Naruto Shippuden -H-: Chapter 018: Field General in Route
Zaire Senju was slowly walking down a long, winding road, towards Lazarus, as he was carrying the unconscious body of Joakim.
"Fuck, morning will be here soon, I will just drop this body in my ole' hiding place, and no one will surely find it, I am really looking forward to seeing what kind of man you truly are." said Zaire with a menacing tone as he continued to walk down the stone covered mountain side.
Morning came, as the third day of Naruto's journey to find the destination of the scroll came about.
"We sure did choose a terrible place to camp last night, didn't we." said Sai as he was very sore from the rough ground that he slept on.
"Oh, moving around will fix ya', besides, we are going to be arriving in the Land of Roses soon, come to think of it, I have never been there before, has anyone else?" asked Naruto as he stood up and looked at his reflection in the lake beside the campsite.
"I have never really paid any attention to this area before, so I do not know much about it, and that means it is dangerous for all we know." said Shikamaru with a cautious tone.
"It is possible that man that tried to off me will be there, I cannot say where he will be, but it could be a possibility that those other two men are also waiting to ambush us during our travels." said Sakura as she was stretching while dew fell from the Cherry tree behind her.
"You probably scared that old man off, he would be wise to not show himself again." said Naruto.
"Maybe, but if they are interested in you, it could mean that the rest of us are expendable in their eyes." said Sakura trying to think of a reason behind what has transpired lately.
"I have been going over the situation in my head, hundreds of times over, and it would seem that some sort of epiphany has risen." said Shikamaru as he finished packing up his kunai and special chakra knives.
"What would that be?" asked Naruto with curiosity.
"Think about it, for the past seven years, ever since the Chunin Exams, our mission to bring back Sasuke, the battle against Akatsuki, the Shinobi World War, during all of these various trials and conflicts, not once did we ever hear of these people, nor did they ever target you or our village." said Shikamaru with a serious tone.
"Maybe they were just waiting for the right time to act?" said Sai as the four shinobi started to walk out of the desert-oasis area of the Land of Wind and approach the border of the Land of Roses.
"No, I doubt that, with everything that has went on, and with the way those men spoke about how their boss was Naruto's biggest fan, it would seem that their interest in Naruto came only after he achieved the legendary status during the war." said Shikamaru with certainty.
"Wait, what does that mean in this context, though?" asked Naruto.
"It means they did not care about anything pertaining to you before, it is because of your status and accomplishments that they are after you, it appears to be different from when the Akatsuki trailed you." said Shikamaru.
"Well, I am already thinking about what I am going to say to my biggest fan when I meet him, and I will not be doing an autograph this time either." said Naruto with a sarcastic smirk as the four young warriors inched in on the Land of Roses.
Sasuke had arrived on the onset of Kumogakure, as he seemed to be in a hurry.
"I do not know what Naruto is doing now, could he have trailed those men alone, or did some others go with him, regardless, I will vanquish any of those unsightly freaks once I spread word to the two remaining Kages." said Sasuke as he entered Kumogakure, making sure not to be seen.
"Only the Raikage needs to know of my presence here, I am sure the rest of the villagers would not think too highly of me, and I don't blame them either." said Sasuke as he made use of Amenotejikara to swap places with rocks, and other minor objects to travel very fast towards the Raikage's mansion.
A was sitting at his desk, with Killer Bee in a chair in the corner looking over some pictures of a cannon similar to the one that they had prepared to destroy the moon, during Toneri's assault.
"Hey bro, if this moon man won't hurt us anymore, doesn't the idea of building a new machine like this seem to be totally bore, yeah, fool ya fool!" said Bee with an expressive tone.
"For the love of all things remotely precise, this machine is for a different purpose, didn't you like help building the previous one, or do you want the Iron Claw again?" asked A as he looked over several reports pertaining to future war treaties from minor villages.
"Hey bro, are we going to use this to fire people up at the moon, 'cause if that the case, I will feel like a real goon." said Bee.
"It really takes a special man to deal with this bullshit." thought A to himself thinking of Bee's antics during the days.
Darui arrived in the office, and had a scroll in his hand, with Killer Bee's name on it.
"Oh yeah, my special delivery is here, it is sure to be an item that I will hold very dear!" said Bee with great joy.
"Sorry sir, it is just a report on your ticket sales from your Rap-Enka style concert, it was a blunder, you should just stick to being the guardian of Kumogakure, you excel at that." said Darui with a dull tone.
