11 weeks later, Anbu black site, Southern Hot Water Country, 2002Hrs:
Chirp…chirp….chirp…chirp chirp chirp chirp "I got it. I got it!" Sasuke yelled in triumph as more and more lightning chakra encased his hand forming a slightly smaller version of the Chidori, a jutsu Kakashi had him observe with his Sharingan after clearing the Uchiha prodigy for Anbu training. If he had had more free time during his 10 week stay at the Pit he probably could have mastered the technique before now but the second he, Naruto and Ami reached the secret training center they were thrown in with 27 Anbu recruits and put through the course's red phase.
Red phase consisted of: Anbu physical conditioning i.e. speed drills, strength and endurance training, broad spectrum weapons familiarization/training. Taijutsu training (during which he got his ass handed to him by an Interceptor Fist using, turtle masked, Anbu who helped him correct several bad habits he'd developed from years of practicing the martial art with nothing but tattered scrolls and fading memories of his brother and father's spars to guide him).Basic Fūinjutsu training, (although Sasuke couldn't begin to tell you what was 'Basic' about that complicated shit) infiltration/espionage classes and hundreds of hours of stealth training. After all that the majority of the new team 7's scarce free time was dedicated to teamwork building/familiarization exercises.
Once Red phase was over Team 7 was introduced to a brown haired, happuri forehead protector wearing Jonin named Yamato and informed that the man would be acting as their team leader as well as overseeing the next level of their training. Yamato then lead them to an old, Uzumaki hideout located on the southern coast of Hot Water Country which, before the fall of Uzushiogakure, belonged to the Land of Whirlpools. The hideout was an underground complex that could only be entered via underwater cave that was half the size of leaf's ninja academy consisting of two large, high ceiling training rooms, three small sleeping areas, two restrooms, a small kitchen and a lower level that was protected by a complex seal that none of Konoha's seal masters could unlock. Apparently the hideout was commissioned to become a black site by Kushina Uzumaki during her time as an Anbu commander despite the fact that even she couldn't access its lower level.
Upon entering the hideout Team 7 was immediately greeted by Yamato's teaching assistants Machi Gai and Uroka Kurama who, while cleared to train, couldn't return to active duty for another two months. At the beginning of everyday of the week that followed Yamato would pick a member of Team 7 to go top side to the beach for Taijutsu training with Machi while sending another member to the smaller of the training rooms with Uroka for Genjutsu training and he'd train the final member in Ninjutsu. This one on one training would be conducted from 0600 to 1530 followed by a half hour break, three hours of team training, two hours of free time and then lights out.
Sasuke had used nearly every second of this this week's free time on the Chidori and after six days he'd finally been able to form a stable one. Looking up Sasuke spotted a wooden training dummy propped up against the wall to his left and activated his bloodline. After taking a deep breath he took off in a sprint closing the 20 foot distance in seconds and stabbing a lightning covered knife hand through not only the dummy but the concrete wall behind it as well. As he pulled his arm free he looked at his hand and saw several small, barley bleeding scratches. After further inspection he couldn't find anything wrong with it besides a slight numbness but decided to seek out Ami anyway.
He found her and Naruto in the teams sleeping area Ami sitting on the floor dipping darts for her Injection Shot Sniper in a violet colored solution while Naruto sat on his bunk with a paint brush in his hand and a large blank scroll unrolled across his lap. "How's the Calligraphy coming along dobe?"
Frowning, an annoyed sounding Naruto answered without out looking up or stopping his careful strokes "Slowly".
"Sasuke-san what happened to your hand?" Ami asked pushing her equipment aside and motioning for him to sit in front of her on the floor.
"I managed to form a stable Chidori but it looks like I still have a ways to go as far as mastering the technique" Sasuke said as he sat down and Ami started a diagnostic jutsu on his hand.
"Well it would appear that you're close. The scratches are mostly superficial but there is some minor nerve damage, have you been training with the Chidori all week?" Ami asked as she did what she could to heal the damage.
