A/N: Hey readers, thanks for reading this far into the story. This new chapter will be pushing the plot significantly forward so I hope you enjoy.
Disclaimer: Kishimoto owns Naruto and the characters and story and has a new Naruto movie coming out this year! Basically I don't own Naruto and I can't wait for the movie.
Chapter 6: Fiery Confrontation
Konoha, the next day:
Naruto stood in his Sage of Six Paths Bijuu cloak, while manipulating his gudo-dama to form a shield to protect him from one of his clone's lava-jutsu attacks. Although Naruto had spent quite a bit of time the previous day training, his clone still had to use Son's help in order to manipulate lava-style, although he had become more adept at using it. The real Naruto had been focussing on moving and manipulating the shape of the truth-seeking balls which the bijuu cloak had granted him and was now testing his ability in real-time.
The clone using lava-jutsu quickly leapt over Naruto while sending a ball of lava descending upon him, to which Naruto created a round shield above him to block the attack, causing the lava to fall around him before he sent one of the gudo-dama at the clone, dispelling it. After receiving the memories of his clone, he sensed a familiar presence, to which he exited his bijuu cloak before jumping to the edge of the training ground.
"Hey Hinata, how are you doing?" Naruto asked.
"I'm doing well, thank you for asking Naruto-kun. I thought you might get hungry, so I brought some lunch for you." Hinata asked before lifting up a picnic basket she had in her hand while smiling.
"Really? Thanks Hinata you're the best girlfriend ever!" Naruto shouted, causing Hinata to blush lightly.
"Thank you Naruto-kun, but it really wasn't too much trouble, it is just a few sandwiches…" Hinata said, while Naruto took the basket.
"Well I am sure I'll love them, do you want to stay here and eat with me?" Naruto asked.
"I would love to Naruto-kun, but I have to attend a clan meeting." Hinata answered.
"Ah, it's alright." Naruto said with a small pout, "Bye Hinata!" he finished before giving her a kiss on her cheek to which she blushed.
"B-bye Naruto-kun." she said before leaving Naruto to eat his lunch and continue his training.
Hokage Tower:
"Your team's mission is to discover who attacked the border villages and defeat them and bring them in." Tsunade stated, "The intel provided by Team Ebisu suggested that the attackers are proficient fire-style users which is why I have selected the four of you for this mission. Unfortunately we do not have much more information than this, but considering only civilian villages were attacked we do not believe these attackers are too powerful."
The team captain, a jonin-level ninja nodded before asking, "Is there a particular place we should look to find these attackers?"
Shikamaru who had also been in the room answered this question, "I believe that although their motive is unclear, they seem to be sticking towards attacking civilian villages. Additionally, the villages have been close to the border so there is reason to believe that they are trying to avoid attracting too much attention from shinobi villages or possibly want to escape easily over the border. The motif of these attackers is unclear, it is troublesome to say the least, but you'd likely find them at the border."
The jonin captain nodded before Tsunade said, "This mission will be considered A-rank, as the fire style jutsu demonstrated by these attackers could pose a serious threat to chunin-level ninja. This was the reason why I selected you three water-style users to go on this mission." Tsunade finished while pointing at the three chunin who stood behind their captain. "You're combined water style along with your captain's earth style should provide you with enough strength to suppress and defeat the fire style users. Good luck, you are dismissed."
The team then left the Hokage's office before Shikamaru turned to the Hokage. "Hokage-sama, I feel like something isn't right about these attackers. I can't see any reason for them to attack these civilian villages, there was no evidence suggesting that they were bandits as valuables had been found amongst the remains. It is quite troublesome to say the least." the Nara finished while placing a hand on his head in exasperation.
"I understand where you are coming from, I feel that something is amiss too, which is why I called you to this office. Following the funeral for those lost in the war, I would like you to go to Sunagakure and notify them of what has happened recently. It is possible that this may tie in to the missing-nin which Sakura's team had captured recently, but if that is not the case it is possible that other nations are at risk. Hopefully this team discovers something regarding these ninja, but I would still like you to notify the sand village of a possible threat." Tsunade explained.
