Chapter 26 – Contact: The Worst Uchiha Reunion!
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[Somewhere off the Land of Whirlpools Coast]
Current Time…
Naruto and his team were on a small motorized skiff heading to their destination; as the group of Konoha-nins waited on that boat Naruto decided to use that time to give the rundown of what his teammates should expect to deal with.
"Alright you guys; now that we're far enough from both coasts it's time I told you what we will be dealing with," Naruto began; after making sure that he had the full attention of the other three shinobi he pulled out a small scroll that he then opened it, revealing a map of the Land of Whirlpools which was comprised of one large island.
"This is the Land of Whirlpools as it stands now; I'm not going to bore you guys with a long lecture of the history of this place except to say that this country has had no real government since the collapse of the shinobi village that was once here, called Uzushiogakure, around twenty years ago. Basically it has become a lawless land and is a haven for those who need a place to disappear which is probably why Kazuko chose this place as her hideout. Based on the intel we acquired from the scroll she's located somewhere in the southern half of the island," Naruto explained.
This got Naruto a couple of raised eyebrows from his teammates.
"Southern half?" Sasuke asked.
"Yes; the intel states that she's clearly residing in the mountains in the southern half of the island. The Land of Whirlpools is basically an island made up of two parts. The northern half of the island is comprised of steep low-lying hills as well as the ruins of Uzushio while the southern half of the island is one giant mountain range, known as the Uzu no Sebone (Whirlpool Spine) with a few small villages scattered throughout the valleys; as the mountain range is filled caves and large underground passages, most of them deserted, it makes the area a perfect place to hide. Unfortunately that also means that we have a lot of ground of cover quickly," Naruto replied, pointing to corresponding parts of the map during his explanation.
At this point Neji entered the conversation.
"Naruto, you've told us about the place we're heading to; what about the dangers that we might encounter while looking for Kazuko?" Neji questioned.
"Well, for starters, there are several large, well-equipped, and very violent groups of bandits and missing-nin, some of whom are supposedly at the level of an elite jonin from one of the Five Great Shinobi Nations, that reside in the Uzushio Ruins, which is the only real port on the island, and the surrounding hills. Beyond the ruins the wildlife on the island is full of many creatures, plant and animal, that could possibly make a meal out of us; this is true for the low lying hills and especially for the Uzu no Sebone. As far as the Sebone itself the mountains are even steeper than the smaller hills to the north and the terrain is very rugged, there are constant landslides that are so large that they can bury all Konoha if one ever happened there, the temperature outside of the valleys can sometimes go from scorching to freezing in an instant, the area is plagued by heavy blizzards and mudslides, and the caves and other underground areas are prone to collapse and massive gas explosions and contain various other underground hazards. Finally we have to consider the possibility that the Akatsuki may still acquire Kazuko's location through other methods which means that we may have to fight them at some point. It's not really that much to worry about," Naruto casually explained.
Due to his training Naruto could obviously handle these dangers with no difficulty so he didn't think much of these hazards... unlike his now gaping teammates.
"Are you serious, Naruto?" Sasuke asked.
Naruto simply nodded in response while Shikamaru sighed in exasperation at this.
"And this is what we have to deal with? This mission's going to be such a drag," Shikamaru groaned; he could already tell that this was going to be a very long mission.
[Uzushio Ruins, the Former Land of Whirlpools]
Later in the Day...
"We're not even here for a few hours and we've already had to fight five of these smaller gangs; I wonder if these thugs greet all visitors to this island like this," Neji said irritably as he and the rest of the group of Konoha-nin easily beat back another group of bandits.
"Would you guys quit it with your bitching already? We're already at the edge of the ruins anyways," Naruto retorted back as he pointed towards the steep hills that now stood before him and his team.
Shikamaru, in his usual lazy attitude, groaned at the sight of these hills.
"Great... now we get to the hard part. This is such-"
"If you so much as finish that sentence, Shikamaru, you'll wish that last bandit attack did you in," Naruto warned with a smile on his face.
Shikamaru paled in fear though whether or not it was because of Naruto's warning or his smile was anyone's guess.
"Anyways, we better get moving; it won't be long before every gang in these ruins decide to retaliate after our little display," Sasuke pointed out.