"Hai, every day, this is the first time the numbness has lasted longer than a minute or so though"
Ami nodded and finished her medical jutsu before reaching into her med pouch, withdrawing a small ointment container and some bandages. "I've closed the cuts and done what a can but healing nerve damage is complicated and still beyond my level of skill. This ointment will keep the cuts from getting infected as well as draw a small amount of your chakra to your hand and help speed up your recovery. The numbness your feeling will probably be gone when you wake up tomorrow but the nerve damage will take at least 3 or 4 days to heal so no Chidori training until then. Understood?" Ami asked as she finished applying the ointment and wrapping up his hand.
"Doctor's orders?" Sasuke asked with a slightly flirtatious smirk that would've made most of the girls their age in Konoha swoon.
"I am a level two combat-nin not a doctor however you may think of it that way if you wish. Now if you will excuse me I must go find Yamato-sensei and inform him of your condition" Ami said as she left the room, Sasuke's attempt at flirtation going right over her head.
"And the Teme strikes out again!" Naruto chuckled now lifted out of his funk.
"I don't get it she was all over me back in the academy. Didn't Kichida say that she'd only under gone the same amount of emotional conditioning as you?"
"Yeah but I've been hanging out with you and Ino, Kami rest her, for years while Ami's fresh out of Root. Add that to the fact she had some kind of mental break since the academy and romance is probably pretty low on her list of priorities" Naruto said while putting up his writing supplies. Upon seeing Sasuke's trademark 'brooding face' Naruto made a realization. "Wait, you're not just trying to get an emotional response from her like you said, you like her don't you?"
"No!" Sasuke denied lying through his teeth. Sasuke knew that he was attracted to the girl. After years of having to deal with gushing fan girls he couldn't help but find Ami's calm, if somewhat stoic, demeanor refreshing. The fact that she was a skilled kunoichi and Kichida's modifications giving her an exotic appearance that only added to her natural beauty didn't hurt either.
Naruto grinned about to indulge in the rare opportunity to truly make fun of his best friend when Ami jogged back into the room. "Yamato-sensei wants us in his room ASAP" Ami informed before jogging away. Naruto and Sasuke quickly followed her and found themselves in Yamato's room, said Jonin at his desk facing away from them speaking into a radio.
"They're here now, I'll ask them" He said before turning and addressing Naruto and Sasuke. "Is there anything about Oto's sound four that you two left out of your report?" Looking at each other in confusion both boys shook their heads knowing that they told the authorities everything they knew several times in the days following the attack.
"And you're sure there were only four of them?" Yamato asked his voice grave.
"Yeah why? What's going on?" Naruto asked.
"The War council just received a message from Jiraiya-sama stating that the Sound Five, two members of Akatsuki and an entire squad of Cerberus equipped, Jonin-level Oto-nin are planning to ambush the incoming Kumo/Lightning delegation in an attempt to assassinate the Raikage and leave evidence framing Konoha" Yamato informed them.
"Makes Sense. The upcoming treaty signing is just a formality, Kumo's navy has been sinking ships trying to smuggle the Cerberus drug to the continent for the last month and a half. The Raikage is negatively effecting the enemy war effort as well as hurting Orochimaru's pocket. Having a supped up Jonin squad deal with the near platoon of regular Chunin and Jonin he'll probably have with him while the Sound Four or Five deal with the more elite of his guards and the two S-class monsters that Akatsuki tends to employ attempt to kill the Raikage himself and then frame us for it is a decent move. Ballsy but decent" Naruto thought to himself having been told of Kumo's naval operations by Root operatives stationed at the pit.
"Did Jiraiya-sama try and get a message to the Kumo-nin?" Sasuke asked.
"No, I don't know the specifics but it apparently wasn't feasible from his current location"
"When and where is the ambush supposed to happen?" Naruto asked.
"Two miles south of Yugakure at 0600 tomorrow morning"
"Can't we send a messenger hawk to the northeastern border patrol and have them go to Yugakure to warn the Raikage?" Sasuke asked.
"That's the plan although HQ wanted to check and see if you two had any more info on the sound group before sending the message" Yamato informed. Smirking, Naruto couldn't help but shake his head. That wasn't what HQ or more specifically Danzo wanted. If it was Yamato wouldn't have been ordered to answer their questions which was obvious due to the time crunch the situation was under.