"Troublesome, very well I shall notify them of these recent upbringings." Shikamaru responded before thinking, 'I guess I'll end up seeing that troublesome woman again'.
Tsunade twitched at the Nara's overused saying before signalling for him to leave, before she pulled out a map of the Land of Fire and examined it while sipping from her sake bottle.
Land of Fire, slightly inland from the border, the next day:
Shogai and Yakekoge currently were resting against some trees at the edge of a clearing and had been making their way towards civilian villages closer to the leaf. Shogai perked up as he sensed chakra coming from across the clearing, before he said to his partner, "It seems as though we finally attracted some attention."
Yakekoge narrowed his eyes before beginning to walk towards the center of the clearing, before being grabbed on the shoulder by his partner. "Let go of me, I'll take care of them." Yakekoge said while brushing off his partners arm.
"I'd rather take them on myself, as I am feeling kind of stiff myself. I could use a bit of a warm-up." Shogai stated while walking into the clearing.
Yakekoge responded, "You can participate in the fight, but by no means are you fighting them alone. We need to attract Konoha's attention so we'll have to create as much destruction as we can."
Shogai rolled his eyes, "Are you implying I can't cause destruction? Let me show you right-"
The Konoha team who had been assigned a mission from Tsunade arrived into the clearing before the lead jonin demanded, "Stop right there, we won't let you go any further."
Shogai glared at the jonin before saying, "Oh really, we'll see about that," while cracking his knuckles before dashing towards his opponents.
A few minutes later:
Shogai pressed his foot down on the severely burnt jonin, cracking a few bones while he writhed in agony. "You did a real good job stopping us you know." Shogai said while spreading his arms towards the wreckage that had ensued on the battlefield. Steam still surrounded the area from water colliding with fire, as indicated by the massive scorch marks strewn across the clearing apart from a massive crater towards the center of it which had a horribly disfigured chunin at its center.
Yakekoge walked towards Shogai pushing the charred corpse of a water user out of the way. "Shogai don't waste our time playing with them, you know what you have to do."
"Yeah, yeah, I know." Shogai responded while digging his foot deeper into the jonin's chest before pressing it hard enough to cause the jonin to lose consciousness. The duo then proceeded to leave the battlefield and head towards the leaf village.
A few hours later:
A team of Konoha anbu had completed their border watch and was on their way to Konoha before one caught a trace of a former battle. The team quickly investigated the battleground to find three dead chunin and one severely injured jonin.
The jonin coughed up blood after being lifted by an anbu, before saying, "Warn Tsunade-sama, the shinobi who had attacked the civilian villages are at least S-rank, we stood no chance. The village needs to be defended, hurry." After finishing his command to the anbu, the jonin slumped over and the anbu placed his now deceased body down before giving his team mates hand signals before the team headed back to the leaf village to notify the Hokage of the situation that had arisen.
Konoha, evening:
The anbu captain notified Tsunade of what he had discovered at the site of the battle, leaving Tsunade to think about how to handle the situation. "Anbu, find me Ibiki, I need to question a prisoner before I can determine exactly what we are dealing with here." One of the anbu on guard quickly shunshinned away to find the master of torture and interrogation, while the Hokage herself quickly headed towards the T&I Department.
T&I Department:
Tsunade burst into a room which held the leader of the former missing-nin leader, followed by Ibiki who closed the door behind him. "What the hell do you know Dasu, there is no use keeping your mouth shut anymore! What are your goons trying to do?" Tsunade demanded while slamming her fist on the table which Dasu sat at.
Dasu responded with a grin, "Ah, I got worried for a bit, it's about time that they acted out to save me."
"Who the hell are you talking about?" Tsunade asked while glaring daggers at Dasu.
Dasu laughed before grinning cockily, "I'm talking about the elite of my force, I knew it was costly, but at last Dusk will free me!"
Tsunade lifted him by his collar and pulled him up towards her face, "What makes you think that you have any chance of them freeing you?"
"The fact that the Hokage came to personally question me makes me think that. I may be cocky, but that doesn't mean I am stupid, you are in a predicament and want to find out what I know so that you can get out of it. Well, I'll tell you this much, I don't even know what Dusk is capable of, I had my assistant discover stuff about them, but I can guarantee that Yakekoge knows his stuff alright, this Dusk is the real deal." Dasu explained before being thrown into his chair.