"Hehehe, he is right Bee, I told you those concerts would be like torture to people's ears, hahahaha." laughed Gyuki in Bee's conscious mind.
"Damn, fool, that really hurts my vibe, I was looking forward to doing those concerts in order to thrive." said Bee with a disappointed tone.
"You best keep looking over the designs of that new cannon, it will need our approval by midnight at the latest." yelled the Raikage to his dim-witted brother.
"There is something else that is of great importance too." said a a voice from down the stairs as Sasuke arrived in the room, beside of Darui, with his Sharingan and Rinnegan deactivated.
"Hey bro, maybe this homeless fool is here to buy a ticket for my jam, if that is the case, then he must be my number one fan, oh...yea." said Bee as the Eight Tails could only face palm from Bee's ridiculous mannerisms.
"It's Sasuke you dumb ass, remember after the war he was pardoned of his crimes on the condition that he were to always be of help to Naruto." said A as he gave Bee an Iron Claw for his rude comment.
"What brings you here, sorry if I sound rude, no grudges held from the Summit, I swear." said Darui as he was unsure how to act.
"The Hokage, Kazekage, and Tsuchikage are all aware of this, but I am going to tell you of the occurrences of our village being invaded by a village called Lazarus." said Sasuke as he begun to tell the Raikage of the events that took place over the past two weeks.
"Lazarus, what a name, are they a group that is trying to steal my fame?" asked Bee as he immediatley recieved another Iron Claw from A for his moronic remark.
Naruto had arrived at the Border of the Land of Roses, with Shikamaru and Sakura to his left and right respectively. Sai was in the air on his ink bird, keeping watch as per usual.
"This road seems to go through a large forested area, the sunny skies seem to be covered with rain clouds and fog around here." said Shikamaru.
"Hey, look at all of these red and white roses in the forests around this road, they are beautiful, especially with the raindrops falling off of them." said Naruto thinking of picking some for Hinata.
"Easy there lovebird, we still have to traverse around fifty miles to reach Ishigakure, and we would be wise to take this slowly." said Shikamaru to Naruto.
"Hehehe, they are beautiful flowers none the less, though that old freak could be around here as well." said Sakura as she was looking over her shoulder every now and then just in case of another ambush.
"This time we will fight him as one, if we can capture someone like him, we could find out all of the information we need, then we can determine for sure if the directions in Naruto's scroll are genuine or not." said Sai as he looked over the valley of woods and lakes surrounded by beautiful rocky mountain ranges.
"I would not worry about that, if this guy that I have been hearing about really is so determined to meet me, he would not lie." said Naruto with a serious tone.
"Yeah, I would not want to piss you off either, but in any case, let me review this world map, I will study the layout of Ishigakure, this way we can predict the surroundings and use them to our advantage in the event of another ambush." said Shikamaru.
"You are always so tride and true with your words Shikamaru, you should be a writer, hehehe." laughed Naruto as he was enjoying the sights of the Land of Roses, with the thought of this mysterious man lingering in the darkest reaches of his subconscious.
"So, this is the whole story, eh?" asked the Raikage as he had heard everything that Sasuke had to say.
"Yes, this information is one hundred percent accurate, my Rinnegan was able to read through their motivations, after all." said Sasuke with sincerity.
"Okay, Bee here will accompany you on this mission, he has nothing better to do anyway." said A who was hoping to get rid of his brother as well.
"Yo man, I did not agree to his joint task, I mean come on I could not even find my whiskey flask." said Bee with a bummed out expression.
"Dammit Bee, just go with Sasuke to Kirigakure, then join Naruto helping out against those Knights of Dawn, got it?" asked A with a commanding tone.
"Yo, I am glad I get to leave yo' sight, you are always such a big fright." said Bee as he ran out of the room as quick as he could to avoid another Iron Claw from his brother.
"If Bee acts up, just use your Sharingan to make him think he is taking a hot tub bath, it will work." said A as he got back to his paper work.
"Ummm, okay, I guess." said a confused Sasuke as he was not sure how to deal with Killer Bee being with him on his journey.
"Let me tell ya' something Sasuke, I have one hell of a new cd comin out ya' know, it will be so good, it will blow up and the horizon and always grow!" said Bee as he continued on his antics.
"Ugh, no wonder Naruto and this guy get along so well." thought Sasuke to himself as he and Bee left towards the location of Kirigakure.
