back empty handed, this had to be the direction the princess was headed in.
It wouldn't be long now until the last little loose end was all tied up and the land firmly within the grasp of him and his siblings. And soon enough, with his eldest brother's jutsu, they'd be moving on to bigger and better things.
Sensing something up ahead, he concealed his presence completely and quickened his movements until he finally found what it was he'd sensed.
It was a convoy, all of whom were gathered together and seemed to be discussing something. Recalling the orders their subordinates had been given: to eliminate everyone they came across, it was easy to guess that these were the ones who had killed them.
Personally, he thought giving them that order had been stupid. They'd probably gotten killed by that blue clad shinobi among the group. Why bother if they weren't even sure their target was among them? While he was sure he could handle that ninja, they obviously hadn't been able to. They'd taken an unnecessary risk and got killed for their trouble.
Oh, that wasn't to say he cared about sparing lives or the lives of his subordinates. He simply didn't believe in wasting the effort to kill when there was no need, or in wasting resources, such as ones followers.
Unless that resource happened to be money, in which case he would gladly waste it on himself at any opportunity.
Scrutinizing the group, his eyes widened before a grin spread across his face, his gaze homed in on an amethyst eyed male. That person matched the description of the princess. This was probably an attempt to hide her and smuggle her out to get reinforcements beneath their notice.
He weaved a few hand signs and whispered the name of his signature jutsu, "Water Style: Liquid Memory."
Puddles of water formed on the ground around the foliage so that his targets wouldn't notice, and droplets of water levitated into the air, saturated with his chakra and completely under his control.
"Do you really think it'd be a good idea to split up?" Naruto asked Kikunojo, looking up at the man with his head tilted slightly.
"Hm? Rain?" Momiji stated as she noticed the droplets of water floating in the air around them. Finding something odd about it, she looked to the sky.
Her grandmother and a few other members of the convoy noticed the same thing and looked around for any sign of a raincloud, but the sky was mostly clear.
"That's odd, there's barely a cloud in the sky." The old woman in the group commented as she searched the sky.
The two ninja tensed, both instantly noticing there was something wrong with this 'rain'. Specifically, that it wasn't falling, just hovering in the air around them. As the both looked for the source of the anomaly, Momiji noticed the oddity as well. "There's something really weird about this rain."
It became all too clear to all who could see that this was an attack when a moment later, a circle of water rose from the ground around them, its walls rising higher and higher to form a dome and lock them in.
"What's going on?" One of the merchants asked fearfully as they all watched the water continue to rise.
"Damn, looks like they found us. Don't worry, I can handle this!" Naruto said as he drew two kunai, each with an explosive tag, and threw them at opposite ends of the dome. They sunk into the water before exploding, dispersing the water. "Guys, take cover."
'Like I'm going to give them the chance.' With that, the missing nin brought his hand to his left wrist, summoning several kunai and shuriken and throwing them, immediately repeating the actions in rapid succession and sending out a storm of deadly weapons.
Using the water, he redirected the attacks, sending them up into the air around the convoy, surrounding it in the four cardinal directions, before slamming them down on them. However, it was his turn to be shocked by what followed.
Kikunojo grit his teeth and unsheathed his blade, deflecting as many of the projectiles as he could but grunting in pain as a few grazed his sides. However, the peddlers, the disguised princess, and even the carts and objects burst into smoke and vanished at impact.
His danger instincts flaring, the rogue spun and drew one of his tonfa, bringing it up to block just as another clone of the blond slashed a kunai towards him, blocking the weapon.
"Got ya." Said the grinning doppelganger.
With a battle cry, Kikunojo leapt into the air, his sword gripped tightly in both hands.
This was it; he was finally facing down one of the bastards that dared to attack his home. He would make him pay for what he'd done, or die trying.
He leapt as he neared the tree, reaching the branch where the missing nin sat, slashing his blade to cleave him in half, only for him to dodge by jumping to another tree, separating from the blond who jumped back to avoid his allies attack as he pulled out his remaining tonfa.
The missing ninja stood straight and tilted his head to the side with an amused smirk. "Heh, pretty good distraction. You must have a lot of chakra to make a copy of the entire caravan."
"Are you one of those Janin guys?" the Naruto clone questioned as two more replicas joined him at his side, one holding a weapon, as they glared at the missing nin and briefly eyed the droplets of water.
Whoever, this guy was, he seemed to be able to control water like his fellow Jinchuriki, Gaara, could control sand. The clone who'd thought that suppressed a grimace as he recalled how Gaara used it and how difficult it was to fight him and breach his defenses, not to mention the damage it could cause.
If this guy could control water like Gaara could sand… this wasn't going to be easy.
He began thinking of how the man could use the water and what he had done with it already, trying to think of a weakness, as the missing nin answered his question.
"So, you've heard of us?" The rogue asked rhetorically. "I'm called Ruiga. So, I take it the princess is with the real caravan."
"You don't need to worry about that." Kikunojo said resolutely, holding his sword in front of him. "Because here and now, I'm going to make you regret what you've done to my home!"