"Lock him up and make sure he doesn't escape, I've had enough of this garbage." Tsunade said before leaving the room, leaving Ibiki to deal with the now excited missing-nin leader.
Konoha, four days later (morning):
Tsunade had placed many more Anbu on patrol in the areas surrounding the leaf village, but she had not encountered any scenarios close to the Leaf Village. The attacks on civilian villages continued although not as frequent, as if it was a reminder that the threat was imminent. However, Tsunade also had to worry about the funeral which was to be held today to honour all those who had passed on during the war.
Tsunade had to prepare an additional graveyard for those lost in the war, as there was simply too many people lost in the war to fit within Konoha's already crowded graveyard. Additionally, the memorial stone had more names etched onto its surface, such as Neji Hyuga, Shukaku Nara, Inoichi Yamanaka, and Kakashi Hatake. However, an official funeral was still to be held and although not all of the bodies were recoverable, those which were recoverable would be buried within the crowded graveyard shortly after the funeral.
The funeral was to take place on the Hokage tower as did the funeral of the two previous Hokages and in order to honour the deceased the people who attended the funeral adorned black kimonos. Naruto had recently changed into his own funeral clothing before heading to the Hokage tower to pay respect to those whom he had lost in the war.
After he arrived, he stood alongside his comrades who had fought alongside him during the war as well as the families of the deceased, many of which shed tears at the loss of their loved ones. Naruto specifically stood facing the pictures of the deceased with the members of team 7, namely Sai, Sakura and Sasuke to his left, and his girlfriend to his right, followed by the rest of her team and finally the Ino-Shika-Cho trio.
Shikamaru placed his hand on a crying Ino's shoulder as he looked sadly at his father's smiling image on the table in front of the mourners. Hinata became slightly teary eyed after looking at Neji's image, but fought back the tears as Naruto grasped her hand in comfort. "Don't worry Hinata, I took Neji's last words to heart and he will never be forgotten." Hinata nodded in response before turning back towards the pictures of the deceased. 'Kakashi-sensei, you too. I'll always value my comrades over everything else.'
Sasuke stood next to Naruto with a surprisingly somber look, clearly discontent with Kakashi's death as he had been the one to teach him one of his most notable techniques. Sakura shed a few tears, but wiped them away with a re-affirmed strength. Sai even held a frown, which was not in any way faked, as he understood the sacrifices that all the ninja in this war had made, just like his "brother" did.
Tsunade had said a speech in honour of the deceased, before the attendees of the funeral retired to their homes, Naruto saying farewell to his friends before heading back to his apartment to be alone for a little while.
Hokage's Office, noon:
Tsunade awaited the team she had requested as she decided that the threat which had been plaguing the Land of Fire and Konoha had to be dealt with, even if it may be immediately after the funeral. Tsunade had learned that these foes were not to be trifled with, so she had to face the threat appropriately with a strong enough team.
The first member of the aforementioned team arrived, earlier than expected. "Hello baa-chan, you called for me?" Naruto asked as he casually entered the room.
"Kid, you know that one of these days I'm going to beat some manners into you." Tsunade said while raising a fist, "Besides, how would you act if someone called you an old man when you were Hokage?"
Naruto shrugged at the question leaving Tsunade to face-palm and await the rest of her requested team. A few minutes of bickering later, there was a knock on the door followed Sakura followed by Hinata entering the room.
"Ah, you are all here." Tsunade said before beginning the mission briefing, "I have gathered you all here today to assign you a mission and a difficult one at the very least. Multiple civilian villages across the Land of Fire have been attacked by mysterious perpetrators. I sent a team out to investigate the attackers and defeat them, but they were no match against them. It was determined that they are extremely proficient fire style users as the team I sent was meant to counter fire style yet there were indications that they had suffered severe burns." Tsunade sighed before continuing, "Truthfully, we have reason to suspect that they are after the missing-nin that you had captured, but even if they are not they would still be a significant threat to the village. I thought that your team would be suitable considering you had recent experience against Dasu and his cronies and might know what we are up against. However, I fear this enemy might be stronger than what you had to experience."