Zaire was laying in the Sun-Braced Grove, one of the four locations on the outside of the city of Lazarus. The sun was shining over the grassy plains and beautiful pine wood forests as per usual.
"Huh, I wonder if that dude is awake yet, I did tie him down by the riverbank, it has been a while since I checked up on him, maybe I will cut off his dick or something, hehehehe." laughed the brutish Senju as he walked towards the woods to the west of the grassy plains.
"Hmmm, now where are you, I know I put you here somewhere you fuckin' cocksucker, but where?" asked Zaire as he searched the pine forest bank thoroughly.
"Aha, found you motherfucker, now, we can have some real damn fun." said Zaire as the unconcious Joakim was tied to a tree, with his destroyed hand laying beside him, with flies all around it.
"Don't worry none, I am just going to free you of this terrible thing we call skin, skin is a trap, for the real beauty of the human body is what lies within, that is when all humans have nothing to hide and can truly be honest with one another, that is my goal at least, to be in a world without...skin." said Zaire with no emotion as he created an ice pick out of wood and started to plan how he was going to skin Joakim alive.
In Kirigakure, several ANBU and hunter-nin were standing by the mist-covered riverbanks of the outside of the village, keeping watch in these relative times of peace. A few shinobi from other villages were also there, and they felt compelled to help Kirigakure continue to prosper in wealth.
"Anything unusual to report?" asked a man wearing a fish Anbu mask.
"No, not really, though I just became an ANBU not long ago." said a young man about five feet four inches tall with a Shark ANBU mask that was painted bright blue.
"Well, we are the two who have been assigned to watch over this post, so just keep your eyes open, even if nothing is to occur." said the older ANBU.
"Yes, Kazuma, I will." said the younger ANBU as he had a slingshot, and a katana painted black.
Around thirty minutes passed with no disturbances, until a crackle of wood could be heard in the distance, catching the attention of the two Kiri ANBU stationed there.
"Could that have been an animal?" asked the young, shark masked ANBU.
"I don't know, but keep your guard up." said Kazuma as he had a tanto of his own ready in the case of a combat situation.
"Hey, my o' fools, where in the blue moon is Mei Terumi, the Mizukage, I need to speak with here, yo' see, it is on the accusation that I want to murder he pretty little face." said Andarius as he emerged from the mist and stood in front of the two Anbu who were sitting on two posts on opposite ends of the Western gate of Kirigakure.
"That is a threat, whoever you are, we will not let you pass!" yelled Kazuma as he quickly ran towards Andarius with his Tanto and rammed it into the suit-clad man's heart.
"Way to break a man's heart my homie, I mean damn." said Andarius as he turned into a puddle of water.
"That was a Water Clone, damn, where could he be?" asked Kazuma to himself as the younger ANBU stood to his side covering him.
"Shit, Inari, behind you!" yelled Kazuma as Andarius thrusted his hand towards the fifteen year old boy's throat.
"Water Style: Water Dragon Jutsu!" yelled Inari as he created a large dragon made of the liquid substance to collide against Andarius at high velocity.
"Tsunami and Tazuna would be proud, I did not even know you could no that jutsu." said Kazuma with surprise.
"That was for Naruto and Kaiza, and I will not let you harm our Mizukage!" yelled Inari as he removed his ANBU mask and prepared to confront Andarius.
"Alright kid, if you want to fuck around, we can, but this is a mission of great importance, for I want this worthless fuckin' village to pay for it's crimes against me, dammit!" yelled Andarius as he stood about twenty feet away from Inari and prepared a few hand signs.
"I got this Inari, you just be careful." said Kazuma as he also started to create hand signs.
"Hidden Mist Jutsu!" said Andarius as the surrounding terrain became covered with the familiar sight of mist.
"Huh, I was going to use that exact jutsu." thought Kazuma to himself.
"Hey mothafucka, heads up, literally!" said Andarius as he summoned a Trident-like weapon covered in gold and crystal from a scroll in his left pocket.
"Yonareta: Beheading Maneuver!" yelled Andarius as he cut Kazuma's head clean off his shoulders.
"I will mimic the voice of this man to fool that child as well, this will be the true art of Silent Killing, which I have mastered far beyond those worthless Seven Shinobi Swordsman of the Mist, hehehe." laughed Andarius as his usual chill expression turned into one of blood-lust.
-To be continued next time with Chapter 019...-