"Well, you can try." Ruiga responded, slipping into a fighting stance.
"Come on, Kikunojo, I want to wipe that smirk off his face!" One of the clones said as it and its brethren prepared to fight.
"Trust me; I'd like nothing more than the same. Now, witness the flower ninja arts of the Land of Vegetables!" With that, he shot forward, swinging his sword in an arc to decapitate the rogue shinobi. Ruiga leapt backward and Kikunojo followed, bounding off the tree the moment his foot touched down and reaching the water using ninja in the air, bringing his blade down in a diagonal slice.
Ruiga blocked the attack with his tonfa, but Kikunojo pressed the attack, slashing relentlessly as Ruiga blocked each attack. Ruiga managed to divert an attack from above and begun to spin into a kick, only for the flower user to take his left hand off the blade and block with his forearm as they neared the ground.
Ruiga was about to retaliate when the faint sound of a weapon cutting through the air reached his ears. Turning his head, he saw the clones had let loose a volley of kunai at him. He kicked off the sword user, flipping in the air narrowly avoiding the weapons and landing in a handstand, he flipped to his feet and skipped back, as the attacks continued.
Casting out his arm, Kikunojo called out, "Flower Shuriken: Flying Flower, Falling Foliage!"
From the surrounding area, dozens of flowers suddenly rose, hovering in the air, their petals straitening out and seemingly hardening before flying at their target, each as lethal as the weapons the blond was throwing.
It was all for naught however, as a shield of water formed before Ruiga and all the remaining flowers and weapons sunk into it, slowing to a stop before dropping harmlessly to the ground.
"Heh, well, you'd take first prize in a flower arrangement contest, but that jutsu's no match for me." Ruiga boasted with a grin. Just as those words left his mouth, two clones attacked him from both his sides.
The two clones, each holding a kunai in a reverse grip, slashed at the rogue ninja, who blocked both the attacks with his tonfa. There was a brief exchange as they clashed, Ruiga on the defensive against the dual assault, before one of the clones twisted his body and jumped off the ground, lashing out with a spinning kick aimed at his face.
Seeing the man block the attack and the brief opening it caused, the other clone followed suit, but dropped down into a crouch, aiming to sweep the missing nin's legs out from under him.
The tactic worked and Ruiga went down, landing on his back. Looking up, he saw another clone coming down on his prone form, his leg raised in a falling axe kick.
The water user brought his arms up in a cross guard, barely managing to block the axe kick which would have probably fractured a few ribs.
He pushed the clone back and rolled away, kicking off the ground and spinning through the air to land on his feet, but the moment he did he saw Kikunojo coming at him, once more casting out his arm.
"Flower Ninja Art: Mirror Flower Water Move!" A stream of petals flowed from his hand towards the missing nin, and he suddenly found the forest around him darkening even further, now appearing to be in the dead of a moonless night as the figures of his adversaries vanished from sight.
He immediately recognized the technique as genjutsu, but didn't have time to do anything about it. Before he could release the technique, he felt it done for him as pain lanced out from two points on his sides and his left shoulder. He let out a grunt of pain as the illusion shattered and found the clones had thrown weapons at him the moment he'd fallen under the flower user's spell.
Blood stained his clothing as he brushed his arm across his body, knocking the weapons onto the ground.
Channeling as much chakra into his legs as he could, Naruto launched himself forward, with his kunai held out in front of him, intent on stabbing his opponent through the stomach.
"Bastards." Ruiga snarled, angered over having been injured by such opponents, and slammed his right hand on the ground. "How about this?"
Masses of water shot out of the ground, snaking around him and moving towards his opponents at great speeds.
The clone immediately planted its feet on the ground, using its chakra to slow itself as quickly as possible before jumping back to that it wasn't caught in the attack. The remaining clones quickly pulled out exploding kunai and threw them at the masses of water.
The weapons detonated within them, blowing them apart into drops of water which rained down on the battlefield.
Seeing that all the water on the ground was inanimate, Kikunojo cast another seal-less hidden technique of his homeland.
"Flower Ninja Art: Release Myriad of Flowers!"
Once more well over a dozen flowers rained down on the enemy shinobi, but these exploded the moment they came in contact with the ground, obscuring the missing ninja in a cloud of smoke.
The smoke cleared to reveal the Ruiga had once again created a shield of water, this time around his entire body, to block all damage from the attack.
"Pretty good." Ruiga commented, grinning despite his wounds. Just a little more and…
His eyes darted as he heard something hit the water shield behind him. It was another kunai with an explosive seal attached to it. He jumped away just before the bomb exploded, destroying his shield of water.
Kikunojo charged at him, slashing at him with his blade. Ruiga leapt back to dodge and raised both his tonfa to block a powerful overhead attack.
This began a fierce exchange of swordplay and taijutsu, Kikunojo trying to cut into something vital with every attack while Ruiga blocked each strike with his tonfa and countered with kicks.