"Just how strong are these attackers?" Sakura asked.
"Strong enough for me to consider sending Sasuke despite his current village restrictions, however I have to abide by village rules. Unfortunately the three of you will have to be a 3 person squad as Sai is still recovering from his previous injuries. The mission I am assigning you is also an S-rank and it must be handled carefully. I have some additional teams on standby as back-up, but considering this team is composed of some of our strongest ninja, I have reason to hope you will not need help." Tsunade sighed while thinking to herself, 'If Kakashi had still been around then maybe we would have a water-style user that could actually counter these guys, I'll have to make sure we train more water style users in the future.' Tsunade then finished relaying the commands for the mission, "You are to set out immediately and I am leaving Naruto Uzumaki in charge of this mission, don't forget the importance of this mission Naruto, I'm leaving a lot in your hands."
"Don't worry Hokage-sama, I won't let you down." Naruto said with a grin, before turning to his team mates, "Alright let's meet at the gate in a few minutes."
Konoha Gates:
Naruto tied his headband to his head before turning around to face his team mates, "Sakura, Hinata are you ready."
"Yeah," Sakura said while cracking her knuckles.
"We won't let you down Naruto-kun." Hinata said.
Naruto grinned, "Alright, let's do this!" he shouted before leaving the village and beginning the search in the land of fire.
Land of Fire Forests:
The team set out with Naruto and Hinata taking the lead followed by Sakura. Sakura couldn't help but feel slightly envious as she eyed the couple, she never expected that Naruto would land a date, but it was as if it slightly rubbed in the fact that Sasuke had barely showed her any attention since he returned to the village. However it did help renew her confidence that Hinata finally got together with the person she had liked for the longest time, so maybe she just did have a chance.
As Sakura thought, Naruto was talking to Hinata, "Hey Hinata, be careful ok?" Naruto asked as they approached the lead that they were given.
Hinata smiled while responding, "Don't worry Naruto-kun, I'll be alright."
"Its just that, I don't want to lose anyone else, so I'll protect both you and Sakura to the end." Naruto said, while looking ahead.
"Naruto-kun, I think we will be fine, we just need to be careful that's all." Hinata replied.
Naruto nodded before changing their course to veer towards some smoke in the distance. After arriving at the location, they found the remnants of a small village with no survivors amongst the wreckage. Naruto clenched his fist before saying, "I won't forgive whoever did this, all these innocent people, they probably couldn't even fight back."
Sakura looked somberly at the ground, knowing very well that the civilians who had been attacked could not be saved as the wounds were far too severe. Hinata had been inspecting one of the corpses before gasping as the burns they had suffered were incredibly severe. Naruto signalled for his team to move onwards, leaving behind the wreckage of the village before hunting down whoever had done such an act.
Naruto now took the lead with Hinata and Sakura towards the back, watching in concern as a serious Naruto lead them towards the battle they knew would soon begin. Naruto stopped on a branch and held up his hand, "I sense some chakra at 3 o'clock, Hinata can you check it what it is?" Naruto asked.
"Of course, Byakugan!" Hinata answered while activating her bloodline and looking through the forest for a possible sign of chakra. She found two distant chakra signatures making their way across a grassy field, "I found two ninja approximately 4 kilometers that way."
"Alright thanks Hinata, let's go check it out." Naruto said before heading in the direction which Hinata had spotted the two ninja.
The two aforementioned ninja stopped in the middle of the field, "Yakekoge do you-" one of them asked before being cut off.
"Yes, its about time they sent him, get ready, I guarantee they already sensed us." Yakekoge said before turning towards the large approaching chakra source.
Hinata had her byakugan activated as they approached the location of the two ninja, before gasping as she saw the ninja more clearly, "T-that's that man," she said.
The team stopped, "Who is it?" Naruto asked.
"It's Yakekoge, the one from the missing-nin base, but something is different its almost as if he has different chakra." Hinata explained.
Naruto responded, "I think I know what you are talking about, I can sense a familiarity in the chakra, but there is a lot more of it than before, also it is as if it is more powerful."
Sakura asked, "What do you mean?"