"I've got a better plan" Naruto said drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
"What?" Sasuke asked.
"We go and warn the Raikage ourselves."
"We're at the southernmost part of Hot Water County and Yugakure is nearly at the country's northern border. If we left now and ran as fast as we could it's doubtful that we'd make it in time and even if we did we would be exhausted in the midst of a battle where 2 S-Class shinobi would be present" Ami spoke up for the first time.
"Not if we hitched a ride" Naruto rebutted biting his thumb and sliding it across his summoning tattoo causing Arumaeiji to appear in a puff of smoke.
"Oye, chico! Bout time you summoned one of us. Qué pasa?"
Walking over to a map of the Land of Hot Water that Yamato had up on the wall Naruto showed Arumaeiji their current location and where they needed to go and then quickly explained the situation to the Armor sage who walked closer to the map, looked at the distance chart in its legend and did some mental math.
"Arumagoro can get you half way there in 4 hours but after that he'll most likely run out of chakra. Arumaiko and Arumaetsu are just as fast as he is underground but will only last 2 hours apiece but the 3 of them can get you where you need to go in about 8 hours. Well let's say 8 and half since they'll have to surface so you can summon the next one and then they'll have to form an earth construct for you 4 to ride in. The only problem is that you may run out of air inside the earth construct" Arumaeiji explained.
"Yamato-sensei, do you have a rebreather?" Naruto asked getting a nod from the Jonin. "There you go, Ami, Sasuke and I all have rebreathers too, we can do this. I mean Orochimaru probably has ninja set up on the Fire/Hot Water border just in case we caught wind of his plan. But I doubt he considered someone pulling shit like this"
"We'll call it up and wait for the War council's decision" Yamato said.
"It'll take too long for those old fos…"
"We'll call it up and wait for the War council's decision" Yamato stated firmly, an uncharacteristic look of anger flashing in his eyes.
"Hai sensei" Naruto stated tapping into his emotional conditioning to calm his frustration and annoyance.
"I'll head back to El Dorado and have Arumagoro on standby just in case" Arumaeiji informed them before leaving in another puff of smoke.
Surprisingly it took less than 15 minutes for the order to execute Naruto's plan to come back and less than 2 to tell Machi and Uroka that they we're leaving. As the four members of team 7 reached the beach Yamato spoke to his subordinates. "When we get there you three will follow my orders to the letter understood?"
"Hai, sensei"
"Rodger"
"Completely, Summoning Jutsu!"
0517 Hrs, 1.3 Miles Southeast of Yugakure:
Arumaetsu surfaced near a small creek, her form artificially modified to the size of a medium sized ox cart. Big enough to carry the four Konoha shinobi, releasing the jutsu the rock and dirt that was her body cracked and fell away revealing her cargo as well as her real body which was roughly the same size as her summoner's. "Is there anything else I can do for you Naruto?"
"Yeah if you could have Arumaemi and Arumaeri get ready to be summoned that would be great"
"No hay problema" Arumaetsu assured him before leaving for El Dorado.
"I've got to get a summoning contract" Sasuke said while putting his rebreather away, impressed by the versatility of the Armadillo clan.
After waiting another few minutes Naruto summoned the two twins and sent Arumaemi to the village's southern gate to wait for the Raikage.
"I still don't see why we couldn't stay for the hotel's breakfast special" a blond athletically slim girl of about 16 years sleepily whined.
"You're a Special-Jonin now Yugito, act like it" A young man 3 or 4 years her senior, who possessed the same shade of blonde hair and dark eyes as the girl admonished.
"C, you're my cousin not my…" Yugito started before the Raikage and Darui shunshined in between them.
"Alright, form up let's get ready to go" Ē ordered. Darui took his place a step in front of, and two arm lengths to the Raikage's right while C took up the opposite to his left and Yugito moved to her position directly behind him, the three forming a tight reverse triangle around their leader. A squad of Kumo-nin quickly ran around the four of them and took point, forming a wide wedge while the other two squads fell into two staggered columns on either side of the Raikage and his 3 elite guards the entire formation looking like a big arrow.
As they left the village C felt a discreet pulsing right below the dirt roads surface before seeing a pink rat looking thing dig its way out of the ground behind the lead squad.