Ruiga ducked underneath a slash and brought his hands together in a seal similar to the tiger seal and the water covering the ground began to surge. Kikunojo leapt backwards as a small geyser erupted where he'd been standing just a moment earlier, repeating the action as the water continued to shoot out of the ground everywhere he stepped until finally, he jumped backwards, landing on the branch of a tree and glaring down at his adversary.
The flower user was growing frustrated, though he clamped down on the emotion and kept his cool. He'd never expected them to posses such powerful jutsu. All of his techniques were ineffective against the missing-nin's abilities.
Ruiga turned around, facing away from his as the three shadow clones attacked him from behind. As one of the clones leapt into the air and reared back his hand to punch him in the face, the missing nin countered with a kick, hitting the duplicate in the center of his chest and destroying it.
Seeing the missing nin was distracted, Kikunojo once again summoned flowers into the air, using his chakra to harden them before launching them at their opponent as shuriken, this time, he immediately followed after them, launching himself into the fray and using them as a cover.
Unfortunately, the ploy didn't work. The missing nin disengaged from the clones just long enough to form an orb of water in the air, in between him and the flowers turned shuriken. Once more they were stopped dead in their tracks before the orb of water collapsed and fell to the ground.
Once more, he locked weapons with the missing nin, who was put completely on the defensive as he was attacked on both sides by the two clones and the flower user.
As the fight dragged on, the amount of droplets of water in the air continued to increase and the ground grew more soaked. Now, it was covered with puddles as far as the eye could see, and with every step they made the earth would squelch beneath their feet, the dirt turned completely into mud.
Ruiga grit his teeth as he blocked a slash from Kikunojo with both his arms, ignoring the slight pain from his injured shoulder as his feet digging into the moist earth. He quickly moved his arm to block another attack from one of the clones only for it to turn out to be a faint. The moment he clocked, the clone immediately twisted its body and continued lashed out with a kick, his lower body didn't lose momentum as the attack neared the youngest of the Janin.
The rogue ninja felt the wind get knocked out of him as the kick hit him right in the solar plexus, sending him back and into the trunk of a tree, grunting at the impact and coughing as he attempted to get his breathing under control.
Kikunojo leapt forward the moment that the rogue ninja's back hit the tree, holding his sword parallel to the ground as he rapidly closed the distance. The rogue ninja opened his eyes just in time to see him swing his blade. The attack struck true, cleaving his head from his body.
… Or so it seemed. The corpse was immediately replaced with a log, revealing that the rogue had used the substitution jutsu at the last moment.
Letting out a brief sound of irritation, he turned as the purple haired shinobi stepped out from behind a tree, clapping in a sarcastic manner while giving them a condescending grin.
"I really have to hand it to you, you're a lot more skilled than you look, but this has gone on long enough." Ruiga said as he took a few steps forward. "Hate to break it to you, but the game's over."
"Oh yeah? How do you figure that?" One of the Naruto clones bit back as it glared at the man. "Cause from where I'm standing, you haven't even managed to touch us."
"You two really don't get it, do you?" Ruiga asked rhetorically as he shook his head. Kikunojo and Naruto's clones were on edge, wondering what their opponent was planning. "In case you haven't noticed, my jutsu lets me control all the water in the area as if it were an extension of my own body, and I can pull as much as I need from the earth and the plants around us. So, what do you think I've been doing this whole time?"
Kikunojo's eyes narrowed before they widened in horrified realization. "You've been stalling. You've just been holding us off as you saturated the area with water…"
"… So that I could finish you off in one move." Ruiga finished for him with a sadistic smirk as the clones took on the same expression as the flower user. He once more made a hand sign, focusing his chakra.
All at once, all the water on the ground came to life. The ninja of the Land of Vegetables and the blond clones attempted to move, but the water had encased their feet and prevented them from escaping. All they could do was watch as the water continued to rise until it consumed them entirely, leaving them trapped as the mass of liquid formed a massive orb that covered the forest's canopy.
The trapped shinobi tried to move, but they found the water so much… heavier than normal. Try as they might, they couldn't even more to defend themselves.
"Now, say goodbye." Ruiga bit his finger and made the hand sign for the summoning jutsu before placing his hand on the prison of water. A seal appeared on the surface of the water before a large smoke burst out underwater.
The trapped ninja's expressions became masks of terror as the smoke cleared to reveal a huge school of piranha, which promptly sped towards them. The moment one bit into a clone, it would simply burst into smoke. Kikunojo, however, was not a clone. He let out a muted scream of agony as the fish swarmed him and bit into every area of his body, tearing through is cloths and ripping out chunks of his flesh with each attack.
The last clone was soon destroyed; its final act was to helplessly bear witness to the figure of Kikunojo being obscured in a cloud of red as he was torn apart.
Naruto took in a sharp intake of air as his face became a mask of horror, his breathing coming in brief, shuddering gasps as the memories of his clone reached him, the image of the Kikunojo being torn apart consuming his thoughts.
That was the first time… the first time he'd ever actually seen an ally, someone he'd fought alongside of, even if it was through a clone and not personally, die, and in such a gruesome manner, no less. His face went slack, his eyes wide and blank while his mouth was left agape as his mind numbed from the horror of what his clone had witnessed.