After Naruto and his team defeated another ten groups of bandits they finally got deep enough within the to where the bandits were nonexistent; unfirtunately for Sasuke, Neji, and Shikamaru this was just the beginning of their nightmare...
A Few Weeks Later...
To say that Naruto's teammates had a hard time surviving on this island was an understatement; it had been hell on earth for the three young shinobi. What really surprised them, however, was how Naruto shrugged off the dangers of this island like it was nothing to him.
The three Konoha-nin were now wondering whether or not Naruto really had been in Hell for seven years as they continue their search for Kazuko in the Uzu no Sebone.
"Neji, Sasuke, have you guys picked up anything yet?" Naruto asked as the group walked through a plateau as he could only detect a trail of what appeared to be residual chakra that may have been left by Kazuko with her Pesquisa.
Neji merely shook his head while Sasuke sighed.
"Nothing yet except that weird trail of residual chakra that we've been tracking for the past few days..." Sasuke began with a great deal of frustration in his voice.
Before Sasuke could say anything else, however, he looked over the edge of the plateau and, along with Neji and Naruto, was surprised to see that the trail led to a large cave and, unlike the other underground areas the trail led to, it didn't come out.
Sasuke smirked at this.
"...though it appears that's about to change real soon," Sasuke finished.
After another thirty minutes of trekking the team of young ninja finally reached the mouth of the cave and, as they had expected, the source of the residual chakra was clearly within the cave. It was also a very large source as the amount of chakra coming from the mystery person was massive, easily the level of a Kage.
Unfortunately while this made it more likely that it was Kazuko that dwelled within the cave it also meant that the person inside, whether it was Kazuko or not, inside could easily crush Sasuke, Neji, and Shikamaru should they chose to fight. While Naruto could easily defeat the person the terrain meant that if a member of Naruto's team got seriously hurt it would be next to impossible to get them help with any meaningful haste. Naruto knew that he had to proceed with extreme caution as he got his teammates together.
"Alright guys, listen up! There's someone inside if that cave who might be our objective; unfortunately the person is not only very strong but, based on what I saw with my Pesquisa, this person has detected our presence and is ready to ambush us once we come within their line of sight so we'll be entering according to our plan. Do you guys understand?" Naruto asked to which his teamates responded with a simple 'Yes' or a nod.
Naruto's plan, which he had explained to his team during their trek towards the cave was rather simple:
As Naruto was the strongest of the group he would enter the cave first and would counter the person's ambush and, if it was Kazuko, would try to reason with her. Sasuke and Shikamaru would be 20 yards behind Naruto in order to avoid having the two get caught in the initial scuffle after which they would provide the Uzumaki with support if needed; if the person was indeed their objective Sasuke would also go to Naruto's side after the initial scuffle with Kazuko in order to help convince her to return to Konoha peacefully if she was unwilling to do so. Finally Neji, due to the sensory capabilities of his Byakugan, would stay back at the mouth if the cave in order to detect any approching dangers; if something came that appeared to be above his level Neji was to enter the cave and warn the rest of the team.
Now that his teammates were ready Naruto slowly entered the cave after using his Pesquisa to detect any potential traps that the person might've set (thankfully Naruto didn't find any).
The mouth of the cave led to a long pitch-black corridor that reduced visibilty to near zero for the young Uzumaki, forcing him to proceed with extreme caution; after a few minutes of walking through the dark passageway Naruto saw the faint light of a fire right where the person was located several yards ahead of him.
After going back to Shikamaru and Sasuke to make sure that they waited until he had stopped the person's ambush before they made their move he silently walked into said chamber while keeping himself on high alert. Even with only a few small campfires that were spread about to light it up it was still clear that this chamber was massive; Naruto guessed that the cavern, which had a massive dome-like ceiling, was at least half of the size of the dome of Las Noches. Despite the chamber's size, however, Naruto didn't have to go too far inside as he was less than ten yards inside of the chamber before he detected some movement with his normal Pesquisa which he could use on the move unlike with his special variant.
As he had expected the person was hiding above the entryway to the chamber and was now about to attack him from behind. Naruto, who was too close to the person to block their attack in time with his sword, quickly turned around and held both of his arms up just in time to block what appeared to be the blade of a naginata with the gauntlets that came with his oufit.