"Raikage-sama, I believe that small animal is trying to get our attention" C said gesturing toward it. As they moved closer to it Ē was able to see that it was some kind of armadillo and after recalling the story of the Uzumaki boy using his armadillo summons to defend FOB Tobirama he bent down and picked it up once close enough to it.
"Raikage-sama, this is Naruto Uzumaki speaking to you through one of my summons…" Naruto via Arumaemi stated loud enough for Ē to hear before, as quickly as he could, warning the Raikage about the ambush as well as giving him team 7's basic location and offering their assistance.
"I think I'll take you up on that offer boy. Catch up to us but stay hidden, when things start I want your team to engage this 'Sound Five' so my guards can help me quickly deal with the two S-class ninja" Ē ordered receiving a "Hai Raikage-sama" Before the summon discreetly crawled up the sleeve of his robe, hiding in his collar.
Not wanting to tip off the enemy by putting all of his shinobi on high alert he muttered the code word "insidiis" loud enough for only Darui, C and Yugito to hear.
Forming a half ram hand seal in his pocket C focused on extending his sensing range to scan for anything suspicious when he felt the chakra signature of a familiar trap and signaled for the delegation to come to a halt.
"Already?" Yugito huffed, asking out loud what Ē and Darui were thinking to themselves.
"The first five ninja in 1st squad's wedge have entered someone's barrier encampment method" C informed his tone grim since the Raikage was the only one in the delegation with the fūinjutsu skills required to save the trapped shinobi but he was too valuable to risk defusing explosive notes. His concern was proven mute as the Raikage was shrouded in lightning chakra so powerful it could be easily seen and vanished in a lighting shunshin. He reappeared in the same spot less than 4 seconds later with 4 out of the 5 trapped shinobi, two slung over his shoulders and one in each arm. He quickly dropped the ninja and shunshined back for the last of his trapped ninja, a shinobi roughly his equal in size and build which was why he wasn't saved at the same time as his comrades. As he approached the encampment method Ē felt a buildup of chakra that was far too large for the priming of regular mid to high grade explosive notes and realized that at least 4 black label notes must be about to go off. The entire area was about to be wiped off the map.
"C will sense to the potential yield of the notes and order everyone to fall back so they'll all probably make it but if I slow down even a fraction then I'll get caught in the blast, I'm sorry K." Ē thought to himself as he pumped even more chakra into his legs blew right past his subordinate.
KABOOM!
When the smoke cleared Ē could be seen taking cover behind a large tree in nearly a mile away from the blast site. "Someone's going to die for this!"
"That'd be the idea Raikage-sama!" A voice yelled before Ē was forced to dodge a salvo of water bullets. Feeling an incoming attack from his six Ē wiped around and used his left vambrace to block the angled swipe of a large bandaged sword before punching his fairly large attacker in the chest so hard he flew backwards a good 6 feet before the ninja nimbly rolled back to his feet.
"That actually knocked some of the air out of my chest; this is going to be so much fun! Hey Itachi, let me fight him by myself!" The strange, pale faced man yelled in excitement before looking up and to his right. Ē was about to follow his gaze until the name Itachi fully computed in his mind and he quickly trained his eyes back on the large shinobi in front of him.
"I'd rather just get this done Kisame, leader-sama cares more about the 'other' objective than the assassination contract we have with Iwa" Itachi said hopping down from the tree he was in.
"Damn it! When the Uzumaki boy said Akatsuki I automatically assumed it'd be Sasori of the Red Sand and Deidara of the Explosion Release. Kisame Hoshigaki and Itachi Uchiha are on a different level than those two and it doesn't sound like Itachi is planning on messing around. Mabui was right; I should have brought Bee…" Ē thought to himself before a grinning Kisame decided to attack.
With the rest of the Kumo delegation:
Darui wouldn't have believed it if he hadn't seen it with his own eyes. After C had sensed the incoming explosion he ordered everyone to shunshin as far as they could to the groups 6 o'clock. He, C, Yugito and a few others were able to flicker fast enough to clear the blast but the majority of the Kumo-nin hadn't been as swift. Darui was sure they were goners but once the smoke cleared the ones closest to the blast were safe and sound behind a wide wall of interlaced wooden branches while the 5 others that were in between his group and the stragglers were encased in some kind of purple crystal.