While he wasn't exactly a friend, Kikunojo had been a good person. Naruto could tell how absolutely loyal to his home and the princess he was, and that he'd hated to use the peddlers as they had. He was someone he'd have liked to call a comrade.
And now he was dead. It had been his idea to send him to help with the decoys. This was his mission. If he and his clones had been stronger… if his clones had fought harder, was there a chance that he could have survived? Was his death his fault? Had he been careless? Was there anything else he could have done? These were just a few of the questions swirling around in his mind as he processed that an ally had died on his watch. Amidst the pain from losing an ally right before his eyes, was the guilt of failure as he couldn't help but feel he was responsible.
He, Yurinojo and Haruna were resting around a fire, hidden in the forest quite a distance away from the path. The rest of the caravan had long since moved on and gotten to safety. While the shinobi could keep going, Haruna had needed to stop and rest. They had been considering stopping there for the night and setting up camp when Naruto abruptly froze.
Haruna now had her hat removed, revealing she had long hair that trailed about half way down her back, while Yurinojo now wore the same ninja clothing Kikunojo had.
Frowning at the boy's sudden shift in demeanor, Yurinojo asked, "Naruto, is something wrong?"
"My clones…" Naruto began, his expression unchanging. "Kikunojo was…"
Both of those gathered around the campfire's expressions shifted to shock for a moment before Yurinojo's gaze fell to the fire, his eyes narrowing as his fist trembled from the grief. His fellow ninja had been a childhood friend. "Kikunojo…"
Haruna's face hardened however, not a trace of sympathy or sorrow over the loss of her subordinate. "Do you see now? I told you we shouldn't have sent away those merchants. If we hadn't stayed behind as a distraction, we could hide in the next village and be only half a day away from the next major town."
Naruto was snapped out of his despair by another negative emotion: anger. He shot up and glared down at the princess. "Will you shut up about that? Listen here, princess. That guy sacrificed just his life for you, and all you care about is that we should have kept more people around to sacrifice?"
"Hmph." Haruna responded. "Kikunojo was only doing what was required of him."
"How can you say that?" Naruto bit back, clenching his hand.
"Because it's true. It was his duty to lay down his life for me and that's exactly what he did." Haruna responded with her usual harsh stare. "And now, all I have to protect me and the future of the Land of Vegetables is the two of you."
"You..!"
"Naruto, please." Yurinojo interrupted him, drawing the blonds' attention away from the cold noble. Turning to his princess, Yurinojo spoke in a serious tone, "Lady Haruna. We can't go to the town. If we do, the merchants, or perhaps even the village itself could be attacked and you know it would buy us little if any time." The last part was largely for her benefit. He didn't want to think about an entire town potentially being destroyed just to cover their escape.
"And being out here with no one to protect me but the two of you is preferable?"
"Please trust me, Lady Haruna. I will protect you with my life."
"Shut up, Yurinojo! Kikunojo was far stronger than you. If he couldn't defeat this enemy, what makes you think you can?" Before he could respond, she shot up. "I'm going to get some water." Was all she said before walking off past the tree line.
The Uzumaki heir could only glare after her, furious at her cold and uncaring reaction to her subordinate's loss. "Man, she gets on my nerves," He turned to Yurinojo and pointed after her. "Hey, she's so important to your village because she's next in line for the throne, right? Not that I'm thinking about leaving or letting these Janin assholes control the country, but what's going to happen to your land if someone like her takes charge?"
"… She wasn't always like that." Yurinojo replied with a sigh, bringing his hand to his face. After a moment, he stared into the fire, his expression melancholic as he thought of the peaceful days gone by. "When she was young, she, Kikunojo and I were quite close. Despite the fact that she was of noble blood, she treated everyone kindly and counted us among her closest friends. She was a cheerful girl with a smile that warmed the hearts of all who would meet her and Kikunojo and I swore we'd become strong ninja to protect her."
Naruto frowned as he tried to imagine Haruna the way she was being described. What could have happened to turn the child Yurinojo was talking about into her? "What happened?"
Closing his eyes, Yurinojo replied, "The peace in the Land of Vegetables is very fragile. We can hardly defend ourselves against the more powerful nations. In order to protect our land and her lineage, she was sent away to serve as a political hostage by her father. It's a common practice for small nations in troubled times like these. She begged him not to send her away from her family, but he didn't have a choice. She felt that he'd betrayed her." Opening his eyes, his gaze rose to the sky as he recalled the day she'd returned. They'd all been so happy to have her back… but on that day, there had been no warmth in her expression. She'd been cold, unfeeling. "When she returned, she'd could no longer trust anyone. She pushed everyone away, even her father, feeling that to let anyone into her heart even slightly would just open herself up to being betrayed. Nothing her father tried to make up for allowing her to be used as leverage could change her. After all, she felt she couldn't even trust her family, and if you can't trust her family, then who can you?"
