Disclaimer – Kishimoto owns Naruto and the characters therein.
.
Memories Of Others
Chapter 57
A Chunin Attacked
.
The fenders squeaked slightly as sailors jumped onto the stone quay to wrap the hawsers around the posts provided for just that reason. Standing near the gap in the railings where the gangplank would be placed, Naruto glanced round curiously.
"You know," He said slowly, "Given the size of the harbor, I was expecting a larger town."
"It does look rather small." Kakashi agreed as he stepped up to stand beside Naruto with Anko (still disguised as Yukie) beside him. "Barely fifty houses, and one of those is… does it even qualify as a hotel? It looks like an inn with a couple of extra rooms slapped on."
A couple of sailors bustled past and dropped the gangplank into the socket that held the upper end, the lower end bouncing onto the stone walkway below. Naruto glanced round, then vaulted the railing, landing by the bottom of the plank. A brief cloud of smoke later and a dozen Narutos were running towards the small town.
"I don't currently see anything suspicious." Hinata said, the veins around her eyes bulging. "Odd… there's some metal… I'm not sure what they are. Lines of metal with chakra flowing through them… melting the snow covering them. Like… it's like the poles of a ladder with really thick wooden rungs…"
"Odd." Kakashi mused. "Naruto, can one of your clones take a closer look? Naruto?"
"Kakashi… what sort of birds are those?" Naruto asked, pointing to two small-but-growing dots. Kakashi raised his Hitai-ate briefly, shook his head and took another look.
"They're not birds." He said in disbelief. "They look like… I don't know what they look like. Floating lanterns with a boat underneath?"
"Cool." Naruto said, still squinting at the incoming dots. "You know, this gives them the high ground and if they drop exploding kunai from up there…"
"Oh… shit!" Kakashi cursed. "Abandon ship! Now!"
"I can always take them to Konoha." Naruto pointed out, only to go silent as Kakashi gave him a look. Behind them, the startled sailors and film-crew moved with surprising discipline, hurling bags onto the quay and chivying Anko-as-Yukie down the gangplank. As she reached the bottom of the plank, Sandayu appeared.
"Naruto!" He shouted. "Get Yukie-sama to Konoha! It's Doto and he's after her!"
"What's that?" Hinata called and everyone looked at the ridge above the town where a line of elongated carriages was slowing to a stop. For a moment, the carriages remained still, then the sides opened up to reveal shinobi stood behind odd contraptions.
"Kunai launchers." Kakashi mused. "But larger than any I've seen before and the handles on the side…"
A metallic sound behind them caused them to look at the sailors and film-crew who were opening the bags and donning samurai armor that they were taking out from them.
"Oh hell." Naruto groaned. "Please tell me they aren't going to try and attack the shinobi with the kunai launchers and high ground advantage."
"Send them back, Naruto." Kakashi sighed as he pulled out a tri-blade kunai. "I'll plant this, then you and Hinata join me. See if Hiruzen wants to join in too, will you?"
Naruto nodded and fifty clones formed in a cloud of smoke.
.
Doto looked out from the wheelhouse of his aerial flagship as the boat erupted with activity even as the train pulled into position to wipe out the intruders with a single barrage.
"Contact the train and remind them that I need the princess alive." He instructed. "As for the others… kill them and feed their bodies to the sharks."
"As you command, Daimyo-sama!" The radio-nin responded as he hunched over his equipment. A moment later, he looked up. "They're ready to open fire, my Lord, and they report that the villagers have got out of their firing lines."
"And why should I care if a few stupid peasants get killed? The breed so fast that within a year or so, it'll be like none ever died." Doto scowled. "Prepare our weapons, we will open fire as soon as we are within range, tell the train to do the same."
"The actress has been located, my lord!" The lookout called, peering through the telescope. "She's being rushed to the town hall… no, they've stopped"
"Prepare the grappling claws and deployment ropes." Doto commanded. "All will bear witness to whom the rightful ruler of the Land of Snow is."
"Within range, turning to clear port broadside." The Helmsman said as the cabin tilted.
"Firing!" The weapons officer shouted.
.
"That is a lot of Kunai." Naruto mused as the film crew who had been forming up to charge the train froze in shock, staring at the multiple waves of sharp metal arcing through the air at them.
"Interesting, they use boxes of kunai in those launchers and can switch them within three seconds." Kakashi said, his sharingan eye spinning slightly as he used it to focus on the larger of the two airships. "Evac them now."
The clones that had been running behind the would-be-liberators grabbed their targets and vanished, then Naruto placed his hands in a seal that Kakashi vaguely recognized. The portion of the kunai barrage headed for them suddenly changed course and clattered harmlessly almost twenty meters away.
"You've got better with those futon techniques." Kakashi congratulated the chunin as a second wave of Kunai curved away from them.
"It takes a bit of concentration, but Asuma-sempai was insistent it would help in large-scale combat." Naruto explained as a third wave of kunai wandered off target. "He pointed out that with my skill-set, I'm far more likely to be part of large-scale operations rather than small one-on-one missions where most of my skills wouldn't be all that usable."
"You are able to fill a startling number of support functions." Kakashi admitted, keeping an eye on the approaching airships. "Any chance you could force those things to crash-land?"