After a few second of silence the mystery person, whose form was hidden by the darkness of the cavern (Naruto's own body prevented the light of the campfire in front of the cavern's entrance from revealing the person's physical features) wielding the staff/sword finally spoke.
"You're not bad, kid; that's the first time anyone's manage to block my first strike," the person said in what was clearly the voice of a young adult female.
Naruto simpy smirked as he pushed the attack back before he replied.
"There's a reason why I was tasked lead a team to find and bring you back to Konoha... Kazuko Uchiha," Naruto calmly stated as he stepped slightly to his right, allowing the light from the campfire to reveal Kazuko with her weapon poised for battle and her Sharingan activated.
Kazuko raised an eyebrow at this.
"Normally I would question the fact that Konoha would charge a young boy to come after me; in this case, however, I can see why they would send someone like you. The question I have... is why Konoha has sent you," Kazuko asked Naruto as she circled the young chunin from his left.
Naruto countered by circling to his right; Naruto found himself with the passageway to his back as he pulled out what appeared to be a letter from the right pocket of his pants.
"This is letter from Tsunade, the Godaime Hokage; as far as what the letter says I think it'll speak for itself," Naruto explained.
Kazuko blinked in surprise at this.
"Godaime? What happened to Minato-sama?" Kazuko asked.
"I guess you wouldn't know about what has been happening all this time, would you? Hmm... where to begin..."
Naruto gave the Uchiha a brief overview of the events that had occurred since Kazuko had left Konoha; this included both Kurama's attack on the village as well as the Uchiha Clan Massacre. Naruto was especially careful in how he explained the massacre to her; even though the clan was responsible for her exile they were still her family.
As luck would have it Kazuko wasn't too fond of her "family".
"It looks as though as though it finally happened; I had always known that our clan's hatred would catch up to it sooner or later. Anyways let me see that letter... ummm," Kazuko said.
Naruto quickly realized he had not introduced himself; he changed that little problem as he handed Kazuko the letter.
"My name is Naruto Uzumaki."
"Uzumaki? So you're Minato-sama and Kushina-sama's son. That explains a lot," Kazuko said as she read at the letter.
After she finished reading the letter Kazuko sighed.
"Before I give you my answer to this letter may I ask you something else?" Kazuko questioned the young Uzumaki who simply nodded.
"Were there any survivors...?" Kazuko began to ask until she was interrupted by the sound of footsteps echoing from the passageway.
After a few seconds Sasuke, Shikamaru, and Neji appeared at the entrance to the corridor, with Kazuko eyeing the younger Uchiha in particular.
"I guess that answers my question," Kazuko said as Naruto turned to face his teammates.
"Naruto... the Akatsuki are heading this way," Sasuke said cryptically to which the young Uzumaki sighed.
"Already? They work fast. (turns to Kazuko) I think it would be for the best to leave this cavern now. You can give us your answer on whether or not you'll accept the pardon after we've dealt with the clowns outside," Naruto suggested.
"Lead the way," Kazuko said as she motioned towards the dark corridor.
Naruto, with both his team and Kazuko following close behind him, ran through the passageway to the exit; it took less than a minute of running through the corridor before the group finally reached the exit. The sight that greeted them was about what the young Uzumaki had expected.
There were four people standing in front of the group; two of them wore Akatsuki cloaks while the other two wore simple black hooded cloaks. Naruto took a good look at the assembled party.
Naruto only briefly took note of the ones with the Akatsuki: a man who hid himself behind some sort of hunched-back puppet with a tail-like appendage and another man with a somewhat effeminate appearance who wore his blonde hair in a way that, on Naruto's mind, made him look way too similar to Ino.
Naruto was much more concerned about the other two figures; in addition to their cloaks both figures wore masks. One wore a yellow-orange mask with unusual black markings while the other wore an orange spiral mask; the most unusual aspect of the masks, however, was the fact that they both only had one eyehole.
As Naruto narrowed his eyes at the two masked figures, particularly the one with the marked mask, Naruto also took note at Sasuke glaring at the two figures with his Sharingan active and a great deal of anger in his eyes.
Naruto sighed, realizing that this battle may be more challenging than the previous two weeks of the mission put together...
Next Time - The Masked Men
Important A/N: I'll be out of country from July 10th until August 2nd; until I return both of my stories will be on TEMPORARY hiatus; do not fear, however, as I will return to writing chapters upon my return.