The blond Uzumaki frowned as he sat down, looking to his feet with a pensive expression. While he thought it was stupid to just push everyone away, even those who weren't at fault and cared for you, at least now he knew the reason for the way she acted. Thinking about it, he had a hard time imagining what that must have been like, to be betrayed by her own father and sent away from her home, away from everyone she ever knew, to spend years in a foreign land, and who knows how she was treated?
After a moment, Naruto spoke up, looking up at Yurinojo with a troubled expression. "I'm sorry about Kikunojo."
Yurinojo shook his head. "Don't be, it wasn't your fault."
The young Jinchuriki's brow furrowed at that. "But… it was my idea that got him killed. If I'd been stronger, then maybe my clones could have… or maybe I shouldn't have sent him out at all. If I'd just left the clones to fight that guy then…"
Yurinojo, remembering his days as a genin, guessed what was wrong and asked, "This is the first time you've actually seen someone who fought alongside you die, isn't it?" Getting no response and figuring he'd hit the nail on the head, he continued. "Listen, Naruto. This really wasn't your fault. What do you think would have happened if your clone hadn't found Kikunojo when he went off to face our enemy? If he lost with your clones by his side, how would he have fared on his own?" Seeing the blonds' expression relax a little, he nodded. "Kikunojo was determined to face the enemy that ravaged our home, and you took this mission under false pretense. It's beyond what a genin should have to go on, let alone lead or attempt without the support of a team and his sensei. You did all you could do. Besides, it's not uncommon that shinobi die in the field. Most never live to see old age, many don't even make it to adulthood."
Naruto's expression looked slightly disgusted. "So you're telling me I'll be able handle it better some day?"
Yurinojo shook his head, "In a way. It'll never get easier to deal with, but yes you'll eventually come to handle the loss of your comrades better. You have to. Because in this world we live in, to you or your enemies, there are always sacrifices." He let his words sink in for a moment before saying, "If we fail now, his sacrifice will have been for nothing. We need to focus on what Kikunojo left for us. What kind of abilities does this enemy have?"
After a moment of silence, Naruto answered, still looking pensively into the flames. "His name's Ruiga and he's one of the leaders. He fights with a pair of tonfa and uses a jutsu that lets him pull water from the plants and the ground and control it like an extension of himself. He uses it as both a weapon and a shield and he summons piranha."
Yurinojo frowned as he thought on those abilities. He could start to see how they lost. Fighting an opponent with such powers wouldn't be easy. "Does he need to hold hand signs or anything to maintain control of the water?"
The blue eyed teen shook his head. "No… that just seems to make it faster."
The ninja of the Land of Vegetables closed his eyes. "In that case, we should move north a ways. There's rocky terrain with little, if any water. He may not attack us there, and if he does he'll be a severe disadvantage."
Naruto's seemed to consider this before nodding. That was the best way he could think of. He tried to think of his fight with Gaara for inspiration, but didn't come up with much.
Gaara had sacrificed most of his sand's ability to defend and attack for power by the time they fought, so there wasn't much inspiration to be taken from that battle. Sasuke had pierced Gaara's defense with his Chidori… the Rasengan might work, but he doubted he would get more than one shot with that, so he'd have to make it count.
There was the summoning jutsu… but he didn't really know that much about them or their abilities, and calling out Gamabunta would draw a lot of attention. Not something they wanted right now.
There was also the Kyuubi's chakra… but he really didn't want to rely on that.
Suddenly, Naruto snapped his fingers with a wide grin.
"Did you think of another way to fight our enemy?"
Naruto seemed surprised before rubbing the back of his head and smiling sheepishly. "Oh sorry, I've just had the strangest sense of déjà vu for the longest time and I just realized where it was coming from."
Yurinojo arched an eyebrow, wondering how he could have possibly experienced anything like this before. "Oh yeah? Where?"
With a smile, Naruto began regaling the events of his mission to the Land of Snow.
The sky was a vibrant purple as the new day approached. As creatures began to stir throughout the forest, so did Ruiga, his amber eyes cracking open in the calmness of the early morning as he rested on a branch against the trunk of a tree. One could see bandages through the wholes in his shirt where he'd been hit by shuriken the previous day.
Shaking his head to clear it of any lingering weariness, he sat up. His injuries from the previous day had required that he rest for the remainder of the night, but now he felt ready to finish the hunt.
Standing up and stretching briefly, he vanished in a burst of speed, more than ready to bring an end to the drawn out hunt.
Not too long after that, Naruto and his companions began to stir as the songs of birds began to echo through the forest. Naruto sat up in his tent, rubbing a sleepy tear out of his left eye before yawning and rising to his feet. Yurinojo had had the last watch of the night and was looking to the sky, knowing it was time to put their plan into action.
Naruto unzipped his tent and stepped out into the still dim light, tying his forehead protector around his head with a determined look as he stared in the direction the sun would shortly rise in.
Both he and Yurinojo were thinking about their upcoming battle with Ruiga, who they were thankful hadn't shown up during the night. They were going to make him pay for what he did to Kikunojo.