"Hey isn't that Guren's technique?" A voice behind him said as the Kumo-nin were freed from there protective prisons. Wiping around Darui saw five shinobi in tan tunics with the yin/yang symbol centered at the bottom and purple, rope-like belts tied in an inverted bow around their waists standing in front of 13 Anbu looking ninja in ski masks and dark purple/gray camo shinobi gear.
"Duh, dumbass! The question is: was Guren the one who just saved those pieces of shit?" A girl with red hair asked.
"Kimimaro, the defensive jutsu that saved the Kumo-nin were launched by four subterranean shinobi, said shinobi are surfacing right now" The largest of the rope wearers warned the one with dots on his forehead.
"Delta squad, take the drug, I want all the Kumo fodder dead within the next three minutes. Sound five level one now!" Kimimaro ordered as red contorting and parallel lines moved to cover his skin before turning black. None of the other members of the Sound Five even slightly hesitated in following the 15 year old's order after the three months of hellish training he put them through testing his rejuvenated body.
The members of delta squad all pulled flasks from their pockets and prepared to drink the contents but were nearly stopped by Yugito as she started to do hand signs. "Oh no you don't! Fire Release: Fir…" She began before a flurry of movement that her synapses barely registered ensued right in front of her. Looking up she saw the back of a green flak jacket with a red spiral in the center. "Konoha" She thought to herself as she jumped back and saw a man in his mid-twenties holding a wooden katana against the Kimimaro boy's…bone sword?
"Humm, I was under the impression that the Mokuton was extinct" Kimimaro said calmly, his strength slowly winning out against his opponent's.
"I thought the same about the Shikotsumyaku (Dead Bone Pulse)" Yamato said through gritted teeth.
"I would love to test the limits of your abilities but your interference wasn't planned for and thus cannot be tolerated" Kimimaro said before, in under a second, unwrapping his left pointer finger from his swords hilt and firing a fingertip bullet at point blank range hitting Yamato right between the eyes. The wood user collapsed in a heap, his body deathly still. "There's no blood…" Kimimaro thought before he was hit with the overwhelming urge to flee. Back flipping out of harm's way he nimbly avoided being crushed by two spiked, wooden walls. It was then that all 4 members of team 7 emerged from the earth blocking the Sound Five from the 3 Raikage guards.
"Uzumaki!" Sakon seethed pointing at Naruto, his entire body shaking with rage.
"Make-up boy!" Naruto said mimicking Sakon, getting a laugh from Sasuke and a small chuckle from Ami.
"Kumo guards, the Raikage is currently fighting Itachi Uchiha and Kisame Hoshigaki, please leave things here to us and go to his aid" the real Yamato requested.
"Rodger, C lead the way" Darui ordered before following C in a shunshin.
From the corner of his Sharingan eye Sasuke watched the three Kumo-nin leave with a mix anger and longing displayed across his face. Part of him wanted to go and confront his brother but another part wanted to stay and help his teammates. Shaking his head to clear his darker impulses Sasuke trained his full attention on the Oto-nin. Itachi could wait; his team needed his help kicking some sound freak ass right now.
A/N: Sorry about the ridiculously long time between updates. Long story short I had some financial trouble and had to sell my computer for some extra cash... yeah, lame I know but anyway I back with a cheap walmart laptop and writing again. I wanted to make Yugito a potential love interest for Naruto or have them have a tight friendship like cannon Gaara and cannon Naruto but since cannon Yugito was 26/27 and supposedly a pretty serious kunoichi (and not at all childish like Bee) I aged her down to her teen years. It still might be a reach for a 16 year old girl and a 13 year old boy to start some thing so don't expect anything with those two for a while. Sasuke and Ami however... Oh some people may be calling bullshit on Sasuke learning the Chidori in such a short amount of time with out Kakashi's direct help but remember that my Sasuke has a fully developed Sharingan and better Chakra control than his cannon counter part did at this point in the series.
Next post should be on/before 6-6-13, please review!