"Sorry, Kakashi." Naruto apologized as once again the air around them shielded them, "I've got the shielding technique down, but something like that? Sorry, I don't see how I could do that… it'd require me to learn how to use the air like it was part of me… I don't think I could do that… although given the presence of natural chakra… perhaps a Sage could…"
Naruto broke off as a trio of shapes leapt out of the lead airship, gliding down towards them.
"That looks chakra armor, but if it is, it's far more advanced than the last time I was here." Kakashi stated. "It does mean that most ninjutsu will be useless against them, as the armor absorbs external chakra."
"How much can it absorb?" Naruto asked curiously. "I mean, it has to have some sort of upper limit, right?"
"There's a fourth armor user still on the lead airship." Kakashi said, his uncovered sharingan spinning as he focused. "I recognize him… Doto. The one who killed his brother in order to seize control of the Land of Snow."
"Well, that makes him a target." Naruto stated. "Everyone got their tagged kunai?"
A round of nods was his answer as the rain of kunai stopped, giving the three airborne shinobi a chance to land in front of them.
"Naruto, put a clone beside Yukie and get her to the end of the quay, it'll mean there'll be only one way to get to her, and we'll be in it." Kakashi said calmly. "If any of these three manage to get past us, then use your technique to teleport her to Konoha. Until then, keep her protected so that the watching villagers can see how brave she is. It'll be useful for when she takes over."
Naruto nodded as he created a clone and pretended to ignore Doto launching himself from the airship, diving and circling round to try and approach from behind.
He had obviously been listening in on the radio and spotted the opening left in the plan.
Just as Kakashi had predicted.
"So, if we get past, the clone removes the lost Princess, hmmm?" The leading armored shinobi mused. "How about a nice little competition, then. We win, and she never even thinks about returning."
"You can't win." Kakashi smirked as Hinata dropped into her Jyuuken stance and Naruto formed a rasengan.
"Kakashi, their armour is creating a chakra shield over their entire bodies!" Hinata called out and Kakashi's eyebrows rose.
"Interesting, that armor really is advanced. But how long can the shield last… and how much damage can it block?"
"Why don't we find out?" The leader smirked as he lunged forwards.
.
Doto leveled off barely six feet above the ground as the arc of his journey placed the shacks that his subjects used as homes blocked him from his target's sight. A moment later, he was skimming over the waves, using the ship to cover his approach as he arced round, the chakra-infused wings of his armor giving him speed and agility that rivaled almost any bird.
A last turn let him see his target and her protector from behind and he fired the kunai-launcher on his left wrist. The one-shot launcher discharged, firing the kunai through the clone at almost the speed of sound, then he grabbed his errant niece and hurled himself into the air, her ineffectual struggles bouncing off his superior armor.
"This is Doto!" He barked into the microphone on his collar. "Open the landing bay and set course for the Crystal Lock, I have my niece and the key!"
.
"My clone just popped!" Naruto shouted as he ducked the attack launched at him, then he riposted with a wind blast that sent her spiraling into a nearby wall. As she picked herself up out of the rubble, Naruto hurled a kunai sideways, deflecting the flying gauntlet launched at Hinata by the largest of the trio. The gauntlet bounced off the ground before the cables attached to it reeled it back onto the giant's arm, just in time for him to use it to protect his face against a trio of raiton-charged shuriken launched by Kakashi.
"Take them down so we can move against Doto!" Kakashi commanded as he grabbed the fist that had been aimed at his head, using the movement to hurl his adversary into a nearby snowdrift. Naruto started to nod, then launched a spinning kick that intercepted the armored kunoichi's tackle, sending her to one side.
"Their armor's chakra shield flickers!" Hinata called as she threw a senbon that pierced her adversary's ear, much to his horrified shock. "It's only for a fraction of a second, but a fast enough one-two could get through!"
Naruto delivered another chakra-enhanced spinning kick, mentally thanking Lee for all their sparring sessions that had allowed him to pick up quite a few high-powered taijutsu moves, then he ducked the angered kunoichi's return punch, rolling to one side.
"Do you really think you can wi-glrk!"
The clone that she'd failed to notice appearing behind her spun, placing his shoulders against her back as he pulled tight the ninja-wire he had managed to loop around her neck, just above the line of the armor's collar. The woman clawed frantically at it, her fingers slowed by the effects of the chakra shield protecting her and Naruto watched her eyes roll up as she went limp.
"She's down."
The clone released her, letting her drop onto the ground and Naruto knelt to examine the armor.
"Looks like latches here and here, so if… yes!"
The armor opened up and Naruto's clone grabbed the kunoichi and vanished in a Hiraishin to deposit her in one of the ANBU cells set aside for just that purpose. Looking round, he sighed as Kakashi pulled his hand out of the torso of his own adversary.
"You ruined his armor! We could have used that!"
"Um, oops?" Kakashi offered, totally unrepentant, then he glanced at Hinata, who was standing above the screaming form of her own opponent.
"What did you do to him, Hinata?" Naruto gasped and Hinata blushed slightly.
"He wasn't wearing a cup…"
Both Naruto and Kakashi flinched as they put her statement together with the single senbon still in her hand.
"So." Kakashi said in an attempt to change the subject. "How long before Anko loses patience with Doto and sumons us to put him out of her misery?"
"About now." Naruto chuckled. "I'll leave some clones to seal the prisoners and the intact armor for delivery to Konoha."
.
.
.
.
.
Author's Afternote - 3 chapters remaining.