Meanwhile, Princess Haruna opened her amethyst orbs and stared at the roof of her tent, not moving as she thought of her predicament and somewhat thankful she hadn't been killed in her sleep. At this point, she felt she'd be better off on her own that with her noble protectors, but, that was life.
"You ready?" Naruto asked Yurinojo, who nodded in response. Both knew that, provided he hadn't gone for reinforcements, Ruiga would soon attack. It was time to prepare.
As the sun crested the horizon, Naruto, Haruna and Yurinojo walked through the woods, with princess at the center of their group as the two ninja scrutinized the surrounding area.
Both tensed as they sensed a presence nearby, one that didn't try too hard to hide itself this time.
Only a few seconds later, water rose from the ground in droplets all around them, hovering in the air, waiting for the rogue ninja hunting them give a command.
Naruto took out a kunai while Yurinojo drew his blade. Yurinojo turned around so that each shinobi looked in one direction, both holding their weapon at the ready while the princess seemed ready to take the 'flight' in the fight or flight response.
A single bead of sweat rolled down Yurinojo's face as he remembered once again that he was about to face someone strong enough to defeat his best friend and rival, whom he'd never been able to defeat no matter how often they'd sparred.
But it didn't matter. He had to do this, for the princess.
"Princess Haruna." Yurinojo began. "Get ready to run as soon as the enemy shows himself."
"Do you really think I'm going to let you run away?" The moment those words echoed through the area, puddle rose from beneath their feet.
Yurinojo grabbed Haruna as he and Naruto leapt away just in time to escape the orb of water that formed where they had stood just a moment before. The orbs hovered in the air for a moment before speeding through the air at them. Once again the pair leapt to the side to evade and the orbs slammed into the ground with enough force to make dents in the earth.
Yurinojo narrowed his eyes as he searched through the surrounding area for any trace of the water user before, finally, seeing a brief glimpse of his purple hair through the foliage. Seeing their hidden enemy, he cast out his arm.
"There you are! Flower Shuriken: Flying Flower, Falling Foliage!" Though there were a few less flowers than when the technique was used by Kikunojo, nevertheless a little less than a dozen flowers turned shuriken flew into the air and the shot towards their target. Ruiga leapt out of the tree just before the weapons cut through the leaves he'd hidden himself in.
The moment he landed, two unassuming rocks at his side burst into smoke, revealing a pair of clones which attacked him from both sides. Ruiga drew his tonfa and blocked both, lashing out with a kick to destroy one before leaping back to avoid a retaliatory slash from the remaining one.
"Huh. Pretty clever trick, but is making clones your only skill?" Ruiga asked as he looked past the clone at the blond he assumed was the real one. "Somehow, I doubt that that's the real princess."
Both Naruto and Haruna smirked before the princess burst into smoke, revealing another clone which pulled down its eyelid and stuck its tongue out at him. "Nope, got you again, sucker!"
"Heh. Funny." The missing nin said dryly, not seeming the least bit irritated. "You realize that after I take care of you two, there's not going to be anyone to stand between me and the princess, right?"
"That won't be an issue, because we're going to avenge Kikunojo, right here and now." Yurinojo spoke with determination, raising his blade and slipping into a combat stance.
"We'll see about that." Ruiga responded, summoning more water, this time creating an orb directly in front of him. Once the orb was fully formed, he bit his thumb and brought weaved a few hand signs before placing his palm on the sphere. "Summoning Jutsu!"
A school of piranha appeared with the orb which sped towards the group, splitting into four orbs, each filled with the deadly fish, and coming at them from different directions.
Seeing this, the pair ran to escape the deadly creatures. Ruiga grinned.
"Think you can get away?" Ruiga asked as he gave chase, making a point to keep close to his piranha. Throwing out his hand towards them, he commanded one of the water orbs to speed up, rapidly closing the distance between itself and his quarry.
Naruto and Yurinojo leapt into the air just in time to avoid the water orb, which held together as it slammed into the ground, and took to the trees while Ruiga followed them on the ground.
Naruto turned in mid air and reached into his pouch, taking out eight shuriken and hurled them at Ruiga, but once again a shield of water manifested in the air, blocking the weapons before allowing them at fall to the ground as Ruiga continued the chase without breaking stride.
Eventually, they reached the edge of the forest. In a stark contrast the dense woodland, just beyond its border laid rocky, mountainous terrain. The young Uzumaki and the ninja from the Land of Vegetables jumped from the trees and landed on the stony ground and continued to run, with Ruiga and his piranha not too far behind.
"How long do you two plan on running?" Ruiga taunted as he chased after them.
Naruto couldn't help but grin. Their plan was working. Hopefully, there wouldn't be enough water for him to use that jutsu here. Without it, they shouldn't have any problems taking him down.
Yurinojo turned and threw a series of shuriken. The only problem with their strategy: without fertile soil or flowers nearby, all but his basic jutsu would be rendered useless.
Ruiga's eyes widened, seeming to realize that there was no water here for him to use for his jutsu. He stopped and held his tonfa before him, spinning them rapidly to deflect the weapons.
Hearing something behind him, Ruiga turned to see ten boulders in the area had transformed into shadow clones, all of which came at him with fists raised or weapons drawn.