"I guess they somehow got stronger or something, I can't really explain it. Anyways, we shouldn't let them get away, are you both ready?" Naruto asked.
"Y-yes," Hinata said.
"Hell yeah!" Sakura said.
"Alright let's show these bastards some justice." Naruto said before the team headed towards the field.
Naruto's team landed in the field 40 meters away from the two members of Dusk who stood facing him, Yakekoge with his hands at his side, while Shogai had his arms crossed. "Naruto Uzumaki, we have been waiting for you." Yakekoge said stoically.
"You bastards, why would you attack all those defenceless civilians!" Naruto shouted.
"Life is unfair, sometimes things occur which are out of your control, those with more power prey on the weak out of revenge or sometimes even on a whim." Yakekoge explained.
"What the hell kind of explanation is that!" Naruto shouted.
"Hm, this kid is supposed to be the hero of the last war? He sure doesn't act the part." Shogai said while sighing.
"Don't underestimate him, he is certainly powerful. However, his team mates are not too difficult to deal with."
"Not difficult? We defeated you last time!" Sakura argued.
"Hmph, I am impressed, they managed to defeat one of your clones Yakekoge," Shogai said before yawning and stretching, "Who are those two anyways?"
"I believe they are Sakura Haruno and Hinata Hyuga." Yakekoge said while pointing at them respectively, while the two widened their eyes in shock upon discovering that the Yakekoge they had previously defeated was only a clone.
"I guess we'll just have to see how strong the real you is then?" Naruto asked, "But first-"
One of Naruto's clones quickly dashed in from behind Shogai with a rasengan in hand and leapt towards him, "let me get rid of your friend!" the clone shouted.
Shogai slightly tilted his head so he could glimpse at the clone rapidly closing in on his back. Just as the clone was about to hit, he quickly applied chakra to the seal on his right arm, causing a large rectangular shield as large as him to appear, which he quickly repositioned to block the rasengan. The shield began to glow on its front as the rasengan made contact, then it proceeded to absorb the rasengan into the shield. Shogai then grinned, before bringing the massive shield to the ground and crouching behind it while facing it towards the clone, "Fuinjutsu: Chakra Release!" he shouted while making a hand sign with his free right hand, as the shield released an explosive blast of chakra instantly dispelling the clone.
Shogai then proceeded to face the original Naruto and his team before slamming his shield into the ground causing the ground to rumble under its weight, the sound echoing across the field, "Really, is that how you will get rid of me?" he asked.
Naruto clenched his teeth, "These guys get on my nerves."
"Hold on, Yakekoge, you said that girl is Sakura Haruno? As in Tsunade's apprentice?" Shogai asked, only to receive a nod from Yakekoge. "I see, I'm not sure what is wrong with her apprentice choices," he hissed, "but I'm sure as hell that a brat like this girl is a hell of a lot worse than I would've been. Oh well, I guess I get to take out my revenge on this girl instead." Shogai finished while grinning.
Sakura repositioned herself in a defensive position while staring at Shogai before Yakekoge said, "I'm sorry Shogai, but we are going to finish off the weaker ones quickly." As Yakekoge finished he reappeared behind Hinata and Sakura while bringing his tanto towards the back of their necks.
'So fast,' Sakura thought, before bracing for the slash.
The slash however never occurred as Yakekoge received a kick from Naruto sending him flying into the tree line behind his team. "Sakura, Hinata can the two of you take on the shield bastard, I'll take care of Yakekoge."
The two kunoichi nodded before preparing their fighting stances to take on the shield master who stood in front of them, while Naruto made his way to the area where he had kicked Yakekoge, who now stood at the edge of the field.
"I'll never let you hurt my friends," Naruto said.
"I'll just kill you first then," Yakekoge responded while bringing his hands together to prepare hand signs, to which Naruto did the same. The two glared at each other as they knew their fight had officially began.
A/N: At long last the fight has began, with Yakekoge vs Naruto and Sakura and Hinata vs Shogai. Admittedly there was quite a bit to cover leading to this fight, but we have finally reached it. I can assure you readers that I will put my all in this fight's creation. Let me know what you thought of the chapter and story with a review and thanks for reading!