"Not so tough without your little waterworks, are you?" One of the clones shouted as they neared him. As Ruiga raised his arms to defend himself, the real Naruto drew four kunai, each equipped with an explosive note, and threw them at the orbs of water holding the piranha.
As the first clone's kunai collided with Ruiga's tonfa, four explosions went off, dispersing the orbs of water that the purple haired rogue controlled and sending them to the ground. Ruiga's deadly summons were left flopping on the ground harmlessly, struggling to take in oxygen outside the water, before dismissing themselves and vanishing in clouds of smoke.
"Damn it!" Ruiga snarled as he was pushed back by the combined assault of three different clones, skillfully blocking their every strike. One clone attempted to punch him, only for him to brush the attack aside and bring his knee up to its stomach, destroying it instantly.
Before he could continue his counter attack however, he had to leap to safety as Yurinojo came from behind, swinging his sword in an arc to bifurcate the missing nin.
Ruiga flipped over the clones and landed in a crouch, though he was given no time to rest as they continued their assault. With a quick jab, he destroyed one of the clones, only to find it was a faint and there was another clone hiding behind it, its fist reared back and poised to strike.
Fortunately, this one was attacking with its fist, but nevertheless it had packed its punch with a lot of chakra, enough so that it was actually visible in blue wisps. The clone's fist collided with his gut, sending him flying back and into a rock, painful even though the hard, unforgiving surface was left undamaged. He let out a grunt of pain at the impact and slid down to the ground, only to take to the air again a moment before he would have been riddled with kunai.
Yurinojo leapt into the air after him and raised his sword above his head. Ruiga used both arms to block the powerful downward slash. The shinobi from the Land of Vegetables followed up the attack with rapid slashes from the sides, but Ruiga blocked everyone before skipping back the moment they touched down.
The clones charged past Yurinojo, all letting out battle cries as they prepared to continue the attack when Ruiga smirked.
Before they could do anything, Ruiga quickly sheathed his tonfa and pulled out a pair of scrolls and unrolled them in one quick motion. He let them go and made a hand sign before they could fall to the ground. A simple technique to unseal the generic sealing jutsu which pretty much all ninja knew how to use.
The thing about those seals though, they can hold large quantities of just about anything.
Including water.
Huge geysers of water burst forth from the scrolls as more water spilled out around them and covered the ground. Six of the remaining clones were caught in the deluge and destroyed by the force of the liquid.
"Did you think I couldn't see what you were planning?" Ruiga asked tauntingly. "Since last night, you've been moving closer and closer to this waterless terrain. Did you really think I wouldn't come prepared?"
Naruto and Yurinojo leapt back, but as they did, Ruiga rapidly made hand signs for his signature technique. "Water Style: Liquid Memory!"
The water suddenly came to life while Naruto and Yurinojo were still in the air, orbs of it flying at the pair from all directions while bursts of it drove the remaining clones into the ground. The blue eyed blond managed to escape by quickly creating a shadow clone and having it toss him to Yurinojo, trying to get him out of the way, only for a bullet of water to hit him square in the chest and send him flying before skidding across the rough ground to a stop.
"Guess I'll finish you off first." Ruiga commented as he summoned another orb of water before him before biting his thumb once again. "Summoning Jutsu!"
This time, a much larger burst of smoke erupted from within the water. Naruto managed to sit up just in time for he and Yurinojo to look in horror at what the missing nin had summoned this time.
Rather than a school of piranha, this time Ruiga had called forth a shark. The bubble containing the dangerous animal shot forward towards the trapped shinobi.
"Shit!" Naruto snarled as he leapt to his feet and launched himself at his trapped comrade, throwing another exploding kunai at the shark, only for it to be blocked by another bubble that formed in its path.
Water rose from into the air and fired at the Jinchuriki like bullets once more. While he dodged the attacks, he was successfully delayed until the shark reached Yurinojo.
The shinobi gripped the sharks by its nose and beneath its mouth as it reached him, struggling to keep it away, but he could feel it was a loosing battle. Each second, his straining muscles failed him a little more and the shark's deadly jaws drew closer.
Knowing his end was nigh, he did the only thing his could, turning to Naruto just as he managed to evade the last of the water bullets and rushed to help him. "Naruto! Please, protect the princess!"
Famous last words, thinking of his childhood friend and master even at the end. His strength failed him and the shark's jaws reached his body. He could only cry out in pain as it bit into his body just under his left arm.
"NO!" Naruto cried as he finally reached his trapped companion, drawing back his right hand and opening his palm. The shark, identifying the fool as a threat, unlike the now unmoving ninja in its jaw, disengaged and turned to Naruto.
However, in Naruto's right hand formed an orb of pure chakra. The sight of this caused the grin to drop from Ruiga's face, replaced by a look of shock.
"What?"
"Rasengan!" Naruto slammed the Rasengan through the bubble of water and into the shark's nose. The orb seemed to dig into the creature without breaking its skin before it burst, sending it flying out of the water orb. It slammed into the ground and instantly poofed away, returning from whence it came.
Ruiga was so shocked by what he'd just seen that the orbs of water collapsed to the ground. Naruto grabbed the falling ninja of the Land of Vegetables and landed with him in his arms.
"Yurinojo! Hey, talk to me! Yurinojo." No response. It was then Naruto noticed how his eyes stared up at the sky lifelessly, his skin already losing color due to the massive blood loss. The shark's teeth had ripped right through his heart, killing him in that one move. "… Yurinojo?"
"Heh, well, I gotta hand it to you kid, that was a pretty impressive jutsu. Looks like there's more to you than meets the eye." Ruiga commented, walking forward with a smirk on his face. When the blond didn't respond, choosing instead to sit there looking blankly at his falling comrade, he continued, "Too bad. You almost made it in time to save him. Not that it'll matter in the end."
Naruto remained unmoving. His mind once again numbed by horror and guilt as he couldn't help but feel that he'd failed. This time, however, with his newest friend's killer so close, there was another negative emotion welling up inside him.
Hatred. Hate for the man who killed another ally, who ravaged an entire country out of greed, who would certainly kill him if he didn't make a move.
Ruiga stopped, forming another orb of water before him and once more using the summoning technique. Another shark appeared. "It's been fun, but now the game's over."
Casting out his arm, the shark shot forward towards the unmoving boy. Ruiga's grin widened as he thought about how all that was left now was to find the princess, then he could return to his new castle and live the high life with his siblings.
This thought was dashed when, in an instant, the sound of an impact was heard and the shark was sent flying out of the water, crashing into the ground and poofing away like the first one. Standing there, with his hair shadowing his eyes was the blond. His hand was cast to the side, as if he'd simply brushed the marine animal aside as one would a fly.
"W- what the hell?"
The blond growled as a visible aura of vile, red chakra began to radiate from his body as he trembled from barely restrained rage. Finally he raised his head and let out a furious roar and Ruiga was struck by the change in the blond.
The whisker like marks on his cheeks had thickened, considerably, his canines had elongated into fangs and his hands. His ocean blue eyes had turned red like the demonic chakra that swirled around him, his irises had shrunken and his pupils had become vertical slits like a snake's.
Or a fox's.
The missing nin took a step backwards, but before he could question what happened, what this malevolent chakra he was feeling was or even move to defend himself, Naruto had vanished.
Suddenly, blood erupted from his mouth and he bent forward, his gaze falling downward to see that the blond had buried his fist into his gut.
Strangely, he felt no pain… for about a moment, then it erupted from his stomach, but with all the air knocked out of him he couldn't voice it before he was launched backwards by a kick. He flew backwards, slamming into and through a rock. He bounded off its surface and into the air before bouncing off the ground four times before he slowed to a stop on his stomach.
Blood trailed down from his forehead and he raised himself up on his hand and elbow as he coughed up a little more of the crimson liquid. He turned his amber orbs towards the blond fearfully.
What was he? He'd never seen or heard of anything like this before. He needed to get away before…
Too late, the blond charged forward, moving so fast a cloud of dust followed in his wake. Ruiga jumped back to his feet and moved to dodge, only for the blond to change direction and punch him in his jaw. He could feel the bone dislocating before he was once again sent flying, slamming into a large boulder hard enough to create a deep crevice.
He opened his eyes just in time to see the blond charge forward, raking his claw against his claw across the ground and carving a path as he rapidly approached the downed shinobi.
The moment he reached him, he slashed his hand and his sharp claws raked across the missing nin's chest, sending out a spray of blood along its path. Ruiga's eyes widened in shock from the pain as he took in a sharp gasp of air. The claw of Naruto's middle finger had scraped across his heart. It only took a few moments for him to bleed out.
Naruto stood there, breathing heavily as he stared at the missing nin as the life left his eyes. In a few moments, he seemed to calm down, his features shifting back to normal with his eyes being the last thing to change. The moment his blue eyes returned, his face became a mask of shock and he took a few, shaky steps back. He looked down at his blood covered hand, his breathing becoming shuddering gasps, before he retched, covering his mouth with his clean hand, before falling to his knees and finding his breakfast spilling across the ground.
He couldn't believe he had just killed someone, even if they were a missing ninja. He had seen his fair share of death, and he had fought many villains since he'd become a genin. Zabuza, Gaara, Doto, and Suien just to name a few. But in all that time and with all those battles, Naruto had never actually killed any of them.
Hurt? Yes, definitely. A Rasengan to the gut hurts no matter if you're wearing chakra armor or souped up on hero's water. But killed? Never. Not once since he had become a genin had he killed anyone.
Until now at least.
He felt… sullied. And the way he'd done it… were the people of Konoha right about him? Was he just a vessel for the Kyuubi? A monster?
He remained in his kneeling position as he was consumed by the horror of everything that had happened just moments before.
Well, that's the end of chapter 4, I hope you enjoyed it. Too bad about Kikunojo and Yurinojo... I bet a lot of you who read my previous stories expected both of them to make it through, huh?
As always, please review.